nicksaviking

Getting a cortisone shot and missing two months sounds more than just an ankle sprain..........

LA football has more challenges for local fans than the other pro sports. First, no one in LA is from LA, people move there and bring their fandoms with them. But it's still cool and hip to go see a Laker, Dodger or Kings game, because those are considerably easier to do. On a whim you can still decide get something to eat near the stadiums, show up fashionably late to the game (as per LA tradition), leave early and go get a nightcap before jumping on the freeway and waiting in traffic. And you can plan this out at 3PM on a Wednesday if you want to. Going to a football game takes at least month of planning since the away fans have already bought most of the tickets. To top it off, it's way out in the middle of nowhere in Inglewood where you'll spend most of your morning driving through city streets to get there. There is NOTHING to do there because it's one of those new stadiums where the owner wants to own and develop all the land around it. So it's either go to that stupid casino half mile away, or do absolutely nothing before or after the game. The Twins should be the Lakers/Dodgers/Kings of the Twins cities sports, just like they used to be. Easy access, easy tickets, can do it on a whim and there is loads of other entertainment nearby. Ownership has absolutely squandered what should be a goldmine of an entertainment option for the metro area population. They're taking the football approach trying to convince people from Thief River Falls to plan one complicated and expensive trip a year to the stadium instead of convincing the locals to go a half dozen times easily and more affordably.

I know he'll play and I think people are mis-reading my tone about this; Van Ginkel was great, I'm glad he's being extended. And I don't want him used less effectively just to get Turner more snaps. I'm getting at this: Jihad Ward was the #3 edge rusher last year and he got on the field for a healthy 41% of the snaps. But even if Turner bumped his numbers up to 50%, I think it's fairly unlikely that's enough for the Vikings to exercise the fifth year option, which they'll need to decide on at the same time Van Ginkel's deal runs out. I'm fine with that, just thought I'd point out the timing of the new deal and the option deadline.

He'll get on the field, but I'm not sure it will be for enough snaps to make them determine exercising the fifth year option is a good idea. And I don't want Van Ginkle or Greenard moved inside more often just to get him on the field. Those two were excellent last year; stick with that utilization.

This didn't seem to be an issue in college or the minors where pitchers were even more wild. Hey, it's his forearm, if he's gun-shy and wants to switch things up, that's his prerogative, the Twins need not do a thing unless he requests that assistance though. Otherwise, as mentioned, there are an untold number of different forearm and wrist guards players have been wearing for decades.

Can't complain about that, but it's making it harder for Dallas Turner to get on the field. At this point, the Vikings are going to have to make a decision about his 5th year option while he's still only a backup. Not complaining, just saying.

I'm sure we'll all appreciate the pitching depth in September when the team is out of contention and no one is watching the games. Put your best players on the roster now and try to win. Worry about later, later.

I agree, I hate being a middle of the road team. But the way this squad is built, I think they'd need a ton of injuries to be top-of-the-draft bad next year.

If McCarthy isn't the answer, I'd rather he show it by being really bad so we know ASAP. I don't want drag it out four or five years saying, 'Eh, maybe?' But even if he's not good, I think the defense will be, and it will still be an average team at worst.

I think the numbers show that fifth round is much higher at hitting, the major drop offs are after the second and than again after the fifth. Don't even bother with 6-7th rounders. Use them to trade up every single time if you can.

I would have rather had Chris Paul who the Rams traded up to get and sounds like the same player as King, but much better. I could really care less about a TE who will only play on special teams. I wish they wouldn't even think about players in this area of the draft; there's a good chance they could have gotten both as UDFAs.

Tell me the Vikings traded their pick for a future pick or Blake Corem or something. Don’t trade back for 6th round picks!

Mil Kiper isn't pissed off because he cares about Sanders, he's pissed off that his his draft ratings took a huge hit with his evaluation miss.

Sam Howell as the backup QB. I like him better than most. When he was in Washington, I liked that he wasn't afraid to sling it all over the field and used his legs plenty. Lots of picks though, so not dissimilar to Sam Darnold. Surprised it took a 5th rounder to get him though.

Five RBs this round. Still several I like quite a bit.

I like not having 6th and 7th round picks. The 5th round isn't a good spot to be in, but the guys you want in the 6th and 7th are likely to be available as UDFAs anyway.

Also, next Name That Twin contest needs to be this guy:

Is that Michael Cuddyer playing somewhere in the infield at the Metrodome?

With the above said, Jerry Jones, who is the only owner who loves attention more than winning, is totally going to draft Sanders tomorrow.

OK, WR wasn't what I was thinking, but the last Maryland WR they drafted worked out pretty well.

Ugh. I stand by everything I just said about Shedeur Sanders above. But......if he sits for a year without making a scene, I bet you can flip him for a late 1st next year due to the KOC hype, even if that hype is misplaced. Screw that, go get somebody I want!

Wait, they weren't just going to replace Harrison Smith by drafting a safety, but by drafting another Notre Dame safety?!? That does sound about right. But I like the trade. 142 will still have some interesting names, More than 187.

Also, come on Steelers. I like Tomlin and I like the organization, but they are SO STUBBORN. Kaleb Johnson? So they finally part ways with Najee Harris, who was fine, but not a feature back in an offense that stubbornly wants to only run the ball. Then they draft a Najee Harris clone? I'm sure Johnson will be *fine, but if they refuse to develop a passing game, you better do more than fine running the ball.

I know you guys want the thumpers, but I think that's Aaron Jones now. I'm still betting on them going after a shifty pass catcher. But I'm not putting more money on that than I am on them skipping a meaningful RB pick all together and disappointing us.

Right. Or the University of Colorado for that matter. I mean they were one of the most talked about teams in the nation despite being in an average team in a bad conference. If they truly have the two best players in the country, they go undefeated in that conference. Instead they lost to the only good teams they played and beat FCS NDSU by 4 yards. Yes, 4 yards. Meanwhile, no one talked about Jaxson Dart until two weeks ago despite him leading Ole Miss to back-to-back ten win seasons for the first time in 65 years in a brutal SEC, while putting up similar passing numbers and having actual mobility assets. That's not so much a Dart promotion as it is saying that Sanders never had any legit reason to get more hype than these other uninspiring QBs in this class.