Monday, June 9, 2008

Various Viking Verbage

Brooks Bollinger looks to be the odd man out in Vikings mini-camp, as he competes for reps with four other quarterbacks. As much as I've harangued Tarvaris Jackson, there's no doubt that, if I had to start a game right now with the quarterbacks the Vikings have in camp (Jackson, Bollinger, Gus Frerotte, John David Booty, and Kyle Wright), he'd be my choice. Looking at the competition, that's not saying much, though.

It's a near-foregone conclusion that the three QBs on the Vikings' roster come September will be Jackson (the incumbent), Frerotte (the semi-wily veteran), and Booty (the new kid), so Bollinger and Wright should keep a moving van on speed-dial.

* "Even with an 8-4 record as the starter last year, Jackson knows the doubters are out there." Really? Where? To his credit, Jackson takes it in stride and doesn't seem to buy in to his own hype:

"People are going to say what they want to say. It's their job to analyze things and to give their opinion of our team. My job is to go out there and prove them wrong. That's how I look at it. It's just extra motivation. That's all it is. Things like that kind of help me out, get me over the top."

Personally, I think "If I don't play well in 2008, I could be unemployed" should be enough of a motivation, but hey, go with what you can.

* The Vikings apparently have a contingency plan if Bryant McKinnie is suspended for the first part (or more) of the 2008 season, and his name is Chase Johnson. An undrafted, second-year player wouldn't normally gain much notice, except that, at 6'8" and 330 pounds, it's hard to miss Johnson. That makes him a near-clone of McKinnie, who's listed at 6'8" and 335 pounds, and nobody else is taller, with Artis Hicks being the only other Viking listed over 330 (335). Remember, kids, Pat Williams only weighs 317 *snort*

* In June, every team had a great offseason, every running back will run for 2,000 yards, every quarterback will throw for 30 touchdowns, and every team will go to the Super Bowl. Jared Allen made the claim for the Vikings recently and, while I think they've got about as good a chance as any team in the NFC, save Dallas, such talk from someone who's been with the team for less than two months makes me nervous.

(On the other hand, if I were a professional athlete, I'd tell every reporter before every game that I guarantee a win. Because that's what we're going out there to do. If we didn't think we'd win every game, why play?)

* Troy Williamson got the usual glowing "former first-round pick looking for a fresh start" article that all such players get when they wash out with their first team and join a new one (Koren Robinson got the same treatment in Minnesota).

"I'd say it was very important because it was getting very intense up there as far as me and the head coach and some of the other coaches," Williamson said. "I feel like I just need to play football, be me and be comfortable in the situation."
Yes, how dare the coaches up in Minnesota make things so intense by asking you to catch the ball. It's not like that was your job or anything.

* Finally, I've started reading The Daily Norseman, a good-looking Vikings site with lots of good material. In fact, it's better than this site, so I'll have to resort to some solid journalistic techniques and hard-hitting content to draw more readers.

Or I can just post a picture of a scantily clad Sarah Michelle Gellar:


Admit it, you like that better than more Tarvaris Jackson talk, right?

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