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By The Jazzy One on October 14th, 2009
 As of this morning, John David Booty was released from the Vikings practice squad in order to make room for another offensive lineman.
Coach Brad Childress said that he’s not ruling out bringing Booty back later, but for now, Booty wasn’t getting many snaps in practice, and they really needed another OL during the team practice sessions.
Personally, I’m not sure it’s that big of a loss.
Booty came in with a big name because he was the starting quarterback for a year at a big time college program… one that produced several NFL quarterbacks in recent years.
But I didn’t really see all that much potential in Booty. I mean, I think with time he could become a serviceable backup, but there was nothing in his play during the preseason that made me think that he was a future superstar… or even a future starter for that matter.
Chances are, the Vikings will not have Sage Rosenfels next year. Especially if Brett Favre comes back for another year. So I guess in theory it would’ve been nice to have another quarterback who knows the system.
But like I said, all in all I just don’t see this as that big of a loss for the team.
Do you agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts?
By The Jazzy One on September 8th, 2009
The Vikings announced their practice squad over the weekend. The list of guys:
DB Colt Anderson
QB John David Booty
OT Chris Clark
RB Ian Johnson
DT Tremaine Johnson
TE Garrett Mills
WR Nick Moore
OT Drew Radovich
Overall I think the Vikings made the right moves. I was glad to see Booty make it to the practice squad. I’m guessing that the fact that he wasn’t claimed by another team just strengthens the opinion that he just isn’t ready to be an NFL quarterback yet, and he hasn’t shown signs that he DEFINITELY will be ready someday.
Ian Johnson had some decent runs during the preseason, but the Vikings decided to keep the slightly more experienced Albert Young. I’m glad they kept Young, both because I’m a fan of him personally, and because I think he’s a good young runner, but it’s nice to see Johnson on the practice squad. I’m wondering if next year the Vikings will offer Chester Taylor as trade bait, and move Young up to being Peterson’s backup. That might give Johnson a chance on the team.
To read some info on the rest of the guys, go to the ACCESS VIKINGS BLOG ENTRY
By The Jazzy One on September 5th, 2009
Hey Vikings fans
I realize I haven’t written a recap yet. It’s been a busy weekend… College football has admittedly taken some of my attention, and the college that I work at had their first football game in team history this weekend! But the Vikings have not been forgotten, and the recap will probably come Monday.
Starting on Tuesday I’ll be doing some things to get you pumped up for the regular season. This is when the REAL fun will begin on this blog, so stay tuned for that.
But for now I wanted to post the list of players who got cut from the final 53 man roster today…
DB Colt Anderson
QB John David Booty
FB Nehemiah Broughton
DE Martail Burnett
OL Chris Clark
OL Brian Daniels
OL Juan Garcia
DE Otis Grigsby
S De’von Hall
LB David Herron
DT Antoine Holmes
RB Ian Johnson
DT Tremaine Johnson
OL Andy Kemp
CB Marcus McCauley
TE Garrett Mills
WR Nick Moore
TE Jake Nordin
WR Vinny Perretta
OL Drew Radovich
DB Marcus Walker
WR Bobby Williams
The big surprises to me were John David Booty, and Marcus McCauley.
Obviously the Vikings did not see enough in Booty to warrant getting rid of Tarvaris Jackson as their potential future. The Vikings still might try to slide him onto the practice squad in a few days… we’ll see if anyone takes him. As for McCauley, I guess the reason that I’m surprised with him is because he has some experience… but I think Asher Allen’s potential as a DB outshined that experience, so Allen will get a shot with the team.
Another interesting note is that the Vikings kept 6 receivers on the roster. Both Jaymar Johnson and Darius Reynaud made the team. I think both of them have a lot of potential. With the exception of Bobby Wade, the Vikings receiving team is really pretty young (Wade isn’t even that old, really)… this squad could be good for a long long time.
By The Jazzy One on September 4th, 2009
Tonight is the last preseason game for the Vikings, coming just 4 days after their third preseason game. To be perfectly honest, the fourth preseason game of the year is pretty boring. I mean, pretty much none of the starters will play, and the anxiousness of REAL football has taken over (being just barely over a week away at this point), so there isn’t a lot of excitement surrounding tonight’s game.
Not only that, but I probably won’t get to watch a whole lot of the game anyway, due to family functions.
But, I will still watch as much as I can, and I’ll read all the stats, recaps, and watch all the videos at the end of the night.
Here are some things to watch for tonight.
The Quarterbacks
The big question going around right now is what are the Vikings going to do at the quarterback position? Is it possible that they’re going to try to keep four of them on the roster? Are the rumors about the team shopping T-Jack as trade bait true?
To be real honest, I’m not sure if any of those questions will be answered by watching the game or not. I assume Jackson, Rosenfels, and Booty will split the time fairly evenly. If the Vikings are shopping Jackson, look for him to start, so he at least gets time with the second string guys. They’ll want him to look as good as possible. If they’re not shopping Jackson, I would almost bet we’d see Rosenfels start, just to get him up to speed a bit. He missed the second week of the preseason, and didn’t get a ton of playing time during the 3rd week.
If I were in charge, I’d start Booty. I would get a good look at him with the second string guys in the line up, rather than the 4th stringers he usually gets to play with. I’d try to evaluate if he has the potential to turn into an NFL QB at some point. If not much potential shows through, I’d cut him. If there is potential, I’d trade Jackson. I don’t think the Vikings will do it my way, but I think it’d be smart.
The Wide Receivers.
I don’t know how many receivers the Vikings plan on keeping. We know they’ll keep Berrian, Rice, and Harvin for sure… and now it looks like Wade is pretty much in since he restructured his contract to take less money. That’s four. If the Vikings are going to keep five, I think the battle is between Jaymar Johnson and Darius Reynaud. Both of them have potential as a #5 receiver, and both of them have potential on special teams. I would personally give the edge to Reynaud, but it seems pretty close. If the Vikings are going to keep six receivers, I think these two are pretty much set as the two guys.
Just to note, I don’t think the Vikings will keep four quarterbacks AND six receivers. I’m not even sure they’ll do even one of those two options, but definitely not both.
That’s About It
There will be a little more shuffling going on, but mainly at linebacker and defensive backs, and most of the guys doing the shuffling will only get to play special teams unless the Vikings face a string of injuries (like they did at linebacker last year). Even in these positions, though, I have a feeling that the coaching staff knows who they like already.
By The Jazzy One on August 28th, 2009
Michael Vick Returns To Football
Michael Vick saw some action in Philly’s game last night. To be honest, I’ve never really been a fan of Vick, but I have to admit that I was interested in seeing how the Eagles put him to use. The game wasn’t on TV for me, but I made sure to read several articles and watch every video I could find after the game was over.
I have to admit that I was very intrigued.
In all, Vick only threw 4 passes (all completed for a total of 19 yards). I was more interested in how he was used, though, rather than in what he did.
The Eagles did not use him as a second string QB. They played McNabb for most of the game, and they used Kolb as the QB with the second team. Instead, the Eagles inserted him into plays at odd times… such as on 2nd down, when McNabb took the snaps for 1st and 3rd down.
Vick was only on the field for 6 plays. He lined up as a “normal” quarterback for 4 of them, he ran the wildcat offense for one play, and he lined up as a slot receiver for 1 of them. On a couple of the plays where Vick lined up as QB (including the Wildcat play), Donovon McNabb was also on the field, lining up as a wide receiver.
So how does this apply to the Minnesota Vikings?
Well, it got me thinking. I know this is really a pipe dream for me, and it’s quite unlikely that I’ll actually see it, but I would love to see Brad Childress get creative with his substitution packages. Maybe since his mentor Andy Reid is doing it, he’ll take a closer look.
 The first person I thought of when watching these Vick highlights was Tarvaris Jackson. Tarvaris is not the runner that Vick is, but he’s still a good runner. On the flip side, Jackson is a more accurate thrower than Vick.
… just for you Jackson haters that might think I’m crazy, Jackson’s completion percentage in his worst year in the league is somewhere around 1.5% better than Vick in his best year. Jackson’s career completion percentage is almost 5% higher than Vick’s. Both of them have QB ratings that aren’t great, but Jackson’s is around a point higher than Vick’s.
Anyway, the criticism you hear a lot about Jackson is that he’s very athletic, but he’s inconsistent at QB.
Couldn’t a creative coach (there’s that pipe dream again) put those skill sets to good use like Andy Reid showed that he can with Vick?
“Why don’t YOU come up with ideas, then!”
What about lining Jackson up in the slot when Favre is playing? Jackson is not going to be a huge threat at receiver, but defenses are going to have to wonder what the Vikings are doing… is Jackson going to drop back at get a lateral? Are they going to run a reverse to Jackson? Is Jackson going to motion back and take the snap? Motion back and take a hand off? If he gets a lateral or a hand off, or if he runs a reverse, is he going to run or throw? Can Jackson catch? Does he need to be covered?
What a great way to keep the other team guessing. Obviously for it to work, the Vikings would actually have to DO one of those trick plays at least once, but it’s not like Childress has shied away from trick plays completely. Chester Taylor, Ryan Longwell, and Sidney Rice have all thrown passes since Childress has been the coach.
Or we all know that the Vikings have been toying with the Wildcat with Percy Harvin under center. Why not line up Jackson on the outside during those plays instead of Favre? Opposing teams would have to take Jackson’s athleticism far more seriously than they’d take Favre’s.
How about letting Jackson run the option every now and then? I’m not talking about 20 times a game or something where there’d be risk of injury. I’m talking two or three times a game…
Here’s how that would work. Line up both Chester and Peterson in the I-formation with Jackson under center. Have two tight ends (Shiancoe and Kleinsasser) in the game, and one wide receiver (Percy Harvin). The formation could lead to a ton of different things…
- A hand off to Chester up the middle
- A pitch to Peterson
- A run by Jackson
- A dump off pass to Shiancoe or Kleinsasser
- A deep pass to Harvin
- A reverse to Harvin
- A flea flicker from Chester or Peterson
… all from the same formation… really most of them from the same play. That is, after all, why it’s called the Option.
“Uh, wait… isn’t the option dangerous for QBs in the NFL?”
Well, so they say. I personally don’t see how it could be. I mean, NFL quarterbacks sometimes have to stand in the pocket and take a hit without bracing themselves so that they can complete a throw. If they run the option, most of the time they’ll know when they’re about to be hit, so they can brace themselves for it… just like any wide receiver, tight end, running back, kick returner, punt returner, etc, etc, etc.
Besides, I’m not talking about becoming an “Option” team. I’m not talking about running it like the old college football days when Nebraska and Oklahoma ran it as the focal point of their offenses. I’m certainly not talking about running it 30 times a game. I think if you ran it 3-5 times a game, it would serve it’s purpose without putting the QB at any more risk of injury than any other type of play.
The benefits of a more creative offensive playbook.
If the Vikings would utilize Jackson’s athleticism, it could do big things for the Vikings offense. If the Vikings lined up Jackson as a receiver an average of 3-5 times a game, ran the option an average of 3-5 times a game, and ran the wildcat an average of 3-5 times a game, that is anywhere between 9 and 15 plays a game that are outside the norm that opponents will know that they’re going to face every week against the Vikings. What does that do for the team?
- It forces the other teams to prepare for these 3 specialty formations during the week, and it takes away from the amount of time that they can focus on the Vikings more traditional offense
- It rests Favre for an average of 6-10 plays per game, which over the course of a 16 game season would rest him between 96 – 160 plays. More on that in a minute.
- It makes the other teams have to be concerned about other kinds of trick plays popping up, which is another thing that helps keep 8 and 9 men out of the box, freeing up Adrian Peterson
- It makes good use of the immense amounts of talent and athleticism that the Vikings have on offense.
- On a business level, it brings more excitement to the team. More people will want to watch. More tickets will be sold. More merchandise will be sold. More concessions will be sold.
- This would solve some of the issues with having to decide on quarterbacks. More on that in a minute.
The Benefit of Resting Brett Favre
In the three different sets of trick plays mentioned above, Brett Favre would be resting for 2 of those sets (when Percy was running the wildcat, and when T-Jack was running the option). If the formula I mentioned was followed, he’d get to rest an average of 6-10 plays per game. The Vikings averaged somewhere around 65 plays a game last year, with the QB being on the field for about 58 of them (the others being punts, field goals, and extra points). If Favre sat out 6 plays a game because of these special formation, he’d still be involved in around 52 plays every week (if the averages stay about the same), but over the course of the season he will have played 96 fewer plays, which is like resting for a game and a half! If that number was closer to 10 plays a game, he’d still be involved in around 48 plays per game, but he’d rest for 160 plays, which would be like resting for 2 1/2 games. What a great way to keep Favre heavily involved in every game, but maybe keep him a bit fresher down the stretch so that he’s still ready to go during the playoffs!
Solving the Quarterback Issue
The Vikings right now are facing a QB dilemma of sorts. Favre is obviously not a long term answer. The team will have him for a year or two. Sage was brought in to be the veteran. Jackson is the young athletic guy who has experience running the team. Booty is the young guy with potential that they’d like to groom. When Favre was brought in, the thought that came to many people’s minds was that all three of these QBs might be good to have on the team post-Favre. Which one would the Vikings decide to sacrifice?
With this overall game plan that I’m suggesting, the Vikings could rationally keep all 4 guys.
Sage would be listed as the #2 guy on the depth chart. If Favre gets hurt or for whatever reason has to come out of the game, Sage would be the one to take his place. I’m not saying he’s at Favre’s level as a QB, but he is a similar style of player… he’s going to beat you by staying in the pocket and finding his receivers rather than by being a better athlete than you. He fits in well as Favre’s backup.
John David Booty remains the 3rd string emergency QB. The only way he’d be active is if both Favre and Sage go down.
Jackson is listed as a specialty player. If Favre got hurt, it wouldn’t really affect Jackson’s role on the team. He’d be in the same 6 – 10 plays filling the same position, doing the same thing. The only way he’d step into a “regular” QB job is if Favre and Sage were hurt, in which case he’d play as the QB and Booty would be his backup… unless of course the team thought Booty could step in and let Jackson keep his specialty role.
Would Tarvaris Jackson want this role?
Well, I’m sure ideally Tarvaris Jackson would like to be the starting QB. But realistically that’s not going to happen this year. Not even if he gets traded. This role might not be his dream job, but it would get him on the field every week, he’d be helping his team, and it’d be better than wearing all those pads just to hold a clipboard.
And it might keep him in the good graces of the team until Favre leaves, at which point he would be able to compete for the starting job again.
It’s about staying on top of the game.
Again, it’s all about keeping the other team guessing, and Brad Childress has the weapons to do just that. Even more so than Philly does. We have a comparable, though less mobile QB (Favre compared to McNabb), a comparable mobile backup QB (Jackson compared to Vick), better running backs, a better tight end, better receivers, a versatile player like Harvin which Philly doesn’t have, and a better offensive line.
I am betting that Chilly watched the Eagles game last night. I really wish he’d be inspired to try new and creative lineups in his game plan.
By The Jazzy One on August 24th, 2009
Hey Vikings fans.
Let’s talk quarterbacks. More specifically, let’s talk about quarterbacks who WON’T be starting for the Minnesota Vikings this year. Currently, there are three guys on the roster who will not be starting: Tarvaris Jackson, Sage Rosenfels, and John David Booty.
The problem for these guys… only two of them are going to make it onto the final roster. Speculation abounds on the internet as to which of those three will not be on the team come week 1 in Cleveland. So what am I going to do about it?
I’m going to add to the speculation, of course! That’s what we bloggers like to do!
Tarvaris Jackson
 Tarvaris went into the last two seasons as the uncontested starter. This year, Sage Rosenfels was brought in to allegedly challenge him for the starting job, and then ultimately Brett Favre was brought in to be the starter. So the incumbent starter has already taken a step down. But has he taken enough of a step down to lose his job completely?
If the decision had been made after the Indianapolis game, I would’ve said yes. Tarvaris played poorly in that game, and really didn’t have much of an up-side beyond the fact that he was the most familiar with the system. On top of that, Sage Rosenfels played quite well, which made Jackson’s poor game look worse.
But then he stepped it up a notch against Kansas City, a game in which, to Jackson’s benefit, Rosenfels was not able to get into the game to put to rest any advance that Tarvaris had made in the race. Jackson went 12/15 for 202 yards, 2 TDs, and no interceptions.
The thing I’m noticing about Tarvaris is that when he doesn’t have the pressure of being the top QB, he plays much better. During his rookie season, the few times he came in due to injuries or lack of production by the starters, he played exceptionally well for a rookie QB. Then when he got to start the final two games of that season as the unquestioned starter… well, to be honest… he stunk.
Last season he began the year as the starter. He stunk. After 11 games of Gus Frerotte starting, Jackson was given an opportunity to come in for an injured Frerotte, and he played very well. Through the last four games of the season, everyone wondered if Frerotte would come back, but Jackson continued to play well. In the playoffs he was named the unquestioned starter… and he stunk.
Maybe that’s why Childress brought in Sage… maybe this QB competition was really going to last all year, and it was meant to keep T-Jack on his toes.
Okay, probably not.
Jackson is a young guy, entering his fourth year in the league. He’s shown flashes of having an up-side… he has a strong arm, he’s mobile, he has shown that he’s capable of moving the ball at times. Unfortunately, he seems to lack confidence and consistency. And I really think the lack of consistency is because of the lack of confidence. He seems to be a little slow at making decisions. He often holds onto the ball much longer than he has to. Fortunately, though, his athleticism allows him to make plays despite that fact. He is by far the most athletically gifted quarterback currently on the roster.
Sage Rosenfels
Sage was brought in this year to compete for the starting job. He’s entering his 9th year in the league, and he hasn’t really had a chance to be a starter anywhere else. So far in his career he’s shown that he’s a pretty solid backup, but when called upon to start for any extended period of time, he’s pretty mediocre.
Sage had a great game against Indianapolis in week 1 of the preseason. He was finding his receivers quickly, and getting rid of the ball in a fast but accurate manner.
The fact that the Vikings traded for Sage this off-season, and that they tried to trade for him last year as well makes a lot of people think that his job is safe.
The up-side to Sage is that he’s been in the league for a long time, and he understands the game at NFL speeds. He’s a good thrower and he knows the west coast offense well.
The down-side to Sage is that he’s 5 years older than Jackson and 7 years older than Booty. If Favre plays for 2 years for the Vikings, Sage would be entering his 11th season in the NFL having never been the starter. He’s also not very mobile, which keeps him from creating as well when the pocket breaks down.
John David Booty
 Booty is the quarterback that Vikings fans seem to know the least about, mostly because he’s never got a chance to play with the first team, and he’s never had any playing time in a real NFL game.
Booty had a great couple seasons at USC, and even though he was considered a very talented college QB, he fell to the 5th round of the draft because a lot of teams were unsure as to how his talents would translate to the pro game.
We’ve seen him play a year and a half worth of preseason games so far, and while he’s been solid, he’s never seemed to have the look that makes people think “wow, this guy is a future star.”
His up-side is his age. This will only be his second year in the NFL, and he still has tons of time to learn and grow into the position. If the Vikings coaching staff, who sees him in practice week in and week out, thinks that they can turn him into a potential starting QB some day, his job will be safe.
His down-side is that Tarvaris Jackson is only 2 years older than him, so that diminishes the value of his age. He also probably has the weakest arm of the QBs on the roster, and the least amount of experience.
My Conclusion
Well, it really could go any of the three ways, and no matter which QB gets cut, there will be a lot of Vikings fans saying it was the wrong move.
My gut feeling tells me that after the Kansas City game, Tarvaris Jackson is safe. He is Childress’ “project”, he’s still young, and I doubt that Chilly and the staff have completely given up on him. After all, he was going to compete for the starting job if Brett hadn’t signed, right? I think that Coach Childress will want to keep him around to learn from Favre for a year or two, and then see how he’s grown.
And who knows, maybe Favre can help shape him up as far as that confidence thing goes.
So that leaves Booty or Rosenfels to be cut.
I think it all comes down to how much potential the Vikings coaches see in Booty. Like I said, if they think they can turn him into an NFL starting-caliber QB, they’ll keep him and Sage will be traded. If they think that the best Booty can hope for is to be a solid backup, I think they’ll either try to trade Booty, or see if they can slip him onto the practice squad.
My gut instinct says that the latter is true. You never really hear Childress talking about Booty being the future of this team. I have a feeling that they just don’t feel that the superstar potential is there.
So my official prediction is that the QB roster going into the season will contain Brett Favre, Sage Rosenfels, and Tarvaris Jackson.
I have a hunch that we’ll find out sooner rather than later if I’m correct.
Oh, and for the record, the new Madden roster agrees with me. I downloaded it last night, and Booty is no longer on the Vikings team….
Not that that means anything, of course.
By The Jazzy One on August 22nd, 2009
Well, Brett Favre played his first preseason game as a Viking. He definitely wasn’t great, but I still saw some promising things from both him and the rest of the team.
Let’s Talk About Brett
Brett Favre played the first two series with the Vikes. He went 1 for 4 for only four yards. That was the bad… I think fans wanted to see Brett lead the team on a TD drive. Of his three misses, though, I really felt like only 1 of those passes was a bad pass. One of them was off the mark because he was getting completely trucked by a Kansas City defender, and the other one, in my opinion, was a bad play by Jaymar Johnson. Johnson looked like he just kinda stopped a the end of his route. Favre tried leading him a bit with the pass, and Johnson didn’t react. Those types of things will be fixed by having more seasoned receivers (like Bernard Berrian) running those routes, and they’ll be fixed by having more than 3 days of practice between Brett and the team.
On the flip side, I did like seeing 1 thing while watching Brett…. very little indecision. Brett dropped back and got rid of the ball (and good lord can he still zip that ball). We haven’t seen that much decisiveness probably since Randall Cunningham. He knew what he had to do with the ball, and he did it. Obviously last night there were communication issues with the receivers, but those will go away with more time.
Special Teams Still Looked Good
I think we’re going to see a big improvement in that department this season, which is good. Our defense was great last year, but a lot of times they had to work against shorter fields than they should have, just because our special teams unit couldn’t stop the other team’s returners.
Our Starting Defense Looked Pretty Good
Not quite as good as last week, but still good. Even without Jared Allen on the field, the front four managed to get pressure on the QB. Cassel, though, is more mobile than I realized (I didn’t watch any New England games last year), and he turned some of that pressure into some rushing yards. Cassel also did a good job at finding the 1 on 1 matchups, and he picked apart the Vikings secondary a bit. I don’t worry about that TOO much, because the Vikings (like most teams) use a pretty vanilla defense during the preseason, but I will admit I did have flashbacks to a time when any QB could pick the Vikings apart.
But I’m gonna have faith in the Vikings that that won’t happen this year.
Tarvaris Jackson Looked Great
Wow, I bet he silenced a few trade rumors, at least for a week. He went 12 for 15 for 202 yards. On his first series, he missed two of the three passes he missed, and still looked good doing it. His first pass was DEEP to Sidney Rice. Rice had to slow down quite a bit, but still had plenty of room to make the catch. Unfortunately it was incomplete because Rice couldn’t quite stay in bounds. Still, a nice deep ball from Jackson. His second pass was actually completed and it looked sharp, but Jackson made a dumb mistake of being almost 5 yards past the line of scrimmage when he threw it. At that point, even though he made a couple nice passes, I figured the fact that neither of them counted was going to set a negative tone for the rest of the game.
Instead he came out firing again. He completed 12 of his next 13 passes, and moved the ball very efficiently. His 64 yard pass to Reynaud could not have been thrown any better, and on this TD pass to Shiancoe he was scrambling away from a blitz and buying time for a receiver to get open. Great job.
My only gripe with Jackson is that he holds onto the ball a little too long sometimes. That’s ESPECIALLY obvious after watching Brett Favre get rid of the ball. The flip side of that is that he can create with his legs, which is something that none of the other QBs on the roster can really do.
But What About Booty?
Well, Booty’s stats looked decent… 6 for 8 for 61 yards. To be completely honest, though, Booty just doesn’t grab me. I know he’s young, and I know he was a great college QB, but there’s nothing about watching him over the last 2 preseasons that makes me say “this guy is going to turn into something special”. Maybe I’d change my tune if he got to play with the first team, but still, even though he’s playing with third string receivers, he’s also playing against third string defenses. It should balance out.
I’ll probably talk about this more on Monday, but after last night’s performance by Jackson, I think Booty might be the odd man out.
By The Jazzy One on August 20th, 2009
THERE IS A VIKINGS GAME TONIGHT!!!!
Man, am I ever pumped up. I went to a Twins game at the dome yesterday (ugh, but they lost), and tonight I get to watch the Vikings on TV. Good times, I tell ya. Gooooooooood Times.
Anyway, sorry about the excitement. Moving on.
Tonight the Vikings will go to Indianapolis to play the Colts for the first preseason game of the year. Of course when it comes to preseason, winning and losing doesn’t matter very much. Instead we want to keep an eye on how the returning players have progressed from last year, and how the new players are going to fit in. Here’s what I’m personally going to be watching for:
How Sage Rosenfels Plays
This will be the storyline for the first quarter of tonight’s game. For the first time in quite a long time, the Vikings have a legitimate quarterback battle taking place going into the season. It was announced that tonight Sage will get the start with the first team, and next week Jackson will get those honors. Each of them will basically have probably a quarter of football to impress the coaches to try to win the job. I’m going to guess there will be a lot of passing going on, and hopefully we’ll get a good chance to see how Sage interacts with guys like Berrian, Shiancoe, and Harvin.
What Kind of Impact Will Harvin Have?
Speaking of Harvin, will the Vikings be able to work him into the offense tonight even though he’ll probably see limited action? I seriously doubt we’ll see any wildcat formations tonight, as I’m going to guess that if the Vikings decide to use that package they’ll save it for the regular season. However, I’d love to be wrong, because I think it’d be exciting to get a glimpse of what our guys can do with exotic lineups.
Which DB will Step Up?
Will it be Benny Sapp, who has all kinds of athleticism, but not always the greatest head for the game? Will it be Marcus McCauley who has played in the system for a while and has some valuable game time experience? Will it be rookie Asher Allen who has been reported as a very aggressive DB who is not afraid to hit hard and take the ball out of receivers hands?
How Will Albert Young Look?
I don’t know if this one will interest you a lot, but as I’ve pointed out many times, I’m a big fan of Albert Young. Chip Scoggins said on ACCESS VIKINGS that he was progressing well through training camp. I’d love to see him become our #3 RB for this year. To me he could fill the type of role held in the past by Mewelde Moore or Moe Williams… never the kind of backup who is going to step up and take over a game, but instead the kind of guy who you can rely on to fill whatever role he’s needed for. Albert Young is an up-the-middle type runner who would be usable in short yardage situations. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, he can return kicks and punts, and he can play special teams. I hope he makes the roster.
What About John David Booty?
I’m interested in watching Booty play tonight. I know that he’ll be playing with the third team, because he’s really not in the race for the starting QB position at all, but I really want to see how he’s progressed. Last year he looked shaky, even playing against 3rd string defenses. He’s had a whole year of practices now, and he’s most likely more comfortable with the Vikings system. He should most likely get to play the entire second half tonight, which will be valuable playing time for him. I’d like to catch a glimpse to see if it looks like a chance that he can be developed into a starting QB someday, or if he’s going to be one of those players that just turns into a solid backup.
Enjoy the game everyone, and HAPPY FOOTBALL SEASON!!!
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