>>>ALL THINGS VIKINGS<<<

Looks like there's no more excuses for Capt Kirk seems like getting O-line is getting together finally and I hope that Lewis Cine turns out be like another Joey Browner and the Defense on paper looks to be improved, the NFC will be tough time to go for it no more of this check down crap and making your own stat line look good

 

This up-coming season will be different... I guarantee it!

 

Hope your right it's time to step up...Enough of this good but not good enough so GO VIKINGS!

 

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on trading within division: Feelings can’t get in the way of improving the team



It wasn’t a huge surprise that Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah traded out of the 12th overall pick in order to gather more selections over the course of the draft, but the team he traded with was a bit unexpected.

The Lions moved up from No. 32 and sent that pick, No. 34 and No. 66 to the Vikings so they could grab wide receiver Jameson Williams. There’s an adage about not trading within the division, but Adofo-Mensah told Peter King in this week’s Football Morning in America that he doesn’t fully subscribe to it.


He said he wouldn’t trade Justin Jefferson in the division, but that draft picks are different because they’re speculative. He added that he would have traded with someone else had there been a similar offer on the table, but that wasn’t the case and he made the deal despite knowing that any success Williams has against the Vikings will lead to mentions of how he got to Detroit.

“I’m not dumb. I know every touchdown catch [Williams] scores against us, TV will show me or show my name,” Adofo-Mensah said. “That’s life. If my feelings are going to get in the way of us making decisions to improve the team, I shouldn’t be in this seat. I made the decision because I’m in charge, but it’s more fair to say we made the decision as an organization. The [draft] room was behind what we were doing . . . Detroit had [picks] 32 and 34, and we were targeting those picks for specific reasons.”

Adofo-Mensah made another trade in the second round and picked up two second-round picks by dealing No. 34 to the Packers. He told King that any other team picking after them would have agreed to that deal and “it’d just have been about saving face with the media” if they didn’t make it because it was Green Bay.

The Packers took wideout Christian Watson after the trade, so the Vikings secondary will have a lot to do with how Adofo-Mensah’s moves are regarded a few years from now.

PFT

 

We will see how this plays out, Christian Watson Green Bay I'm concerned Aaron Rodgers has a way of making wide receivers look good

 

Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith have become fast friends

Vikings edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith became fast friends at the Pro Bowl in Orlando in January 2020. They became teammates in March when Smith signed with the Vikings.

“The first time I met him (at the Pro Bowl), he was a cool, young, good overall character and all that stuff,” Hunter said, via Chris Tomasson of The Pioneer-Press. “He came here, (and) I was excited about it. He texted me saying he was coming here, and we started developing a bond.”


Hunter had 14.5 sacks in both 2018 and 2019 before appearing in only seven games the past two seasons because of injuries. Smith played only one regular-season game in 2021 with the Packers, because of a back injury, but he had 13.5 sacks in 2019 and 12.5 in 2020.

The pass rushers have adopted the Purple People Eaters’ motto of “meet at the quarterback.”

If both are healthy, they should rank among the best in the NFL.

“I say one of the best in the NFL,’’ Smith said. “But you know, it’s too early. We’re just going to keep working and getting better at our craft, and you’ll see the results here in the season.”

PFT

 

Edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Za'Darius Smith will give the Vikings one of the best pass-rushing duos in the NFL if they remain healthy. If. . . .

Smith played only one regular-season game and the Packers’ postseason game last season because of a back injury.


Hunter has played only seven games the past two seasons, missing all of 2020 with a neck injury and sitting out the final 10 games last season after tearing a pectoral muscle.

Hunter spoke to the media Tuesday, his first interview since Sept. 29.

“I feel pretty good,’’ Hunter said, via Chris Tomasson of The Pioneer-Press. “Last year’s injury wasn’t as significant as the year before, but it was a three-month recovery. Had we made it to the playoffs, it’s possible I would have been able to come back.

“It’s just good to be back with the guys. . . . It kind of hurts just watching people play.’’

It was “around February or March” when Hunter returned to a regular workout routine.

“The biggest thing was having like the right people around me, just motivating me and keeping me in the right mindset,’’ Hunter said of his recovery.

Hunter had 14.5 sacks in both 2018 and 2019 before his injuries. That production surely is what prompted the Vikings to pick up an $18 million roster bonus on Hunter’s contract, which they converted into a signing bonus to lower his cap number for this season.

“I wasn’t really worried about (the bonus),’’ Hunter said. “My biggest thing was getting through my rehab and coming back playing football.’’

Hunter’s contract runs through 2023, so, after the past two seasons, he faces a big season in 2022. If he can stay healthy, Hunter has a chance to do just that in new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell’s 3-4 scheme.

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Really, really need Hunter to stay healthy for this (3-4 scheme) to work right.

 

The Vikings have commenced Organized Team Activities for the first time under new coach Kevin O’Connell. The offensive-minded coach may have his mind set on getting the most he can out of one key member of the offense.

Via Chad Graff of TheAthletic.com, Cook lined up in bunch receiver sets in multiple different formations.


Cook, who has switched from No. 33 to No. 4, wouldn’t say whether that will be part of the plan for 2022.

“I don’t want to just sit up here and tell y’all everything,” Cook said, via Graff. “We’ve got Green Bay Week One, so we’re gonna wait and see.”

Cook has 182 career receptions. He had 34 catches in 2021, a career low but for 2017, when he suffered a torn ACL in Week Four.

Whatever O’Connell does, the Vikings have the talent on offense to make things very interesting offensively, especially if O’Connell can bring some of the Sean McVay magic from L.A. to Minneapolis.

 

Its nice to see that KOC will use Dalvin Cook in a number of ways wow looks like the Vikings might have some imagination this year

 

The Za'Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter combo could be awesome fingers crossed!

 

Dalvin Cook likes Vikings’ running back depth



Dalvin Cook clearly is the Vikings’ RB1, but he has never played a full season in his five NFL seasons. He missed four games last season after sitting out 21 in his first four seasons.

The Vikings have had Alexander Mattison behind Cook the past three seasons and will again this season.


They have upgraded the depth behind those two.

The Vikings selected North Carolina running back Ty Chandler in the fifth round of last month’s draft. He will join Kene Nwangwu on the depth chart behind Cook and Mattison.

“We’re in the NFL. Things happen. Guys go down,’’ Cook said, via Chris Tomasson of The Pioneer-Press.

Nwangwu, a fourth-round choice in 2021, played 11 games as a rookie and had only 17 touches for 70 yards but returned two of 18 kickoff returns for touchdowns.

The Vikings plan to get Nwangwu more involved on offense this season.

“He doesn’t have a ceiling,’’ Cook said. “He’s got it all. We see it on special teams. . . . The thing I haven’t seen is him run the ball more consistently and get the ball more. I think that’s going to happen coming up. He’s special with the ball in his hands, and I want to see him make more plays.”

PFT

 

Ty Chandler kinds look like a mini version of Dalvin Cook very interesting or a Mike Boone type of rb...the Vikings never get any RESPECT!!!!!

 

Former Vikings coach Mike Zimmer had an old-school, Parcells-style, tell-it-like-he-sees-it approach. After Zimmer was fired, linebacker Eric Kendricks characterized the team as being “fear-based” under Zimmer.

Kendricks is feeling a different emotion with the new Minnesota coaching staff. Typically, teams that fire one coach look for someone who is in many respects the exact opposite of the last one.


“I’m real excited about the staff,” Kendricks said Wednesday, via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Everybody’s been on board, everybody’s been communicating very well. . . We have this amazing opportunity ahead of us again. . . . Whatever happened last year is in the past and we have to move forward. We can learn from a lot of things, but we also have to adapt and change with the new year.”

Kendricks said that he had a chance to communicate directly with ownership during the process that resulted in the hiring of Kevin O’Connell.

“Just having that bridge of communication with them and the management as well, I feel like it’s not really common,” Kendricks said. “I’ve talked to players around the league and they don’t really have that communication with their ownership.”

There’s a balance to strike, however. The players can’t have too much influence over ownership. If they do, the coaching staff becomes undermined. Still, it sounds as if the last coaching staff did a pretty good job of undermining itself.

O’Connell, like Kendricks, is enjoying the honeymoon phase that comes from the plausible hope of 0-0.

“From day one, I’ve been so impressed by Eric and just his impact on our team, his impact as a leader, part of our leadership group that we have here, which I’m very, very fortunate in my first job as a head coach to have such a good group,” O’Connell said, via Tomasson.

More importantly, Kendricks is shifting from middle linebacker in a 4-3 to one of two inside linebackers in a 3-4. He said the new defense is “a little more ambiguous at times,” and that it “allows you to make decisions on the run, make plays, run around really.”

Whatever the alignment, the Vikings need better performance from all phases of the team. The past two years weren’t nearly good enough. Although plenty of excuses could be rattled off to explain the failure to make the postseason in either of the first two years with seven playoff spots per conference, the bottom line is that the product on the field wasn’t good enough. When it’s not, the person in charge of it becomes the first one to go.

PFT

 

Kevin O’Connell wants Vikings’ defensive players to know he’s not just an offensive coach


New Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was a quarterback during his playing career, and a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator before he became head coach of the Vikings this offseason. He has never played or coached on defense.

But he wants the Vikings’ defensive players to know that now that he’s the head coach, he’s taking an interest in both sides of the ball.


“[I want to] be visible to the defense, let them know that I’m learning their side of the ball just as much as they are,” O’Connell said, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. ”I can complement them on detailed things they can do within our coverages, within a pressure, how we stop the run, and they can look at me as not just an offensive head coach.”

Former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was primarily a defensive coach. O’Connell called it “really important” for the defense and special teams to know that their head coach is involved in all phases of the game.

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Za’Darius Smith ‘can’t wait’ to see look on Aaron Rodgers’ face in Week 1

Za’Darius Smith isn’t shying away from the slated Week 1 matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.

After spending the previous three seasons for the team in green, he’ll have a chance to see things from the purple side. But more than anything, he’ll have a chance to look into the eyes of legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers as an opponent this time instead of a teammate.

“I can’t wait to get a chance to face them the first game and see that look on Aaron Rodgers’ face when he see me on the other side of the ball,” Smith said, when appearing on The Rich Eisen Show. “…It’s going to be a, ‘It’s good to see you again, but now, it’s not at practice.'”

Smith admitted to wanting to return to Green Bay in the interview, but the two sides weren’t able to come to a contractual agreement. So the two-time Pro Bowl linebacker was released into the wild, where he was offered a chance to play for a division rival.

It was hard to pass up an opportunity to team with Danielle Hunter on the defensive side of the ball and likely even harder to turn down a chance to play the Packers twice a year.

Now, Smith can show his former team what they missed out on by not re-signing him. There will be no red no-contact jersey for Rodgers on September 11 when he stares across the line of scrimmage at a familiar face in the No. 55 jersey.

The only difference this time is the hits will be real.

VIKINGS WIRE

 

Just hope this works out and injury bug stays away cause this has the chance of being something special,this could really help the Defensive side

 

I wonder will there be a little fear in Aaron Rodgers eyes

 

I certainly hope so.

 

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell satisfied by QB Kellen Mond's spring performance entering Year 2

Kellen Mond's 2021 season ended with his coach telling reporters he'd seen enough of him.

Fast-forward to 2022, where Mond has a new coach and a new perspective. Instead of being stuck in the bottom-of-the-depth-chart doghouse under Mike Zimmer, new Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell is giving Mond plenty of opportunities to earn the backup job behind Kirk Cousins.

As of Friday, Mond is doing a solid job in shorts, jerseys and helmets.

"Kellen's having a good spring so far, working incredibly hard, digesting the system," O'Connell said Thursday. "He made a couple of checks yesterday at the line of scrimmage that he wasn't prepared play-by-play for ... he just kind of instinctively did that. Those are the little things you look for."

The description from O'Connell is more important than the actual production at this stage of the offseason, primarily because it's a significant departure from the tone Zimmer took regarding Mond in the coach's final days with the Vikings. Instead of essentially leaving behind Mond's development for more immediate needs -- an understandable approach for a coach who was likely feeling his seat get warmer with each day -- O'Connell recognizes the potential gains to be made by Mond at this time of the year.

Mond arrived in Minnesota via a 2021 third-round pick and excited Vikings fans looking for a reason to have faith in a future beyond Cousins. But as the season progressed and it became clearer Zimmer might end up out of a job, the long-term work on Mond took a back seat. Instead, it was about being prepared to win the next game with Cousins and veteran backup Sean Mannion.

A new regime means a longer leash, though, which fits with Mond's developmental timeline. We're not saying he's about to take Cousins' job -- he's not -- but it should make Vikings fans feel better about the potential of Mond, who sure seemed like an afterthought for much of 2021.

NFL.com

 

I just like that Kellen Mond is getting a chance if he makes the team or not at least he's getting a chance