As I read the comments in the fanpost over on the side connected to the Jared Allen interview posted by FSU Viking, I said I'd be curious to see a breakdown of the number of run plays and pass plays used by KC opponents in the games that Jared Allen played in last season.

Well, curiosity killed the. . .something or other. So, I set about breaking this down myself.  Keeping in mind that Allen missed the Chiefs' first two games last season, here's how the fourth quarters of the 14 games the Chiefs played in 2007 looked like.

By my count, that's 108 pass plays and 111 run plays faced by the Chiefs' defense in the 14 games that Jared Allen participated in.  However, if you look at the games that they lost, those numbers change to 55 pass plays and 100 run plays, a nearly 2:1 ratio in favor of the run.  It's relatively tough to get sacks when the other team isn't. . .you know. . .throwing the football.  Looking at the play-by-play stuff I sifted through in order to put that table together, I didn't see a lot of other Kansas City Chiefs racking up sacks in the fourth quarters of ball games either, and we know that Allen was the only guy on that line that was worthy of being double-teamed.

In addition, there's more to Allen's pass-rushing than just sacks.  Last season, he also had 24 quarterback hurries, which is a pretty significant number.  To put that in perspective, Minnesota's leader in that department. . .Kenechi Udeze. . .had 15.  E.J. Henderson was next in line with 11.  So Allen had almost as many quarterback hurries in 2007. . .in two fewer games, mind you. . .than the Vikings' top two players in that category combined.  And, again, he did it on a defensive line that didn't have a whole lot else.  Tamba Hali is a nice player, but with Allen out of the picture, I expect to see him getting more of those double teams until Glenn Dorsey can establish himself in the middle.

I expect Allen to be in a much different situation with the Vikings this season.  As the Vikings' offense prepares to take another step forward in its development, I expect them to have the lead going into the fourth quarter on many, many occasions in 2008.  Since he'll be lining up next to the Irresistible Force and the Immovable Object on the Vikings' defensive line, he'll also be seeing. . .and destroying. . .more one-on-one blocking.  There have been a couple of places I've seen predicting a possible 20-sack season for Allen.  Honestly?  I'd love to see it.  I don't know if I'd predict as many as 20, what with there no longer being any spineless QBs in the NFC North that might be willing to take a dive for him, but he should get a significant number of sacks in 2008. . .and plenty in the fourth quarter, too.

Former Vikings' DE Darrion Scott. . .with a heavy emphasis on FORMER. . .was formally charged with third degree assault, domestic assault by strangulation, and child endangerment.  The first two are felonies, the last one a gross misdemeanor.  For what, you may be wondering?  Well, according to Kevin Seifert . . .

The mother of the child involved reported to police last Monday that she found Scott holding a dry cleaning bag over the boy’s head in Scott’s Eden Prairie townhome. Scott is the boy’s biological father.

According to the complaint: “[The mother] walked through the unlocked door and heard [the boy] crying. She reported that the crying was muffled. She went into the room and found [the boy] lying on his back on the floor, kicking his legs, with [Scott] leaning over him. [Scott] has a dry cleaning bag over his head and [Scott] was holding the bag tight around [the boy’s] neck.”

Scott told police that the two were playing and that he wantd to see if the boy could get the bag off his head by himself.

So yes. . .apparently Darrion Scott's favorite game to play with his 4-year old son is "Can Junior Get the Plastic Bag Off His Head?"  No word on whether or not some of his other favorites include "How Many Of These Lead Paint Chips Can Junior Eat Before He Goes Blind" or "How Long Can Junior Be Held Underwater Before He Goes Limp?"

If even a little bit of this is true, I hope that he goes away for a long, long time.  And not to some white collar resort, either. . .but instead to. . .well, I'll let my friends explain:

Then again, we already knew that.  But this article from Yahoo! Sports confirms it.

One of the key elements to Allen’s six-year, $74 million contract is a provision, pre-approved by the player, that allows the Vikings to convert an $8 million roster bonus Allen is due to receive in 2010 into a signing bonus. In such a case, the team would recoup its money from the player and the signing bonus would count under the salary cap for the remaining years of his contract. Under rules of the collective bargaining agreement, signing bonuses can be recovered by a team when a player violates his contract; a roster bonus can’t.

That was a key issue in Vick winning the right to keep approximately $16.25 million in a federal court judgment handed down in February. That ruling came after the Atlanta Falcons had initially won the right to recover the money because Vick was sentenced to federal prison on charges related to dog fighting last year.

In light of the Vick decision, which the NFL has appealed, Minnesota has come up with this provision in contracts signed by multiple big-money acquisitions this offseason. According to an NFL Players Association source, several other franchises have utilized this practice, though specific examples were not provided. Minnesota included the provision in contracts for safety Madieu Williams and wide receiver Bernard Berrian, which made the clause acceptable to Allen, said his agent Ken Harris.

“This is something the Vikings did with other players they signed this offseason, so it was consistent with everyone,” Harris said. “Jared was not being singled out, so we were willing to do that.”

So to everyone that said the Vikings didn't put any protections for themselves into the Jared Allen contract, it would appear as though the joke is on you.

Yet another brilliant manuever from the best damn cap guy in the National Football League.  This guy is worth every penny that Zygi Wilf is paying him and then some.

By now, anybody that hasn't been living under a rock or in a cave for the last few months knows about the story of Vikings' defensive end Kenechi Udeze.  Shortly after the end of the Vikings' 2007 season, he was diagnosed with leukemia, and has been placed on the reserve/non-football illness list, which means we won't see him on the field for the Beloved Purple until at least 2009, if even then.  Naturally, BKU's health comes first and foremost, but I'd love to see him back on the field again.

I'm sure that many of you out there have had your lives touched by leukemia or some other form of cancer at some point. . .it's a disease that affects a lot of people.  Even though we're more familiar with Kenechi's case because of the fact that we watch him play football every Sunday during the fall, there are many other cases of leukemia affecting families throughout America right now.  Udeze will be getting a bone marrow transplant through his brother. . .a very fortunate circumstance for him, as less than 30% of all leukemia victims manage to find a matching donor.

Fortunately, we can start trying to tip the percentages a little more in the good guys favor by joining the National Marrow Donor Program (click on that spiffy little banner on the right there).  Donating marrow isn't a painful process, contrary to what some TV shows will lead you to believe.  All that will happen when you sign up for the program is you'll get a cheek swab in the mail.  You'll do the swab and send it back.  At that point, you'll be part of the registry, and able to be called to duty should the situation merit.

Now, usually there's a fee for joining the National Marrow Donor Program.  However, with the "Thanks, Mom" campaign they're running from now until 19 May, the signup fee will be waived for the first 10,000 online sign-ups.  As soon as hit the "Publish" button on this post, I'll be making my way over there to register myself, and I hope that many of you will do the same.

I'd like to give a shout out for bringing this to my attention to Stephanie Stradley from AOL Fanhouse's Vikings blog, who relates her own personal story about her sister's battle with leukemia and the folks at Vikings War Cry.  If you go ahead and sign up from here or from either of those sites, let us know about it by leaving a comment on one of the sites.  It will be great to see how many Viking fans out there step up in an effort to make a difference.

Thanks for your time, everyone.  I know I promised football talk today, but something like this has to take precedence, I would think.

Well, it looks like someone on the other side of enemy lines likes what the Beloved Purple did after the draft, as Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune has declared the Vikings' UDFA class as the best in the NFL.

The consensus among NFL scouts is the Chiefs added the most talent in the draft. And the team that added the most talent after the draft was the Vikings.

Because the Vikings had only five picks, they decided to be more aggressive than usual with undrafted free agents, paying as much as $20,000 apiece in bonus money to those players.

A source said the Vikings signed eight undrafted free agents who they rated as draftable: wide receiver Darius Reynaud, guard Drew Radovich, linebackers Erin Henderson and J Leman, safeties Marcus Griffin and Husain Abdullah, and cornerbacks Brandon Sumrall and Marcus Walker.

Don't be surprised if a number of them contribute.

We'll take a closer look this week at which of those free agents have the best chance of making the roster, as well as breaking down the roster as a whole and what we should expect.  I don't know if I'd say that any of the UDFAs are stone cold locks or anything. . .but I'll be very, VERY surprised if we don't have two Hendersons on the roster come early September.

Still not a whole lot written by anyone about the mini-camp.  According to our good pal Mr. Cheer or Die, the Vikings will be having OTAs from 20-22 May, 27-28 May, and a mini-camp from 6-8 June.  Players will then report to training camp on 23 July, with camp formally kicking off on 25 July.

Shoot, I just saw an ad somewhere that says that the NFL preview issues are going to start hitting newsstands in early June.  EARLY. . .JUNE!  It does get earlier every year, doesn't it?  And I'll be at Barnes & Noble looking for them every darn day.  Unless, of course, I order the ones with the Viking-related covers from the various sites.

That's all for tonight, ladies and gentlemen. . .take care, stay off Cedric Benson's boat, and we'll see you back here tomorrow.

But then, we'd pretty much already figured that out, hadn't we?

However, in a very classy move, the Vikings are going to pay Udeze's 2008 salary, even though they are under no obligation to do so after moving #95 to the reserve/non-football injury list.

Under NFL rules, teams are not required to pay players on the NFI list because the "injury" is not football-related. But Childress said that owner Zygi Wilf authorized the payment so that Udeze can "focus on getting well."

Childress added: "He's done a great job with that so far. He's been positive. He's been upbeat. What that does is obviously clear his mind of any financial issues, and the organization, particularly the Wilfs, have taken care of that."

Looks like the Vikings have learned from the whole debacle that took place with Troy Williamson and his grandmother's funeral last November, haven't they?

In a couple of other news tidbits. . .

-Former Viking and current Original Wizzinator spokesman Onterrio Smith was arrested for DUI  in Sacramento last week.  Seriously, did we ever find out whether or not there was an "Imitation Wizzinator" or an "Unoriginal Wizzinator?"  Although I suppose that "Unoriginal Wizzinator" could be used in reference to Dane Cook.

-Smilin' Jimmy Souhan is. . .actually smilin'?  About. . .the Vikings' quarterback situation?  Really?  Is that one of the seven seals I just heard being opened?

-Randall McDaniel will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in celebration of his career at Arizona State, in which he was almost as dominant as he was in the National Football League.  Also enshrined will be Lou Holtz.  If you plan on attending the ceremony, please be advised if you're in the first couple of rows, you'll be given a Gallagher-style tarp for use during Holtz's induction speech.

-The Ragnarok has some stories up about the Vikings' 2008 Draft, as well as the undrafted free agents that the Beloved Purple are bringing in.

 -Vike Vision is back, as well as a new site called Virginia Viking.  Be sure to check them both out!

That's all for right now, folks.  More tomorrow!

Okay, we're finally going to get back into the football side of things here.  I've got a few different things planned for the off-season, but let's take a good look at some of the newest Vikings, starting with the guy that was selected first by the Beloved Purple in last weekend's draft.

Tyrell Johnson was considered by scouts to be one of the two best available safeties in the 2008 NFL Draft, along with Kenny Phillips out of Miami (FL), who was selected with the last pick of Round 1 by the New York Football Giants.  While safety might not have looked like an absolute need for the Vikings at first blush, the Vikings could afford to take a chance on someone like Johnson because. . .well, because there just aren't going to be a lot of roster spots available on this year's squad.  In addition, with Darren Sharper in the last year of his contract with the Vikings, someone was needed that can be paired with Madieu Williams for the long-term future, and Johnson has all the makings of that guy.

Here is Johnson's NFL.com combine report.

Positives: Adequate size and toughness to play the run and pass in the NFL. ... Good upper-body build, strong inside the box as a wrap-up tackler. ... Smart, hard-working player who leads the defense. ... Good athleticism, showing closing speed to the ball or ballcarrier and nice hops in coverage. ... Adjusts well to the ball in the air. ... Takes good angles to minimize longer plays. ... Brings it hard on special teams.

Negatives: Could be considered a free/strong 'tweener by some teams looking for more of a linebacker mentality in their strong safety or man-cover abilities in their free safety. ... May have the athleticism to handle downfield responsibilities, but looks better reacting to plays in front of him than in man coverage. ... Not really an explosive tackler, catching players as they run by. ... Does not take on blocks often enough. ... Does not always break down in space, allowing ballcarriers to make a cut to get by him.

While the signing of Madieu Williams gave us more of a coverage type of safety, Johnson appears to be more of a strong safety/in the box type.  While it doesn't sound like Johnson's coverage skills are all the way there yet, it doesn't appear as though he's Roy Williams or anything, either.  He had 13 interceptions in his college career, including six as a senior in 2007, so the ability is clearly there.  He sounds like a pretty good Cover-2 safety, which is exactly what we need.  I also like the part about his special teams ability, since that's where he's going to be seeing a lot of time in 2008.

Johnson is also very athletic, measuring in at 6' and 205 pounds.  He ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at the combine, and his 27 repetitions of the 225-pound bench press were more than any other safety that participated in the Indianapolis workouts.

I'll admit, I didn't know a lot about Tyrell Johnson before last weekend. . .but the more I read about him, the more it appears he's just another good, solid young piece to a defense that's being built for the long haul.  It will be exciting to see him on the field on Sundays.

Oh, and if you want to go jersey hunting/ordering, Johnson has been assigned #25.

More news tidbits later on. . .continue enjoying your weekend, everybody!

The Minnesota Vikings have assigned jersey numbers to everyone they acquired at the draft last week, as well as their unsigned free agents.  The list can be found here at Access Vikings.  Only two things really stand out to me from the list.

#1 - Daunte Culpepper's old #11 has been assigned to a 6th round wide receiver that, in my opinion, has very little chance of making the team unless he shows he's the second coming of Devin Hester or something.

#2 - The thought of seeing this leading our team down the field in the relatively near future makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

Did I say "a little?"  Because if I did, I meant to say "a lot."

Not because it's John David Booty, mind you.  I like Booty a lot.  (Consider that the first in a string of "Booty" jokes that will never get old.)  I also understand that Booty couldn't have his old college number, #10, because the Vikings retired it years ago in honor of one of the five greatest quarterbacks in the history of the National Football League.

But seriously?  #4?  This is the best you could do?  Argh.  Oh, well. . .I guess that as long as he doesn't turn out to be a self-absorbed, me first, attention whoring drama queen, I'll be able to adjust eventually.

I apologize again for the lack of real content over the past couple of days. . .had a rough week at the "day job," and it translated over to here.  Hopefully with the weekend being here I can get myself back to the level of quality you all have come to expect from this site.  Keep enjoying your Friday, ladies and gentlemen!