Here you see Sidney Rice (sponsored by The Daily Norseman) playing a nice, casual game of catch with Adrian Peterson.

Of all of the positives that the Vikings' offense has going for it this season, I think that the development of Sidney Rice could end up being the biggest non-Adrian Peterson story to come from that side of the ball this year for the Beloved Purple.  Think about it. . .Rice spent what was supposed to be his junior year at the University of South Carolina playing for the Vikings in 2007.  He's gotten a year to get familiar with the offense, a year to work with Tarvaris Jackson, and he's got a legitimate deep threat on the other side of him.

Take a quick look at the wide receiver class from the 2008 NFL Draft.  Seriously, now. . .do you think ANY of those guys would have gone ahead of #18 if he had stayed with the Gamecocks for another year and put up big numbers in Steve Spurrier's offense?  Not a chance.  This guy is so physically talented and gifted, and I'll once again admit that I was completely and totally wrong for wanting the Vikings to take Dwayne Jarrett instead of him.

And, of course, we would be remiss if we forgot to talk about our own. . .Purple. . .Jesus.  (Thank you, Depeche Mode.)

I know the guy gets a ton of hype, but it's all completely and totally deserved.  This guy slammed himself into a brick wall, essentially, for the second half of the 2007 season, and still ended up leading the conference in rushing, not to mention putting on two of the all-time great individual performances in Minnesota Vikings history.  We've heard all the records, we've heard all the praise, and I know that I can't wait to see him do it all again.  Just imagine what he's going to be able to do without having to look across the line and see 8 or 9 guys in the box on nearly every play. . .not to mention getting worked more into the passing game.

I can't remember the last time I was this geeked for a season to get underway.  We're STILL three and a half months away from the Slaughter in 'Sconnie, and I don't know if I'm going to physically be able to handle it.

That's all for tonight, folks. . .keep enjoying your Thursday night, and we'll see you back here tomorrow!

Oh, and once again, a big SKOL to Mr. Cheer or Die for supplying the photos used in this post.