Oh God Not This Again, Open Thread

man, i had completely forgotten about that. sidney did such a great job, i am glad it turned out that way. IF, lightning should strike twice, maybe we’ll get lucky twice as well, and if LT signs somewhere else, we may find another diamond-in-the-rough. maybe someone already on our roster. i don’t really want for us to go after westbrook though. he is WAY too injury prone. i do like the job that our front office has done over the past couple of years, so i will put my trust in them.
GO VIKES!!!

Free agent running back LaDainian Tomlinson hasn’t found a new team just yet. But as he visits with the Jets, the rumors are swirling that he’s close.

We’ve caught wind of a rumor that Tomlinson will, in fact, sign with the Jets. Although you should file this under “rumor” rather than “report” right now, suffice to say that it’s a strong rumor coming from a good source.

Tomlinson was meeting with the Jets this afternoon, and the New York Daily News reports that Tomlinson is spending another night in town.

Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum and coach Rex Ryan are trying hard to get Tomlinson, who’s also considering the Vikings, to commit to the Jets, and the indications are that the Jets are going to get their man.

Per Pro Football Talk:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/12/rumors-swirling-that-tomlinson-will-sign-with-jets/

LT would get more playing time with the Jets.

http://twitter.com/JuddZulgad/status/10394524725

The signs aren’t looking good. Whatever, though. We’ve got enough ammo with or without him.

Forget LT. Draft this guy!

5’11" 220 4.43 forty 26 bench 40.5 vertical

Ben Tate RB Auburn TALENT BOARD Round 3

STRENGTHS
Ben is a strong running back who looks and plays bigger than his height and weight would suggest. He is a smart player who understands and reads defenses; he has the lateral agility to pick up the blitz and protect his QB. He can catch the ball out of the backfield and shows an excellent burst to the hole and in the open field. Ben is a strong runner and hits the hole at top speed. He looks to be an excellent teammate and shows some leadership skills in his play on the field. In my opinion, this kid is a bit of a sleeper running back to be drafted by a team that uses a zone blocking scheme for its running game.

NEEDS TO IMPROVE
Ben is not your shifty, vision in the hole, cut-on-a-dime running back. That means that with a good offensive line, and in the right system, he will impact. He is a one-cut-and-go type of running back. If you are going to draft him and expect him to carry the load, make his own yards, cut and look for holes, you are barking up the wrong tree. The best way to use Ben so that he impacts is to pair him up with a running back who is a cut on the dime, vision in the hole style of back who can make his own yards. This will make it hard for a defense to adjust to the different style of backs and drive them nuts.
 
BOTTOM LINE
Ben can impact right away as a third down back because he is so adept at reading the blitz and catching the ball out of the backfield. He will impact right away in a zone blocking scheme, but he is a one system type of back, which limits all of the teams being interested in him and therefore drops his value. Ben is a “ready to use” third down back and that makes him a potential back that should be drafted somewhere in the first three rounds. I like this kid’s game because his intelligence and blocking skills are far ahead of the average back coming out in the draft. He has an excellent burst, great straight line speed and is a tough kid. All of these ingredients lend themselves to a running back that should be pretty successful at the NFL level. Ben reminds me of Kenneth Davis, a running back who was paired up with Thurman Thomasin Buffalo. Thurman was the cut on a dime, vision in the hole type of running back that could make his own yards and Kenneth was the straight ahead speed, change up back that would break big plays because the defense was hesitating to catch Thurman and could not adjust quickly enough to Kenneth’s style of running. That hesitation was enough for Kenneth to make impact plays when he came on the field to rest Thurman. Early in Thurman’s career, he was a bit of a fumbler and Kenneth was brought in to run inside the red zone. Ben should be an excellent red zone running back because of his all around abilities, most especially his blocking skills. Ben should become a core player for his team and a fan favorite.

Need I say more?

But seriously I don’t really care that much. I think we’re ok with what we got, or look at late round draft picks for a back up RB. I am much more interested up in upgrading the O-Line and secondary.

If LT is not 100% committed to the Vikings then we need to just say “Good Luck, wherever you end up”. We don’t need him as bad as he can use us. We are not weak at any position. Just looking for the best players to fill some holes, either through the draft or FA.
Skol

Last years hyperventilation on Housh shoudl serve as a reminder not to get too excited over any possible signing. Had we signed Housh we would not have drafted Harvin and the trajectory of the season might have been quite different. The future surely would.

From time to time, the folks responsible for selling NFL-related apparel put the cart ahead of the horse.

Or maybe they know more than the rest of us.

Either way, NFLShop.com currently is selling Vikings’ jerseys bearing LaDainian Tomlinson’s last name on the back.

No similar product is being offered in Jets colors.

It most likely means nothing. But it gives us something to write about while we wait for Tomlinson to decide his next move.

2st reports had him inking with the Jets. Apparently a more reliable source said he left with no contract.
They didn’t say if he had a Jets jersey in hand like he did a Vikes. That may be a weird, but small good sign.
The better sign is he didn’t get pushed into inking with NY which to me says the Vikings did something right.
I have a gut feeling we are going to here he is signing with the Vikings on Monday. If he wanted to be a jet he would have stayed and ironed out contract details while there. I sure wouldn’t be jumping around if I had mad the decision.
Maybe the Vikes offered less. They called to seee if they would match and they said they would. Leaving NY unsigned is a great sign for the Vikings chances.

so they only have to be part of the regular season(so to say). But they get to skip the off season.

Brady Quinn was traded to the Broncos for a fullback and a couple of late draft picks, possibly conditional.

I’m glad the Vikings didn’t get him.

He yards per carry have been dropping off fast, and he can’t stay healthy. You also don’t want Adrian picking up on his “all about me” vibes. The 400+ yard seasons killed him. He may have a resurgent year, but he’s likely all washed up. San Diego could have kept him and didn’t. You have to wonder why.