FanPost

Who are the Vikings Inactive players and why?

Ever wonder why a game's not going so well? Why doesn't the dumb**s coach just substitute so and so and move this team along. Well lot of it has to do with rosters. The 45 man active roster which has to be decided for each and every game. Who are the missing 8 men? Why are they the ones sitting?

First let me say that Joe Webb is the emergency quarterback and that position doesn't count as part of the 45 man roster. He gets to play but there is one very strict rule about it. If the emergency QB enters the game prior to the 4th quarter then the 1st and 2nd string QB can not re-enter the game.

Lets take a look at the other 7 guys and see what the Vikes have done.

Vikes v. New Orleans.

We know this is going to be a barn burner. We need those defensive guys in there. We need our firepower, too. Who did we sit out?

CB 23 C.Griffin, CB 31 C.Cook, RB 32 T.Gerhart, G 72

C.DeGeare, DT 73 J.Kennedy, TE 82 M.Shuler, DE 97 E.Griffen

C.Griffen, Cook, Gerhart,and Kennedy were injured and could not play. DeGeare , Shuler, and E.Griffen were the untested rookies that had less experience on the special teams unit than other players.

What Happened?

Well, in the first half the Saints basically passed the ball. I'm sure the game plan had to do with Griffen and Cook being out. But at halftime they adjusted. Could it be that they analyzed that Kennedy was hurt. That without him the D-Line would tire more easily in the second half? We don't know but they ran the ball the whole second half, successfully.

Vikes v. Miami

Our first home game against a strong defense. Our receiving corps needs to get moving. Defense just needs to be strong.

Who did we sit out?

CB 23 C.Griffin, CB 31 C.Cook, RB 34 A.Young, G 72

C.DeGeare, DT 73 J.Kennedy, TE 82 M.Shuler, DE 97 E.Griffen

The only change was the fact that Toby Gerhart got healthy and was substituted for Albert Young. It is interesting because Albert was so effective against the Blitz in the first game ( although ineffective in moving the chains) but the coaching staff felt that Toby was an asset over the more experienced Albert Young.

What Happened?

The D-Line held up even without Kennedy. Impressive considering the Miami run game. The secondary got burned on a couple passes but basically did OK. The running game of the Vikings was very effective but the credit is going to AP and the gang up front.

Vikes V. Detroit

Our second home game and we are 0-2. We need to score some points and keep the defense strong. Detroit brings in the massive center Suh and a good looking defensive line. The Vikes counter with a change of O-Line strategy.

Who sits out?

S 25 Tyrell.Johnson, RB 34 A.Young, LB 50 Erin Henderson,

C 68 J.Cooper, DT 90 F.Evans, DE 92 J.Mitchell, DE 97 E.Griffen

What Happened?

Prior to the start of the game the Vikings deactivate Tyrell Johnson ( last years starting safety), LB Erin Henderson, and 2nd string center J.Cooper, DT Fred Evans, and DE J. Mitchell. In their place they bring a hopefully healthy C.Griffen and C.Cook for the secondary. They let C.DeGeare play in his first NFL game as an offensive guard. Kennedy is healthy and plays. Shuler is waived to make room for a new WR (Haskins), who played.

It is hard to imagine C.Griffen and C.Cook and Kennedy not starting again. I imagine to everyone's surprise Sullivan, the starting center, was injured during the game. Ryan Cook stepped in to play center. This left rookie Chris DeGeare to play guard or tackle in case of injury. This is a Viking staple. Play with 7 O-Lineman and make sure everyone is versatile. Did you know that DeGeare did play Tackle in college as well as guard? I imagine Cooper was set down because he is smaller than DeGeare and Cook. Going against Suh would not be easy. But, after all it was Detroit we were playing. Maybe we can take some chances.

The O-Line looked good.

The D-Line looked very good, even without Fred Evans or Jaymee Mitchell.

What about next game?

Well, we know that the Vikes need every receiver they have so all of them will be active. So far AP has been taking the load and holding up well. Since Toby is picking up the blitz and running well I suspect we are a two back team for awhile. Just understand the difficulty if one of our backs get hurt. Harvin will be in the backfield sometimes if that happens. Can we get along without Cooper? I think so. If Sullivan doesn't have some kind of nagging perpetual injury then I can see this new line-up working. DeGeare is obviously wanted, by the coaching staff, to help on the O-Line. We now know that Cook can play the center spot along with every other position on the O-Line.

But what of Fred Evans and Jaymee Mitchell. We now know that Guion and Robison are the the preferred players at those positions. I think we can glean that Everson Griffen is showing real potential. Otherwise, he would have been waived instead of Shuler.

The last question I have is this. Who gets waived when Sidney comes back? Unless someone is injured and placed on the IR or PUP list I think we will be saying Goodbye to Mr. Haskins.

I'm not sure what this study tells us. My guess is that we now have the starting 45 players pretty well set. Any changes in the future will be due to injury or a scheme change. The biggest surprise to me. Well, Tyrell Johnson being completely demoted. It will be interesting to see if that is still the case when we play the Jets.

I'm anxious to hear your thoughts.

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.