Jeremy Shockey Released, Could The Vikes Go For Him?

No, he won’t get massive YAC’s but he is so sure handed and much like Cris Carter he doesn’t hear the feet around him and shrug off from making a critical short yardage catch. Jimmy Kcould be the leRoy Hoard of TE’s if used the right way. Chilly was a telegrapher. If it was an obvious run situation AD was in a single back set. Hmmm? Who is getting the ball. It was even more obvious when Jimmy was in the game in that set. “Just here to block guys”
I love Shank. When ya meet and talk to the guy , he is all Vikings. Devoted to his team, his fans and his self-imrovement.
Shockey is old meat. Could he help better than Dugan -probobly. But his age and history of missing games would only warrent that with a much cheaper deal. Instead of 4 mil for one year it would have to be for two and a team option for a 3rd year that is incentive laden on the previous years production

last thing we need is a cancer in the locker room. IMO he falls into the category of a Ocho Cinco, TO

…then we shouldn’t follow that model for TE, either. with Shiancoe’s contract nearing its end, we should draft a TE somewhere in the middle rounds who has good value (more of a receiver than a blocker, if we had to lean one way). i don’t mind Dugan as a blocking TE, especially with Jimmy K on his last legs

He now plays for the Miami Dolphins. In fact 19 players from Viking drafts are playing on other teams right now.

As Spielman has said. We have to do a better job of evaluating and developing our own talent. So, lets quit hiring old guys and start building a football team.

BTW: Here is how rotoworld described Shockey.

No shocker here. The Saints were never going to shell out $4.7 million for an injury-prone blocking specialist who can no longer make plays after the catch. Shockey failed to top 30 yards in a game after early October,

Old knees are old knees. This is a hiring lunacy. Its not like he is going to get magically better.

When looking over the various position groups for the Vikings the one that hurting so badly it’s sinful is the TE position. It’s sinful because it’s allowed to become so old. The talent level is questionable much past Shank (Jimmy K has been a staple Viking for a long time but at this point in his career no defense is scared by him). It’s sinfully out of sorts because this is position where the Vikings need to catch up to the rest of the league and there is not any promising young talent there to suggest they will.

From this starting point to insert Shockey would only hurt things. Shockey really led the revolution that is happening right now at the TE position. That said he’s not part of the solution for the Vikings because his best football is behind him. The Vikings need to get younger and more talented not older with bigger names.

As LLV said what the Vikings really need to figure out what to do is do a better job of internal scouting and developing of players. One of the most shocking thoughts that I came across last offseason from Viking fans and FO comments was the expectation that most of the rookies wouldn’t compete for spots on the roster. On one hand this makes some what of sense due to the veteran talent of the team, on the other hand it really shoots the organization in the foot for future years since there is not any youth to fall back on once players start to decline or retire.

Getting a big name like Shockey doesn’t really help in the process of turning over the roster. This process is absolutely critical at TE since that position is especially old and getting a bit out of date with the NFL. Draft a young guy in a mid round and let him grow with the team. This solution will pay many more dividends than the one or two years you may get out of Shockey.

Did you happen to catch krewe du vieux this past saturday?

is generally not a good idea. I’m not suggesting here that Shockey would be some sort of long-term solution, nor am I suggesting that should we pick him up, we go ahead and completely ignore our current TE situation forever.

The reason why I suggest this is because we’re not in a position, IMO, to pickup a decent TE prospect in the draft. Mickey Shuler was a decent late round pickup, but what exactly has he done to show promise? He scored a touchdown in preseason and has since recorded all of two catches. We can blast Chilly for replacing him with Baskett, but to me, it actually says a lot that the FO felt Baskett was a better choice than Shuler. They might have been wrong, but I don’t think they were THAT wrong.

I bring that point up because if we really want to get a solid TE prospect, we need to do so, IMO, within the first four rounds. (And I’m being generous.) We currently have three picks in the first four rounds. We need a QB, someone on O-line, and ideally someone in the secondary, assuming such players are available at our selections to warrant the picks.

Therefore, I don’t think we can count on us getting a decent TE prospect in this year’s draft, nor do I think, with our other problems, we really should be focusing on it right now. And again, my interest is two-fold: a.) cushion our current TE corps, and b.) increase the amount of options that our QB has. Again, if it’s Webb or a rookie, the more options the better for them. Shockey is good at blocking- that’s helpful with our O-line problems. Shockey is also good at catching- that’s helpful simply to increase the targets our QB will have. We’re not going to have ‘09 Favre out there turning our recievers into monsters, we’re going to need it being the other way around.

Again, if we get Shockey, I wouldn’t want to see him get a contract really past two years- again, maybe (MAYBE) three, but even that’s pushing it. And I wouldn’t pay him what he was due from the Saints. Come next draft we should be focusing a lot more on TE (and hopefully have, you know, a third rounder to help do so), and once we’ve got some youth there, then we can say bye to Shockey (as well as probably, at that point, Kleinsasser- I’d like to see Shianco stick around another couple of years, however- if nothing else as a good mentor).

No, this won’t be a franchise-changing FA move. Nor again is it any sort of attempt to create a long-term solution with our TE weakness. It’s a stop-gap, just like a vet QB who’s around for a year or two. Some of our lesser weaknesses, like TE, could stand a temporary stop-gap; again, in particular, if it helps the development of our QB.

I’d like to see us get him.

Is he get’s hurt alot, and it was frustrating dealing with that. Now, when he’s healthy, that’s another story..he plays very well.

Didn’t think this was going to make front page, but I’m honored. Thanks again all for making this into a solid conversational piece!

Well, maybe a little more “Mad Max” than Viking, but I like to watch the guy because he’s kind of scary and pretty good. Maybe not the right fit with the age and possible injuries, but if he could be had for a little less money I would sure be for it.

Then, do you think we could get Clay Matthews. Now there’s a Viking if I ever saw one.

Luke Stocker