Predicting the Final 53 Man Roster

Vikes are leaving Minnesota.

I think they have to cut ties with Johnson and keep Raymond for his potential

… Tyrrel Johnson was cut and Frampton stays. Between Raymon and Frampton I have no opinion. But that would really surprise me that Tyrrel Johnson would get cut in favor of Frampton anyhow, who’s never come close to being a starter.

That said, I completely understand your low opinion of Johnson. He doesn’t seem to have good instincts back there, and often takes the wrong angle to make a tackle. Just plain frustrating to watch. The fact that they have two good starters (or reasonably good) and they can bench Johnson makes me happy.

Nevertheless, are we really going to cut Johnson and then have to start Frampton if Sanford or Abdullah goes down? Yikes. Johnson has the experience.

makes me seriously want to cry. But I think you nailed just about everything. I really like this kid Reisner, and though Dugan has been a fairly solid contributor for a while, I’m hoping for the Iowa connection. I’m not certain about Shank’s health right this second. Holy smokes we good sure use some serious upgrading at that safety position, and hope like heck that Cedric and Antoine stay healthy.

I am glad you did this so I do not have to do another. :)

I will put what I would do here.

QB:. McNabb, Webb, Ponder (3)
No particular order as any of the two backups can play depending on the opponent although I think Frazier will turn to Webb first.

RB: AP, Toby, Booker (3)

WR: Hervin, Jenkins, Aromashodu, Arceneaux, Iglesias, Jaymar (6)
This is what I would do but I think the team keeps Berrian. Then it is between Iglesias & Jaymar for the number 6 spot. I do not see the #4 thru 6 WRs getting much action unless there is an injury in which case we are in trouble anyway – Moss anyone?

TE: Visanthe, Rudolph, Kleinsasser (3)

OL: Johnson, Hutchinson, Sullivan, Herrera, Loadholt, DeGeare, Fusco, Love, Olsen, Brown (10)
I think that Herrera is done and he has not been very impressive at all thus far. I also believe that we can expect no better than what we have seen the last three years which was below average. Check this …
http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/06/14/2010-pass-blocking-efficiency-guards-and-centers/

Cook and Cooper were less than impressive and really have had their shot. Time to see what the younger guys can do.

On a side note: I saw this at profootballtalk.com …

Of greater concern: tight end Tony Moeaki, right tackle Barry Richardson and safety Eric Berry all got hurt in the first half. Jared Gaither looked solid replacing Richardson and may start Week One. Berry’s injury didn’t look bad.

I was hoping they would take a flier on him when Oakland released him. They could have them moved Johnson to right guard perhaps?

Also, I do not understand for the life of me why they would not go out and sign Harvey Dahl who knows the offense (most likely) since he played for Musgrave and he is younger, less injured, and better (check the rankings above) than Herrera. He cost about 1.4 mil more than Herrera but cutting Cook would get them pretty close.

Imagine this line which was achievable:

Gaither, Hutchinson, Sullivan, Dahl, Loadholt with the backups being Johnson, Love, Fusco, DeGeare, & Olsen. Not bad. Not bad at all.
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Onto the defense

DE: Allen, Robison, Griffen, Awasom (4)
Stylez may stay if KWill is suspended

DT: KWill, Ayodele, Guion, Ballard, Evans (5)
I am hoping that a DT is released that they can sign to replace Evans.

LB: Greenway, EJ, Erin H, Homan, Dean, Farwell/Onatolu (6)
I would release either Farwell or Onatolu. Neither looked good in the base defense and we only need ONE special team LB. The younger guys need to be groomed. If ther eis an injury then they are in trouble anyway and they may have to sign a street free agent or raid a practice squad.

CB: Winfield, Griffen, Cook, Allen, Sherels, Burton (6)
Got to keep 6 here because of the talent and the fact that Griffen and Cook are not guarantees from an injury standpoint (unfortunately).

S: Abdullah, Raymond, Sanford, Tyrell (4)
Frampton is out as he cannot be counted on to play if there is an injury. No more special team aces. He is good but not great and I will take my chances with Tyrell, Sanford, Raymond, Sherels, Burton, Dean, Farwell, & Homan.

K: Longwell
P: Kluwe
LS: Loeffler

Practice squad: Deandre Reed DE, Stephen Burton WR, Thomas Welch OT, Jon Cooper C, Devon Torrence DB, Cord Parks DB, Caleb King RB, Allen Reisner TE

I don’t mind the fact that we wouldn’t go with a FB, but D’Imperio has been solid on ST and what about Jimmy K? The guy has been with us for ages and he still has it in him to put a few guys on their backs as well as catch a few passes out of the backfield and at the tight end position. Especially in this offense with Musgrave calling the shots, it’s possible for any FB to have a solid and productive year with the Vikes.

i think he has a a lot more upside and potential.

I agree with most of your picks, Ted, so I’m just going carp on the things that I think might go otherwise, or just burn my rutabagas :)

RBs – The FO seems really good at picking out good RBs, we seem to have a number of them who have absolutely no chance whatsoever of making the team, but they’re guys we’d like to see more of. I wish they could do the same with WRs….

WRs – Oh, right, this year they did bring in some interesting talent in Arceneau and Aromashadu, but no one who can dethrone Bernie Yellow-Shoes Berrian. Much angst. I like JJ a lot, looking forward to his continued growth.

O-Line – Everyone picked Cooper, ‘scept you. You picked Sully. To be honest, I haven’t been real impressed with either one of them, I hope Fusco survives on the PS.

TEs – I’m sticking with you on this one. I think Dugan’s reached his ceiling and Reisner seems to bring more to the table. Also, Dugan needs to go for the same reason as BB.

LBs – Backups: Farwell, Onatolu, and Dean. I hope Brinkley recovers soon.

S – I’m with you on letting Tyrell Johnson go, it’s time. Past time, probably.

But Frazier pretty much said without saying Allen is on the team, so it is what it is.

i must have missed this somewhere…?? when did he say that?? (and i’d totally take Parks over Allen; thrown in Sherels and Burton and that’s a good mix of CB #4-6.)

i also admit, for WR, i don’t see anything that Cammy can do that Iglesias can’t. i’d ditch Cammy in favor of Iglesias. after that…i don’t like Aroma, JJ impressed early on but kind of tailed off, my boy Manny didn’t show a whole lot, Burton was pooey… i guess out of those i’d take JJ, or check out who was cut from another squad as a decent #5…??

nice assessment.

QB-Yeah, this is obvious.

RB-Again, Obvious.

TE-Agree with you about keeping Reisner over Dugan. (don’t want to lose another young TE on waivers)

OL-Got the same group as you but I’d take Fusco over Cooper. Fusco gets some serious push in the run game, and let’s be honest Cooper makes Sullivan look like a powerhouse and that ain’t good : )

WR-I think the Vikings should carry six because of the potential and lack of separation here. My WR corps would be Berrian, Harvin, Jenkins, Aromashadu, J. Johnson, and Manny Arceneaux.

Camarillo is solid but he just costs too much for a guy that has no upside and is at best our 4th receiver. 1.75 million in base salary + nearly 3 million in cap hit + <less than 30 probable catches for the season = overpriced vet getting cut.

DL-Got the same 9 as you. That Dunbar guy seems to be great at developing young talent along the line every year.

LB-I have some big differences here. The three starters are set but the backups are a toss up. I say the Vikings keep six in total because the depth issue isn’t a numbers problem at this position as much as it’s a quality problem. I really don’t see Farwell, Homan, Dean, Onatulo, or Herron as being anything other than ST"rs at this point. None of them are quality backups.

That being said, I’d keep Dean, Homan, and Herron because of youth, potential, and cheaper salaries. The same argument I used for Cammy being cut applies ten-fold to Farwell. You simply can’t carry a STs only LB that has a cap hit of over 3 million. I only keep Herron for now because he’s the only backup at MLB but I expect the VIkings will replace him with a waiver wire upgrade once other teams make their final cuts.

CB-Can’t disagree with you here. Got the same 6.

S-This is a tough one for me. Up until last night I had the Vikings keeping four, with Frampton being the odd man out due to salary and being only a STs star. Then I watched the game last night and saw Frampton do everything on STs exceptionally well. Farwell gets most of the accolades for being the star of the unit but I gotta say Frampton is the man on kick/punt coverage.

So I only have 4 spots left for the safeties and I’d really like to carry 5. It’s gotta be Abdullah, Sanford, Johnson, and Frampton with Raymond going to the PS. I’d prefer the team cut Johnson and keep Raymond but it just isn’t going to happen.

Specialists-Yup, same here again.

Good job Ted, and I agree with almost all of your picks. The only two interesting cut areas for me are going to be LB and WR as I can see some mild surprises at each position with the backups. I did read Fowler’s 53 man prediction as well. I’ll try and find the link, but it was pretty similar to the others except he gave more weight to the idea that Cammy and Farwell might get cut due to their salaries.

Wide receivers: Harvin, Jenkins, Aramoshodu, Johnson, Arceneaux and Iglasius (and no angst or tears about it). Here’s why: Berrian doesn’t have break away speed. Corners cover him like a blanket, and he doesn’t have the tools to compensate. His hands have the finesse of rough cut stone, and he’s too small and meek to battle for the ball when it’s in the air. No speed, no seperation, no size, no will to out muscle the opponent = no space for you on the team. Camarillo is a guy I like personally. I like his modesty and hustle and dependability. However, he’s expensive to keep on the team for what he can deliver, and I like our other options more. We’ve got a decent set of receivers with some good upside. By letting Berrian and Camarillo go, I’m beginning the investment for the future without taking a drop in skill, size and speed. Lastly, S. Burton has been so horrible this pre-season that he doesn’t even warrant an attempt to put him on the practice squad.

I don’t know what to think of the whole Everson Griffin at linebacker thing we saw last night. He actually did pretty okay. That might allow the Vikings to keep Stylz and Awason on the team. They’d have to drop a linebacker, and I’d guess it would be Dean, Herron or Onatolu. Alternatively, it might allow them to keep just 6 LBs as Craig suggested and know that Griffen can go at LB if required.

Safeties: I would drop Tyrell Johnson in a heart beat. As I said last night, I’d do it even if it meant that the Vikings could only keep 52 on the team as a result. At least the coaches wouldn’t be tempted to put him into a game. He’s never been good. He’s cost the Vikings a lot of big plays and turnovers and a NFC championship with his slow motion, bread basket drop. He also seems to play deeper and react to the plays slower than others at the position (most notably Sanford). I am also going to add “soft” to the general concern as well. Sanford brings a load when he makes a tackle. As often as I see Johnson trying to make a tackle, I seem to see him run up and sit on the pile after the play is done. He’s a huge liability when he’s in the game, and I’d rather see us field a team of 52 than try playing defense with 10 NFL-quality players. In his place, I’d go with Raymond. I’d also keep Frampton. And if later injuries require it, I’d pull someone off of the scrap heap from outside of the team. Johnson must go.

and nice assessment, i agree with almost all of it. the question is between what do it think the vikings “will” do, and what would i “like” the vikings to do. i woulld only have some minor differences to what you have listed here.

i would like to see the vikings keep 6 receivers (cuz i think they are all pretty good and can play special teams). and i would like to see the vikings keep 6 linebackers (cuz they are trying out griffen as a potential linebacker).

i made a text file prediction a few weeks ago, and just updated it here of what i would “like” them to do.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

viking roster guessification 2011-09-02:

offense (25):
qb (3) – mcnabb / ponder / webb
rb (3) – adrian / toby / booker <<< (i predict a trade here*)
wr (6) – harvin / jenkins / berrian / camarillo / arumoshodu / iglesias
te (4) – shiancoe / rudolph / kleinsasser / (d-imperio or reisner)
ot (3) – johnson / loadholt / brown / (welch if 4)
og (4) – hutchinson / hererra / degeare / love / (degeare and love can swing t and g)
ce (2) – sullivan / cooper

defense (25):
de (4) – j. allen / robison / griffen / awasom (or stylez white)
dt (5) – williams / ayodele / evans / guion / ballard
ob (4) – greenway / henderson / farwell / homan
mb (2) – ej henderson / herron (or a roster cut victim from another team)
cb (6) – winfield / griffin / cook / allen / b. burton / sherels
sa (4) – abdullah / sanford / frampton / raymond

special teams (3):
k (1) – longwell
p (1) – fuckin kluwe dammit
h (1) – whatz his face (luffter, or something like that)

practice squad (8):
qb – rhett bomar
rb – tristan davis
wr – jaymar johnson
ce – brandon fusco
og – demarcus love
de – d’andre reed
cb – cord parks
?? – some roster cut victim guy from another team

*trade prediction:
trade toby gerhart away for a 2012 draft pick
( keep caleb king or tristan davis on 53 man roster )
( try to sign the other king/davis rb to the practice squad)

…you could have lined up Tyrell Johnson, Madieu Williams and whatshisname Walker from last year and thrown them each a 100 passes like that without having them cover anyone, and I bet none of them would have made that catch. Could even have made the last two throws underhanded, and I doubt they still come down with it.

Burton is the man. And so it Sherels. They both better make the team.

Anyone think we might bring him and have a look. Compared to what we have at Safety, I don’t know if it could hurt…