With my other sporting passion (the Minnesota Twins) beginning to crank things up down in Fort Myers, FL, I will be spending a lot less time on this blog in the coming months as my brain shifts from the gridiron to the diamond...

I'm not a big "draft guy" and I don't feel inclined to comment on all the stadium stuff until a deal is done, so to me football is pretty much off the radar until those summer mini-camps begin.

As such, here are my "parting thoughts" regarding the 2011 Vikings season...

First off, I truly believe that Christian Ponder is the quarterback of our future:

When the McNabb experiment failed miserably due to our inability to perform in the second half of games early in the season, I was impressed by the young Ponder and thought he gave our offense the spark it desperately needed.

Sadly, Ponder struggled to the finish line due to an offensive line that had him running for his life. That O-Line, to me, is easily our biggest team need going into 2012:

That kind of thing happened at an alarming rate last season and needs to improve if Ponder: A. Can survive for a decent number of NFL seasons, and B. Can be effective in slinging the ball downfield. Without the o-line the lack of a field-stretching receiver is moot.

Defensively, I think the Vikes need some help in the secondary but are okay on the line and the linebackers. The last few games of the season don't bear that theory out, but one must remember that the team was dropping like flies and the unit was patched together terribly.

Thus, if I were to make a "laundry list" of things for the Vikings to do this off-season, it would primarily include:

-O-linemen to protect Ponder

-Deep-threat WR to compliment Percy Harvin

-Safety/Corner DB players

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot: Pray that Adrian is a fast healer...