One week ago, the Vikings recinded their waiving of Erasmus James for the purpose of trading him to the Washington Redskins for a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2009 NFL Draft.  You would think that James would be happy to get a fresh start, and be working himself back into shape to meet that goal.

Nope.

Instead, he's been crying like a baby about his time in Minnesota.

“Coming in as a first-rounder there’s a lot of pressure on you,” James told the paper. “A lot of guys think because you’re a first-rounder, you’re going to come in and start. … And that’s the worst thing to come in as, especially as a rookie with people like that, because you can’t get any help. It’s kind of like you fend for yourself. It’s nice to be around older guys who are not out there to say, ‘Hey, there’s this new guy coming in.’ It’s not like that at all. You can learn from these guys. I’m real excited about that.”

Oh, please.  I'm going to do my best Paul Harvey impression here and remind everyone of. . .dramatic pause. . .the rest of the story.

James was taken in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, as was former Viking and current Jaguar Troy Williamson.  The Vikings had a pretty big need at defensive end, pretty much like they have since Chris Doleman was traded to Atlanta, and one would have thought that James would have been able to come in and make a serious impact.

And that, in fact, might have been the case. . .if he hadn't decided to hold out and miss the first 19 practices of training camp in 2005.  Call me crazy, but maybe that's what put the veterans off a little bit.  Well, that and the whining he did about the rookie hazing he received from the Vikings in training camp.

Hey, imagine that. . .the guys at camp gave a hard time to a guy that obviously came in with a completely skewed sense of entitlement (which is usually how one misses the first 3+ weeks of training camp) and decided he needed to sit at home and hang out while everyone else was out sweating their asses off during two-a-days.  The nerve!

Seriously, there was a part of me that was sort of holding out hope for this guy, that he could get himself turned around.  Now?  Not so much.  For a guy that spent three years taking up a roster spot and producing a whole lot of nothing, Erasmus James seem to have a lot of people to blame for his problems outside of himself.  Usually you get what you pay for. . .and, as we all saw, the Washington Redskins didn't pay much.

I promise to get back into the 53-man roster breakdown tomorrow. . .it's been a pretty hectic day over on this end when it comes to "real world" stuff.  Just thought I'd hit a couple of tidbits here.

First off, as Robert Rence pointed out over in the FanPosts yesterday, the Vikings were able to recind their waiving of Erasmus James and, instead, trade him to the Washington Redskins for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2009.  The "condition," apparently, is that he makes the team.  Well, it's better than nothing. . .I don't see how he's going to pass another team's physical if he couldn't pass Minnesota's (you would think they'd be similar), but that's not for me to decide.

Also, Pete Prisco from CBS Sportsline has given us his annual list of the most overrated and underrated players on each NFL team.  His nominees for the Vikings?

Overrated: LT Bryant McKinnie. You look at his physical skills and you should see an elite tackle. You just don't. He's OK, but has never lived up to the hype.

Underrated: LB E.J Henderson. He moved back to the middle last season and showed he's there to stay. He is a big reason the Vikings played the run so well in 2007.

Hard to argue with the "overrated" choice.  McKinnie has always been an outstanding run blocker (even before the addition of Steve Hutchinson), but an "elite" left tackle shouldn't get constantly abused by speed rushers the way that he does.  He should be able to handle those sorts of players. . .hell, he gets paid a great deal of money to handle those sorts of players.  It would be nice if he would start doing it eventually.

The underrated choice, however, might be a bone of some contention.  Not because E.J. Henderson isn't a great player, because he most certainly is.  He showed that last season.  I say that because that people now KNOW that E.J. Henderson is a great player, and for that reason he sort of ceases being underrated.  It's sort of like when Hines Ward was the "most underrated receiver in football" for roughly ten straight years.  I don't know if someone's underratedness can become overrated, but that was a case where it certainly could have.

(And, honestly, I'm not sure who was underrating Hines Ward all that time.  I've always thought he was a heck of a receiver.)

So who's the most underrated Viking?  My nominee would probably have to be one of Henderson's fellow linebackers, Mr. Ben "Ach Du" Leber.  On a defense that's loaded with talent at all three levels, Leber doesn't get a heck of a lot of hype. . .he just goes out every week and does a hell of a job.  He tied for the Vikings' lead in sacks in 2007 (including the one on Eli Manning at Giants Stadium that should have had the theme music from The Benny Hill Show playing in the background), threw in an incredibly athletic interception in the game at Chicago, defended passes, and was rarely out of position.

Leber might not get the ink that Henderson does. . .shoot, he probably doesn't even get the ink that Chad Greenway does. . .but, in my opinion, he's just as big a part of the Vikings' defense as either of those other two starting linebackers, and would definitely be my pick for most underrated Viking.  My runner-up in that category would probably have to go to Chris Kluwe.

What do you think?  Who are your selections for the most overrated and underrated members of the Beloved Purple?  Discuss in yonder comments section, and we'll be back tomorrow with our continued breakdown of this season's 53-man roster.

Have you ever looked back at the Vikings' 2005 draft class and said to yourself, "You know, if Erasmus James can ever stay healthy long enough to contribute, they might not be a complete disaster?"

Well, have I got some news for you.

The Vikings announced they have waived defensive end Erasmus James, according to the team’s website. One of the Vikings’ two first-round picks in the 2005 draft — receiver Troy Williamson was the other — James was waived/injured after failing to pass his physical. James had battled knee injuries the past two seasons.

I was really hoping that James could eventually come around and be a contributor, but that was probably a bit unrealistic.

So, let's review the Vikings' 2005 draft class, shall we?

7) WR Troy Williamson - Gone, never really contributed.
18) DE Erasmus James - Gone, never really contributed.
49) OL Marcus Johnson - What do you mean "you forgot he was still on the team?"
80) S Dustin Fox - Spent a year on IR and was cut, never played a game for Minnesota.  Now plays for the Bills.
112) RB Ciatrick Fason - Gone, didn't do a whole lot, except somehow fool Mike Tice into thinking he was a goal-line back.  Currently unemployed.
191) DT C.J. Mosley - Showed some promise in Minnesota. . .and was promptly traded to the Jets for Brooks Bollinger.
219) CB Adrian Ward - Didn't even make it through his first training camp.

Good lord. . .if that's not the single-worst draft class in NFL history, I'd love to see its competition for that title.