I always enjoy ESPN's Ultimate Standings because we don't often see direct comparisons among the 122 professional sports franchises in the four major leagues.  If you haven't read the Ultimate Standings before, they simply rank all 122 teams based on ownership, coaching, players, stadium experience, etc.  Here's the homepage of the rankings and here's the page for the Vikings.

Of the 122 professional sports teams, the Vikings came in 89th this year -- up from 110th last year.  "Bang for the buck" and "players" were the categories they scored strongly in, but "coaching," "fan relations" and "stadium experience" all brought the overall ranking down. 

Can't argue with the lousy "stadium experience" ranking (117th -- I'm actually surprised ESPN thinks there are five stadium experiences worse than the Metrodome, expect perhaps the Metrodome for baseball).  The horrible ranking for Brad Childress' staff (111th) seems to be based on fan voting, so while it's clearly unreasonable to say there are only 11 coaches in professional sports worse than Chilly, it's pretty easy to see why he ended up as low as he did.  "Fan relations" is considered "ease of access to players, coaches and management" -- they placed 97th in this category, but I do think they've been making an effort to improve in this regard.  The "State of the Vikings" roundtable we covered a couple weeks ago with Chilly, Spielman, Wilf and Greenway immediately comes to mind.

I had no idea the Dome's $3 hot dogs are tied for the cheapest in the NFL.  Still, according to the article, the stadium was criticized by fans for "uncomfortable seats and lack of on-site parking."  I'd add narrow concourses, horrible sound, and an overall dreary atmosphere to that list of complaints.

I've locked in my predictions for the stats I expect the Vikings quarterbacks and running backs to put up this season, so it's time to move on to the receivers.  As usual, we're disregarding the possibility of injury and projecting these numbers over the course of a complete 16-game season -- and we're also assuming Favre's the starting quarterback.

I pegged Favre's numbers as: 3,700 passing yards, 26 TDs, 18 INTs, 65% completion. Now, I'll go ahead and try to predict how those stats will be distributed among the main factors in the team's receiving corps:

Berrian: 65 receptions, 1,100 receiving yards, 8 touchdowns

Harvin: 50 receptions, 700 receiving yards, 4 touchdowns

Rice: 35 receptions, 350 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns

Wade: 40 receptions, 400 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns

Shiancoe: 50 receptions, 650 receiving yards, 6 touchdowns

Taylor: 50 receptions, 400 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns

Harvin's obviously the wild card in this bunch -- but with the stats I predicted, he'd be averaging roughly three receptions and 41 receiving yards per game. He'll get more touches on the ground, as he caught 133 passes and carried the ball 194 times during his three seasons with the Gators.

I see Berrian breaking the 1,000-yard mark quite comfortably with Favre at the helm -- it certainly wouldn't be surprising to see him become a top-10 or top-15 receiver, yardage wise.  Of all the receivers, he'll be a big winner with the switch to Favre. I'm also predicting Taylor's receiving numbers to stay more or less consistent with last season's, but I see Wade's numbers dipping a bit and I'm reluctant to predict a huge comeback effort for Rice.  I'm expecting a modest bump in receiving yards for Shiancoe, who noted that Favre does indeed love throwing the ball to the tight end.

And on a final note, it's entirely possible I lowballed Favre when I predicted his numbers, as I ended up with just 100 yards to spare for Adrian Peterson, Jimmy Kleinsasser, Aundrae Allison, etc. after making my predictions for the six receivers above. I also failed to account for one-yard dump-offs to Tahi.

So these certainly aren't perfect predictions, but they're roughly what I'm expecting to see from the receiving corps this season. Feel free to make your own predictions in the comments.

We've taken care of the quarterbacks, so let's move on to the running backs. Couple ground rules for this one: Based on the overwhelming evidence that Favre will be under center for the Vikings this season, let's assume these stats will occur with Brett as the starting quarterback, and let's also assume both Peterson and Taylor play 16 games.

With that out of the way, here are my predicted stat lines for Peterson and Taylor this season:

Peterson: 1,850 rushing yards, 5.2 yards per carry, 14 touchdowns

Taylor: 400 rushing yards, 4.3 yards per carry, 4 touchdowns

I think it's fair to say Peterson would see a bump in his yards per carry average with Favre as the team's starter -- Adrian is coming off a 4.8 yards per carry average last season. Still, despite the reduced pressure he'll face with a respected quarterback under center, I'm not willing to take the plunge and predict a 2,000 yard season.  I'd like to make that prediction, but the Vikings will, after all, be throwing the ball more with Favre starting.

Just as I had a tough time predicting T-Jack's stats if he were to play a 16-game season as starting quarterback, Chester Taylor's a tough guy to peg for this season.  In the end, I just wimped out and predicted essentially the same rushing stats that he put up from last year -- largely because I expect him to be a focal point of the passing attack this year.  If they're not going to give him more touches on the ground, I'd like to see him get the ball more through the air.

So that's my take -- your turn!

It's quiet right now.  There has literally been nothing new in the news lately, so I'll throw this topic out there: What would be your predicted stat lines for the three Vikings quarterbacks who have all been, at some point, a possible starter?  If they were to play all 16 games this season, what numbers would we see from T-Jack, Rosenfels and Favre?

I'll get things started with my predictions...

Jackson: 3,000 passing yards, 20 TDs, 9 INTs, 61% completion

Rosenfels: 3,500 passing yards, 23 TDs, 16 INTs, 64% completion

Favre: 3,700 passing yards, 26 TDs, 18 INTs, 65% completion

I see Favre ending up somewhere between his 2007 and 2008 passing yardage totals (4,155 in 2007 and 3,472 in 2008), and yes, I also see him breaking the one interception per game mark.  But that just comes with the Brett Favre territory, and his ability to put up more yardage through the air than Jackson or Rosenfels should make up for that. 

When making my predictions, I especially struggled with T-Jack's stat line -- when you take a look back at his numbers from last season, you've gotta be impressed with the lack of turnovers you see in the game logs, but I'm just not sure I could expect him to finish the season with a 200 yard per game average.  I'm interested to see what folks in the comments come up with for Action Jackson's stat totals if he were to start all 16 games this season.

So, with that, what are your predicted stat lines for these three quarterbacks?

Update:

A couple commenters have noted my ommission of any win-loss records, so let's throw this one out there as well: What record do the Vikings finish the season with if each of these quarterbacks is at the helm for a 16-game season? I'd say 10-6 under either T-Jack or Rosenfels, with Favre being worth an additional win or two.

Yes, it's 9:15 AM on a Sunday morning, my grass needs to be cut, and I'm already looking at 86 degrees here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but according to Accuweather.com, it already "feels like" 105 degrees.  For the last week, the heat index in the afternoons has been anywhere between 105 and 110 degrees, which is not terribly conducive to. . .well, anything, really.

And did I mention that it's only 9:15 AM as I type this?

Eh, I guess it could be worse. . .I could be standing out there in my ceremonial Honor Guard uniform like I have on a few other occasions this week.  Don't get me wrong, I love my role in the Honor Guard and everything, but wearing wool from head to toe (along with black patent leather shoes) in this sort of heat is not the formula for making yourself feel peppy and energetic over the long haul.

So, in the interest of getting myself outside before the lawn just spontaneously combusts like a drummer for Spinal Tap, here is the Vegur for this week.

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Marvin Harrison

View full size photo uploaded June 25, 2009

Commenter SippyCup beat me to the punch on this on the FanPosts, but I thought it's intriguing enough to warrant front-page speculation. There's news from the Pioneer Press' Charley Walters that The Purple are interested in signing Marvin Harrison to a "one-year, low-end" deal.

Who knows how Walters came about this "buzz" and how much validity there is to the story. But of course, after the past couple months, I think we're all used to stories that have equal chances of being valid or complete BS.

Let's be daring here and assume there is some truth wading through this news blurb. If we don't have to break the bank for a chance to see what one of the best receivers in the history of the NFL has left in the tank, I see no downside to pursuing it. If Harrison flops, then we wasted a couple mil, but at least our young WR corps got to learn from one of the best. If he excels, he adds more more crucial piece to a team that could be thisclose to a championship. Our neighbors at Stampede Blue think the addition of Harrison would basically secure the Vikings a spot in Miami next year.

Plus, we'd be able to witness history--he and Favre could be the first pair of senior citizens to connect on a touchdown pass! Free Early Bird Specials for everyone!

As mentioned and discussed in the FanPosts, some folks -- including Gregg Rosenthal and Judd Zulgad -- seem to believe that an acquisition of Favre would mean the end of T-Jack's run in Minnesota.  Though it's a safe bet that Rosenfels would become the backup in the event that Favre joins the team, a decision will need to be made between Jackson and John David Booty for the third-string quarterback slot.  I've always felt that Booty would be the odd man out, but in a live chat on Thursday, Zulgad stated just the opposite:

Q: Which QB is in the greatest danger to be dropped if Farve does come, and would we just release them, or try to trade?

A: Many will say Booty but I would not be surprised if it's Jackson. Tarvaris is entering the final season of his contract and the Vikings might not want to give up on Booty because of his potential. Releasing Jackson could set up the Vikings to have Rosenfels be their starter and Booty the No. 2 guy in 2010.

First of all, I think the Vikes will look for a way to keep both T-Jack and JDB -- that is, one might end up getting "injured."  But I completely disagree with Zulgad on this.  If you can only retain one of the two, you've gotta keep Jackson around.  Here's why:

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Well, folks, here it is. . .the "State of the Vikings" address. I hadn't heard anything about this until Anthony mentioned it last night, and to be completely honest, I don't know what the heck to expect from it, either. However, it's Vikings-related, and at this point in time we're all jonesing for any news at all as it pertains to the Beloved Purple.

So, click on the article title at the top there, and comment along as the broadcast goes on!  The comments will automatically update (just like they do in our game threads).  Hope to see a lot of folks here for this event!