For those of you us that are into Fantasy Football, NFL.com has a Fantasy Preview of the NFC North up on their site. Their top 5 Vikings for fantasy football purposes are
- Chester Taylor
- Adrian Peterson
- Vikings defense
- Troy Williamson
- Tarvaris Jackson
What I find interesting is that, according to what Mr. Fabiano has here, the Vikings have the 6th easiest schedule against the pass in 2007 (and the 11th hardest against the run). So if there's another reason to have confidence in the Vikings' offense with a year in this system under their belts, that would be it. In fact, here's the Defensive Passer Ratings for every team the Vikings will play this year:
Chicago (x2) - #3
Philadelphia - #6
Oakland - #7
Green Bay (x2) - #8
Denver - #9
San Diego - #11
NY Giants - #14
Kansas City - #18
Dallas - #20
Atlanta - #27
San Francisco - #28
Detroit (x2) - #31
Washington - #32
By comparison, the Vikings were #5 in that category.
So it appears that we have some games against the absolute dregs of the league in terms of stopping the pass, as well as Green Bay, who are dregs by any measure. And make no mistake, the Vikings will run the football this season. A lot. And they'll run it well, which will also help. So, basically, if you have room for an extra QB in your fantasy league (particularly if it's a keeper league), you could do much worse than taking a late-round flier on Tarvaris.
Oh, and Pete Prisco has done his "Overrated/Underrated" for each team in the NFL. His picks for the beloved Purple?
LT Bryant McKinnie. He gives up too many sacks. He's never lived up to the hype as a first-round pick.
Underrated
LB E.J. Henderson. He had his best season last year and now moves back from the outside to the middle. He struggled as a middle backer earlier in his career, but he's better suited for it now.
I can't say I disagree with either of his assessments. The year Henderson was drafted, he was THE linebacker in college football, and his falling all the way to Round 2 was ludicrous. This defense isn't going to miss a beat with him at MLB.
Sadly, I can't disagree with his assessment of Mount McKinnie, either. Although he IS still a part of the best left side in the NFL (which could be the subject of some debate, but really. . .what teams can argue?), he just hasn't been as dominant as he could be. Maybe this year, with the Vikings running even more, the switch will flip on. I certainly hope so. . .a team can never have too many dominant offensive linemen, and McKinnie can be exactly that.
That's all for today, folks. . .unless something major happens later. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!