I know this post comes a little late, but I've had a lot on my plate as I took over for Vikings Territory. As most of you have heard, I've taken over as the Editor-in-Chief of Vikings Territory, and I've been asked to provide commentary and manage content there.
For the most part it means that I will post significantly less at the Daily Norseman, although you saw that I will still post the podcasts to the Daily Norseman and contribute in the comments when I can.
It does mean most of my work will be at VT, and anyone who wants to follow me should head over there. It would also mean a lot to me if you could like our Facebook page and follow the official VT account on twitter.
It was a year and a half ago that Chris and Ted emailed me (June 20th 2012) to ask me to come on board as a Frontpage Contributor and I shortly posted a news update and a piece of analysis, though perhaps my best early work was on the Tampa-2 defense. Like any writer, I've looked back on those earlier pieces with hesitation and a little bit of disgust, but take with it what you will.
It seems like it's been longer than it has and I've loved my time posting for the Daily Norseman, as well as using some exclusive benefits of being a DN staff member (press passes, "sources," free pizza on Fridays and shockingly easy access to the Nuclear Football as a result of a weird mixup with the White House and what they think we do).
The platform that Chris and Ted provided me has been superlative; and my articles have been read by tens of thousands of people, which presumably actually means 20 people and also abba7 and filbert33.
Regardless, I've been able to leverage the work I've produced here across the internet and I've been able to write for a number of publications, sometimes for money and mostly for the joy and recognition of being able to write about one of my passions.
The reasons I took on the Vikings Territory work and ramped down my Daily Norseman contributions are mostly because it was important to me that I find a way to be compensated for my work somewhat directly, and also take on the challenge of being more than just a content producer; as the Editor-in-Chief, I've taken on the responsibility of improving the site's outreach and footprint as well.
I invest a lot of time in my work, and what you see (the writing) is often between 10-50% of the work, depending on the piece. The research takes a lot of my time, and the legwork to get something published can often consume most of my week; which is nothing to say of the fact that a majority of the research I do isn't worth publishing.
Earning a small amount of compensation for that work goes a long way into letting me continue it and hopefully I won't have to rely on fundraisers to get to training camp like I did last year. There's a lot of stuff I do throughout the year that will still be exclusive to the Daily Norseman.
Speaking of, I still will do my training camp coverage and draft day coverage here at the Daily Norseman, so those long notebooks some of you loved will still be available here. I'm not leaving entirely, just porting over the majority of my work.
Like I've indicated recently, I'll continue to post links to my work here, but in order to get to my work in an up-to-date fashion, following my Twitter account (which has changed to @ArifHasanNFL), liking the Facebook page and regularly visiting the website would be easiest.
The better Vikings Territory does, the better I do, so the best way to support me would be to visit us often. I try to put something there of my own every day, and we have a number of writers that should ensure we have consistent new daily content.
I really want to thank Chris and Ted in particular for extending this opportunity to me and letting me keep my posting duties here (and encouraging me throughout). Also, Skol Girl, Eric, Kyle and Mark deserve their thanks as well not just for helping be part of an amazing site, but also being part of an excellent network of support while we all bumble through this blogging business.
Link Roundup
2014 NFL Draft: Quarterback Passing Charts and Data for Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles and Derek Carr
I logged 27 games of tracking for the "Big Four" quarterbacks and compiled a number of passing charts for them, logged and adjusted in various ways, with particular attention to "Coryell"-style offenses. Here's an example of one of the charts I included in the story:
NFL Rumor Roundup: 2014 NFL Combine, Free Agency—Bridgewater Struggles, Carr is Hot, Clowney Aces Interviews
After the NFL Combine, rumor mills were buzzing with new insider info, and I attempted to compile all of it from the past week. Included are rumors about the Vikings, all four "big quarterbacks," and update on nearly every team in either the draft or free agency, and a number of other prospects.
Norse Code Podcast #028: Draft News, NFL Combine, Mailbag
In this episode of Norse Code, the panelists invite guest Vincent Frank, head editor for eDraft Sports, writer for ProFootballFocus and Sportsnaut onto the show to talk general draft strategy and answer questions.
Consensus QB Rankings No Longer Consensus
Perhaps old hat, but it's interesting the direction that quarterback rankings have gone. People don't seem to agree on the ranks of the top four quarterbacks, or even if they are the same. Rankings usually diverge, especially this late in the draft process, but for quarterbacks it usually doesn't diverge this much from a consensus established so solidly in the draft season.
Salary Cap Increases More Than Expected Again; Is the NFL Cheating?
The NFL's delay in reporting accurate salary cap numbers has a lot of ripple effects throughout free agency. When the article was written, I didn't know what the salary cap was eventually going to be. As has now been reported, the salary cap is $133.0 million. Regardless, the implications of delayed salary cap information could have some unfortunate consequences for free agents (or not, given how long the negotiating process happens to be).
Rick Spielman, Vikings Flag Prospects for Tweets; Access Remains Double Edged Sword
The Minnesota Vikings are often the most stringent about flagging their draft prospects with character concerns, and Rick Spielman revealed at the Combine that Twitter was a media platform they've paid a lot of attention to, even going so far as to look at specific Tweets and raise concerns about them. How should college coaches handle athletes and social media? Recent takes from Kentucky's John Calipari and Louisville's Rick Pitino suggest opposite approaches.
Don't Worry About Taking a QB In the First Round
You've probably read this one before, but it's the earliest article I think I've written that I haven't linked to. Just don't worry about it.