"Hometown Rosters" and the National Football League

It doesn't really relate to anything, but I thought this was an interesting conversation piece, if nothing else.

A guy by the name of Andrew Powell-Morse has put together a list of what he refers to as "Hometown Rosters" for the National Football League. Here's the explanation of what he's attempting.

I wondered, though - what if every pro football player was rostered on the NFL team he was born closest to? The Texas, California and Florida NFL teams would, logically, have some pretty mean starting rosters. But what would the rest of the teams look like?

Using the territories indicated by this map I found the answer to this question for all of the NFL teams. In the study, I combined the 49ers and Raiders, the Giants and Jets, and the Redskins and Ravens. I also plugged in players who were born outside of a team's target area if that team didn't have any local guys at a certain position. These replacement players - identified with a blue dot - were pulled from places as close to the team's target area as possible. Enjoy!

As he says, all of the teams that are centered in Texas, California, and Florida are pretty loaded. . .and Atlanta isn't too shabby, either. But how did the Minnesota Vikings fare?

Well, for starters, only two current Minnesota Vikings players are on the Vikings' "Hometown Roster." They are cornerback Marcus Sherels (who grew up in Rochester and went to the University of Minnesota), and linebacker Chad Greenway, who hails from Mount Vernon, South Dakota.

The Vikings have a pretty formidable lineup at the skill positions, with Darren Sproles lining up at running back and Larry Fitzgerald and Eric Decker forming a pretty strong wide receiver tandem. (St. Paul native Michael Floyd, Fitzgerald's teammate in Arizona, somehow wound up with Green Bay in all of this. . .don't worry, Michael, we know it wasn't your choice.) Kind of alleviates the worry that, apparently, the best starting quarterback from anywhere near the local area is YARRR NECKBEARD THE PIRATE. I guess Joe Mauer wasn't available for this one.

The Vikings also have the makings of a pretty decent pass rush, with Minneapolis natives Terrell Suggs and Cameron Jordan coming off of the edges.

So where would some of the current Vikings be if this were to take place? Well. . .

-Adrian Peterson winds up with the Dallas Cowboys, because of course he does.
-Greg Jennings continues his tour of the NFC North, landing with the Chicago Bears.
-Cincinnati's own Kyle Rudolph ends up with his hometown Bengals.
-Everson Griffen lands with the Arizona Cardinals.
-Phil Loadholt. . .who they list as being from Honolulu (something I, honestly, didn't know), moves to the combined Niners/Raiders outfit.
-Captain Munnerlyn, a native of Mobile, Alabama, winds up with the New Orleans Eff Those Guys.
-Jamarca Sanford becomes a member of the Tennessee Titans.

Like I said, it's not really relevant to anything, but I thought it was something different.