Friday Open Thread: August 17, 2018

Merry Friday, everyone!

Hey everyone, it’s me again! Hey, quit booing, it’s only for a day or two, you’ll make it.

We’re just a day away from more Vikings preseason football, as the good guys take on their practice rivals on Saturday and face the Jaguars. The Jags were a perennially poor team for quite some time, but they turned things around last year, mainly through their young and talented defense, and they hope to build on that. We’ll see if last year was an anomaly, or if they’re the real deal. I think they’re going to field a very solid defense, and I think the team will be tough again if Bortles and the offense can manage to fire on at least 6 or 7 cylinders. The team may be built on defense, but their success will hinge on the offense’s ability to at least perform competently. If they don’t, and Bortles and Co. revert back to their pre-2017 performance (firing on 2 cylinders, both of which have poor compression), the team will falter. There is only so much a defense can do on its own.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Eric analyzes the offense in part I of Training Camp Evaluations.

Big Cat Country asked five good questions of The Daily Norseman 5. In turn, the Daily Norseman asked 5 good questions of Big Cat Country. You decide whether either asking party received five good answers.

If Bortles’ performance in joint practices is indicative of how he’ll perform this season, Jaguars fans may want to put away some extra beer money, Saxyprince has the details.

Mzahorsky105 has a fantasy football-based evaluation of the Vikings.

Wludford breaks down the 8/16 Jags-Vikings practice session.

Antwione Williams was arrested for suspicion of DWI in May, per Chris. I’d suspect him of being under the influence if he spelled his name that way, too.

Dan Parsons wonders which sort of career path Laquon Treadwell is on. I’d say he’s been on a path going in the opposite direction he’d like to be traveling, let’s hope he can drop a gear, gun the RPMs up, & flip a 180. Having two of the NFL’s better wide receivers ahead of him on the depth chart will make that a difficult task, but the kid has the ability to do it.

Vikings news from other sources and news from around the league:

Vikings.com has highlights from yesterday’s joint-practice, hear OC John DeFilippo chat with PA, and there’s lots more to sift through in the media vault.

We come to our Friday media selection:

If I’m posting the thread on a Friday, you probably know which song is coming. Here is the legend, George Jones, with some help from some other legends from Looney Tunes. Enjoy!

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

• No discussion of politics or religion
• No feeding of the trolls
• This isn’t a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door
• Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
• Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
• No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
• If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
• While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up and tie one on. Don’t forget to tip your waitress, and try the blood sausage