Training Camp 2011

2011 MINNESOTA VIkINgS

TrAININg CAMp ISSuE

Page 2 • MSU Reporter 2011 Minnesota Vikings Training Camp Issue MSU Reporter • Page 3 Training Camp Issue MSU Reporter • Page 3

Cover photo by Jim McIsaac/ Getty ImagesPhoto illustration by Nick Spaeth/ MSU Reporter

Here comes Donovan ..............3

frazier’s first season ...........4

new coordinators ...................5

Christian Ponder ....................6

A new kind of player ..............7

A.P. leading the way ................8

Visanthe Shiancoe ..................9

Chad Greenway .....................10

Phil Loadholt a veteran. ..... 11

Percy Harvin ..........................13

Will Allen bounce back? ....14

The Henderson bros. ............15

Schedules ...............................16

Depth Chart ...........................17

A lot to prove ........................18

A new weapon....................... 19

the wideouts ..........................20

did we make the right move? 21

what is Joe Webb’s role? .... 22

What’s up with Williams.......23

Fantasy preview ....................24

Bittersweet camp................25

Nfc North breakdown .........26

Jumps .................................. 27-28

Other Vikings news ......... 29-31

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE 2011 MINNESOTA VIKINGS:A NEW DIRECTION


what is Joe Webb’s role? .... 22

What’s up with Williams.......23

Fantasy preview ....................24

Bittersweet camp................25

Nfc North breakdown .........26

Jumps .................................. 27-28

Other Vikings news ......... 29-31

The Steady Hand of a VeteranLEE HANDELsports editor

Only one week into his tenure as a member of the Vikings, Donovan McNabb is already making an impact in Minnesota. After two straight years of endless drama sur-rounding the quarterback position in Mankato, McNabb arrived in town on time for training camp on Sunday and has brought with him a sense of calmness and stability to both players and fans alike.

Coming off a 6-10 season that began with Super Bowl aspirations and ended with the team at the bottom of the divi-sion, the Vikings biggest ques-tion mark heading into the 2011 season was who would start at quarterback. The acquisition of McNabb, a 12-year starter and six-time Pro-Bowler in the NFL with Philadelphia and Washing-ton, has answered that question.

First-year head coach Leslie Frazier has confirmed that McNabb will be his starter, with rookie Christian Ponder and second-year pro Joe Webb serving as his backups. Even though McNabb has yet to take a meaningful snap in purple, he is already doing his best to change the outlook for both the organization and its fans after a tumultuous 2010.

“It’s a new day for me,” McNabb said. “I don’t regret any decisions that were made and for this opportunity to play here with this group of guys, I’m excited.”

McNabb, 34, spent his first 11 seasons in the league with Philadelphia and experienced his fair share of ups and downs. Despite putting up some big numbers and leading the Eagles to a 92-49-1 record, five NFC Championships and a Super Bowl, McNabb always fell a step short and never hoisted the Lombardi trophy. Even with all of his and the team’s accomplishments, McNabb was constantly scrutinized by the Philly fan base throughout his 11 years with the organization.

“In Philadelphia it’s like that every year,” he said. “They’ll like you and then they won’t like you, but the thing about it is it’s the game of football.”

Although McNabb led Philadelphia to the playoffs and had a passer rating of 92.9 in 2009, the Eagles wanted to go a different direction at quar-terback and traded McNabb to the Washington Redskins in the offseason.

The first seven games with Washington went great for McNabb. He went 4-3 and led the team to victories over

eventual NFC playoff teams Philadelphia, Green Bay and Chicago. Things went downhill in a hurry after that, and head coach Mike Shanahan even benched McNabb for the last three games of the season.

“There’s ways of learn-ing from it and there’s things you can take from it as well as things you can throw away and kick it over the building. But still it makes you stronger mentally,” said McNabb.

One factor benefitting the veteran quarterback as he tries to learn a new system is his close relationship with Coach Frazier, who was with McNabb in Philadelphia from 1999-2003. Frazier used this previous relationship to help convince McNabb that he was genuinely wanted by the Vikings to be their starter.

“My familiarity with him and vice versa, so as we were going through this process in talking to his agent and talking to him, that made a difference,” said Frazier.

Those around the NFL have offered their opinions of whether or not McNabb still has anything left in the tank. Some people say he’s washed up and out of shape and others

McNabb/ page 27

wale agboola • msu reporterThe Vikings traded for Donovan McNabb almost immediately after a new CBA was reached. Minnesota gave up two sixth round picks.


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The new coach is ready to put his stamp on Vikings football. He hopes a lot of winning is involved.

Starting a New Chapter: The Leslie Frazier EraTIGE HUTCHESONstaff writer

1992-2001 - Dennis Green : 97-622001-2005 - Mike Tice: 32-332006-2010 - Brad Childress: 40-372010-? - Leslie Frazier: 3-3

Hoping for a shake-upDespite so much change in

such a short amount of time, Leslie Frazier, the recently promoted head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, has maintained a cool, confident demeanor through the first few days of training camp.

Frazier has already had to overcome the headaches of the lockout, a shortened offsea-son and the messy situation that led to his hiring midway through last season. There is also the nightmare caused by the Metrodome collapsing, and a roster full of many new faces and questions.

But none of that has shaken Frazier. In fact, simply put, Leslie Frazier is just happy to be here.

“[I’m] just happy that we were able to get together again as a team,” said Frazier fol-lowing Monday’s practice, the first time the Vikings had been together since the January 2 loss to the Detroit Lions that seems like a lifetime ago.

As the newest head coach of

the Minnesota Vikings, Frazier certainly has his work cut out for him. The Vikings finished 23rd in total offense, 26th in passing yards, 27th in receiv-ing yards, 19th in total tackles,

24th in rushing yards given up, 23rd in passing yards given up and 24th in receiving yards given up. Most disappointing, however, was that the Vikings looked like a completely dif-

ferent team than the one that finished 12-4 and lost in the NFC Championship Game the previous season.

But Frazier is happy to leave the 2010 season in the past and have the chance to fix the team he already feels is his own.

“I do feel that it’s our team,” said Frazier. “It’s a team myself and the rest of the other coaches are able to put our stamps on and just the way the guys have responded here at the very start has been so positive. It just gives me the impression that we’ve moved on past 2010 and we have opened up a new era.”

As a starting cornerback of the 1985 Super Bowl Cham-pion Chicago Bears, Frazier has established a history as a winner. He demonstrates a strict win-in-spite-of attitude and hasn’t allowed anything, even one of the wildest seasons in the history of NFL football, to keep him from reaching his goal of becoming a head coach in the NFL.

“All of our coaches who have worked during this off-season, they’re excited, our organization [is excited] and I know our fans are,” Frazier said.

Now that Frazier is perma-nently in charge, he is focused on getting his team ready for the regular season opener and nothing else.

“One of the good things, if there’s anything good about this lockout, is the fact that every team in the league is operating under the same pa-rameters,” said Frazier. “We’ll do the things that are necessary in the weeks to come in the conditioning standpoint, from a learning standpoint, but the goal is to find the best 53 to line up against San Diego.”

shannon rathmanner • msu reporterThe Vikings named Leslie Frazier interim head coach last season after the firing of Brad Childress.

You’ve heard it before. The guy plays video games, is in a band and is very popular among his Twitter followers. We’re forgetting something here, though. He’s also one of the league’s best punters.


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The new coach is ready to put his stamp on Vikings football. He hopes a lot of winning is involved.You’ve heard it before. The guy plays video games, is in a band and is very popular among his Twitter

followers. We’re forgetting something here, though. He’s also one of the league’s best punters.

KYLE RATKEeditor in chief

web photo Chris Kluwe

made Donovan McNabb drop his band’s name in order to snag the No. 5 jersey from him.

I know, I know. You’ve heard it all before. The Vikings might have the nerdiest player in the league. He’s a huge fan of World of Warcraft (al-though, he admits he hasn’t played in six months because the game has become too easy.) He’s in the band Tripping Icarus, which he made Donovan McNabb drop five times in order for him to take Kluwe’s No.

5 jersey. Kluwe said the number’s just a number. Nothing more. Last year, Kluwe agreed to join us on our weekly podcast here at

Minnesota State University, Mankato. It was a way for him to promote Tripping Icarus, as they were playing at Red Sky during the first week of training camp. Did I care if it was a promotional, pity appearance? Ob-viously not. I’m a stinkin’ college kid.

While going through my phone last week, I noticed Kluwe’s number still in there. So, I gave him a call to see if he’d want to join our show again. He said yes. I asked him if he’d like to join us in studio. He said yes. During our radio interview, we discussed the McNabb jersey “contract.” We talked about his gaming career and how popular he’s become over Twitter after recent statements about the CBA and speaking what everyone was thinking. It was refreshing, no matter if it was coming from an every down player or a punter.

Near the end of the interview, we realized we forgot something. We forgot that Kluwe has nearly every record for a Minnesota punter. Last season, Klu-we had 83 punts and 32 of them landed inside the 20 yard line. He averaged 43 yards per punt. He hasn’t dipped below 42 yards per punt since becoming a Viking.

While we may laugh at special teams, we fail to realize for every 30 great punts Kluwe has, it just takes one to cancel it out. Gary Anderson was a great kicker for the Minnesota Vikings, but I still remember his missed field goal against the Atlanta Falcons. He was perfect throughout the season, but I will forever remember him for that. The job’s not as easy as it sounds.

We are distracted by the things he does off the field, but yet, he’s not an “off the field distraction” type of player. He hasn’t gotten arrested. Hasn’t got-ten suspended. The reason we are “distracted” is because he’s a normal dude. He can go into a radio studio with three college students and sit and talk for 20 minutes. I think we need more “distractions” like this around the league.


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The Vikings have said he’ll wait and learn during his rookie season. Don’t tell Christian Ponder that, he won’t listen.

A rookie quarterback starting in the NFL. The odds are already against him. The players that we call “success” stories, certainly had their bumps and bruises.

Many consider Peyton Manning’s rookie season a success. He threw 28 touch-downs. We forget to remem-ber he threw 28 interceptions.

So when the Vikings drafted Florida State’s Christian Ponder at No. 12 in this year’s draft, many were surprised. How could a team that was one pass away from the Super Bowl two seasons ago, simply give the keys to a rookie quarterback?

Well, it turned out that the Vikings had a plan to sign a veteran to teach Ponder the ropes. That veteran turned out to be Donovan McNabb, who coach Leslie Frazier announced will be the starter, but Ponder has made it known he’s not going down without a fight.

“The guy deserves the starting job,” Ponder said. “He has been in the league for awhile, but my mentality is still to go in and compete and try to get that job from him. He deserves being the starting quarterback and

somewhere down the raod I’m going to push to take that over and we’ll see.”

McNabb threw for a ca-reer-high 15 interceptions last season, but has been on the Vikings radar ever since the Eagles made him available two seasons ago. Ponder has a chance to do what guys like Aaron Rodgers have done in the past: Sit and learn. And then hopefully win.

“I think there’s an advan-tage to being thrown in early and trying to get playing time and that’s the answer everyone wants, but there’s an advantage to sitting back and waiting and learning from a guy like Brett Favre or Donovan McNabb. Obviously those guys are successful and you can learn something from them,” Ponder said.

Maybe the Vikings don’t think they’re giving up on 2011. If Ponder were to slide into the starting role, many think he would do the best of the rookie quarterbacks and is the most NFL ready. That has yet to be seen, but with players such as Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin on the offensive side of the ball, Ponder will have the tools necessary to compete if need be.

The criticism won’t be

thrown around as much as it would have had Ponder started week one, but it’s a general consensus around the league that the Vikings reached for Ponder at No. 12. In the Vikings eyes, Ponder was the quarterback they wanted. Could they have gotten him later in the first round? Sure, but they weren’t about to trade out of the spot with the possibility of losing him.

Before the 2010 college football season, the Semi-nole was a candidate to win the Heisman Trophy. Ponder fell a bit short, but he still threw for 20 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. The Vikings fell in love with his athleticism, along with his smarts, which can never go unnoticed at the quarter-back position (Ex. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees). He ultimately became their guy and now for the first time since Daunte Culpep-per, the Vikings have a young quarterback to build the team around.

The Vikings also drafted a weapon for Ponder to grow up with, by drafting Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph in the second round. Rudolph will likely be a back-up as


Doing Everything He Can

wale agboola • msu reporterChristian Ponder was the fourth quarterback taken in the 2011 NFL Draft.Ponder / page 27

THIS ROOKIE IS


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Injuries, question marks and cuts have made the news for the offensive line so far this training camp.LEE HANDELsports editor

The Drama on the Offensive LineWith the NFL lockout finally

over and training camp under-way, Minnesota Vikings’ guard and player rep Steve Hutchin-son is back to working outside on the field with the rest of his offensive line mates instead of inside a building with a bunch of men in suits.

Hutchinson spent the major-ity of his offseason representing the Vikings as part of the NFL Players Association while work-ing with the owners on a new collective bargaining agreement that would bring an end to the lockout.

After months of deliberation, the owners finally approved the new CBA by a 31-0 vote on July 21. The NFLPA gave its approval four days later and the lockout was lifted. Each player on every team also had to vote whether or not they were in favor of recertifying as a players union once they arrived at train-ing camp.

“I printed out cards that were emailed to me and distributed them throughout the locker room this week, so I know we officially were recertified,”

Hutchinson said.The lockout hurt the Vikings

offensive players especially because they are learning a new system and were not able to take part in OTA’s.

“We were able to distribute playbooks earlier this spring when we had the temporary lift of the lockout and guys were able to review them for most of the summer,” said Hutchinson

Now that all the business is taken care of off the field, it’s time for every unit on the football team to get back up to speed. Despite showing age and struggling at times last season, the Vikings offensive line was supposed to be one of the few areas on the team returning all of its starters.

However, due to some bizarre occurrences, the O-line already has a vastly different look to it just a few days into training camp. After going months with no contact with the coaching staff, nine-year veteran Bryant McKinnie appeared to arrive at camp out of shape and was on the sidelines during the first practice.

The same day McKinnie stood and watched, the Vikings

signed tackle Charlie Johnson, who had started his fair share of games the past five seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. This raised some questions that McK-innie was on bad terms with head coach Leslie Frazier and the coaching staff, but Frazier dodged all questions and said the matter was being addressed.

The team proceeded to put McKinnie on the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list, and cut the former All-Pro the follow-ing day. Although McKinnie never missed a game due to injury, he had regressed the past couple seasons and the Vikings’ quarterbacks, particularly Brett Favre, were paying the price.

“This decision, while not an easy one, is in the best inter-ests of our football team as we move forward preparing for the season,” said Frazier.

Couple the loss of McKin-nie with starting guard Anthony Herrera’s recovery from ACL and triceps surgeries and only three-fifths of the starters from last year have been able to take the field in 2011. Herrera has been placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to shannon rathmanner • msu reporter

Phil Loadholt, John Sullivan and Steve Hutchinson take a break on day two of training camp.Offensive line / page 27


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In a league of his ownThere are few things Adrian Peter-son hasn’t done. This season a lot of things for the Vikings are up in the air. One thing that’s not is the

running back position.

wale agboola• msu reporterAdrian Peterson rushed for 1,298 yards last season to go along with 12 touchdowns.

REECE HEMMESCH | staff writerThree weeks ago Vikings we

didn’t even know if there was going to be a season. Now that the NFL is on and ready to go, there are more questions that we cannot answer about the offense. Questions about the quarterback situation or how new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave will work out. The one certainty we do know about the offense is four-time pro bowler Adrian Peterson is still here and ready to lead this offense.

Peterson is coming off his lowest rushing total last season with less than 1,300 yards for the first time in his career. But with a new quarterback and a new group of receivers, Peterson will be the key player in this of-fense. It’s no more of him being the running back in a pass heavy offense as he was the last two years with Brett Favre at quar-terback. This is his offense and it should not be lofty for him to get 330 carries this season. With our passing game, guess what Minnesota?

He’s our main offensive weapon.

“We’re going to explore,” Head coach Leslie Frazier said about his options on offense. “One of the things that Bill (Musgrave) mentioned to our offensive players was that we’re going to do our best to explore the talent we have with this of-fense.”

Stop the exploring Leslie, Peterson’s your man. NFL network just recently ranked Peterson as the third best player in 2011. If this is the case, why are eight other running backs getting the ball more than him? Peterson should be in the top three in rushing attempts every year.

Last year Peterson only car-ried the ball 283 times, ranking him ninth among running backs for total carries. If he would have gotten the ball as many times as Michael Turner, Ste-phen Jackson, or Arian Foster,

Peterson / page 28


New Offense=New OpportunitiesNew offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave plans on opening things up for the tight ends this season.

Visanthe Shiancoe likes the sound of that and hopes his numbers improve from last season.JOEY DENTONstaff writer

This offseason gave the players more off time not being with the team, but that didn’t stop the Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe from working hard and getting better this offseason. With his time, all he has been doing is getting ready for this optimistic season.

“I’m feeling good. All I had time for is to work out, eat, sleep, run, lift weights, scratch my ass and chill out,” said Shiancoe. “Thank god that this lockout is done. It was like pulling teeth.”

Shiancoe had a little drop in produc-tivity last season, especially compared to his 2009 season. With his receptions, yards, and touchdowns dropping a little, he has come to Mankato ready to go the extra mile to have a superb season.

“I’m just glad to be here. I’m over here running routes on a high school field, and it’s fun to run routes here with my teammates, and where it really counts,” said Shiancoe. “I’m going to be here every day doing something extra, doing ball drills and footwork to get ready for when my number is called.”

After having a great experience catching passes from Brett Favre the

last two seasons, he will have another possible hall of fame quarterback to line up with in Donavon McNabb. Even with the very limited amount of reps they have had, he talks very highly of him.

Shiancoe has a unique opportunity to be coached by McNabb and to coach the young guns the Vikings drafted this offseason, quarterback Christian Ponder and tight end Kyle Rudolph. After a few practices, Shiancoe was impressed with their technique and work ethic, and he can’t wait to see them develop.

“When I see Rudolph running his routes, he looks pretty crisp and he’s catching the ball pretty good. Ponder has great footwork and he’s putting a little velocity on the ball. They both seem to be ready to go,” said Shiancoe.

It’s a good thing the Vikings picked up these two youngsters, because after Donavon McNabb decided he was going to sign with the Vikings, wide receiver Sidney Rice decided to take his talents to the west coast and joined the Seattle Seahawks with teammate and former Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. With the additions of the draft picks, Shiancoe believes they, and the other young players, can help replace that loss.

Shiancoe said of Rice: “There will be a little void to be filled, but we have a lot of talent on this team. I’m pretty sure our offensive coordinators will put something together to fill that void with the talent we have.”

This season Shiancoe will have a lot of new players around him and even some new coaches. Obviously one of them is the new head coach Leslie Fraizer, who is planning on running a west coast style of offense, which according to Shiancoe is very player friendly, and it will help Dono-van McNabb get acquainted with the Vikings system quicker. Another new coach is the offensive coordinator, Bill Musgrave. He was last year’s quarterback coach for the Atlanta Falcons, and he used their future hall of fame tight end Tony Gonzalez a lot, which makes Shiancoe very excited for this season.

The Silver Spring, Maryland native could and is aiming to have a bounce back season with the Vikings as they look to take back their division title. He is surrounded by other veteran players and up-and-coming NFL stars, so there is a good chance for Shiancoe and the Vikings to reach that goal and have success in the future. wale agboola• msu reporter

Shiancoe caught just two touchdowns last season.


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A VOTE OF CONFIDENCEIt’s time for Chad Greenway

to start making a little noise.Coming into the 2011 offsea-

son, the Vikings faced one of the toughest free agency dilemmas in the NFL: who to use the franchise tag on. On one hand you have a dynamic, former Pro Bowl wide receiver that, when healthy, is among the best in the league. On the other you have a steady, reliable linebacker that’s one of the best kept secrets in the NFL.

Who would you choose?The Vikings waved a reluc-

tant goodbye to wide receiver Sidney Rice that, while still un-fortunate, consequently validates all of the hard work of your franchise tagged linebacker. That linebacker is Chad Green-way, and receiving the franchise tag cemented his status as one of the cornerstones of the Vikings defense.

“It feels good,” said Green-way. “I’ve given everything I have to this organization and have worked hard to improve, so for [management] to react that way is huge.”

Greenway is coming off the best season of his career. He easily led the Vikings in total tackles (144), solo tackles (109), and assisted tackles (35), and managed to weather the injury

plague to start all 16 games for the Vikings.

The only problem is that, until this summer, it seemed as if nobody even noticed. Green-way has yet to make the Pro Bowl and perpetually takes the backseat to teammates like Jared Allen. Antoine Winfield, and the Williams Wall when it comes to media coverage and attention.

But when the Wilfs made the decision to secure Greenway rather than Sidney Rice with the franchise tag proved that the Vikings hadn’t overlooked him.

Most NFL players have grown to hate the franchise tag, viewing it as a shackle to one location and one inflexible sal-ary that takes away all bargain-ing power that a player may have as a free agent. Greenway, for example, could be poised to rake in the big bucks as one of the top free agent catches in this year’s market.

But to Greenway, it’s not the money that’s important—it’s the show of faith.

“[I’ve] played my whole career here and they’ve done nothing wrong to me, so I don’t feel slighted in any way,” said Greenway. “When I got the franchise [tag] I was humbled by that and thought it was a good thing.”

While the franchise tag is slated to keep Greenway with the Vikings only through this season, Greenway’s agent and the Vikings are already working on a long-term deal that would keep Greenway in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.

“We are in the process of try-ing to negotiate a long-term deal with Chad, and hopefully that’s going to get done,” said Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier.

But that’s for his agent to worry about.

“It’s a big deal for my future but I’m not too concerned about it at this point because I’m worried about what’s going on here at training camp and trying to learn what’s going on,” said Greenway. “That’s my concern and if I start worrying about [contract negotiations] I’ll be taking away from our team.”

Coach Frazier believes the team is in a position to win now and insists that the Vikings are not in rebuilding mode.

“You want to know that the organization is committed to winning, and I think we are,” said Greenway. If that’s true, then a confident and vocal Chad Greenway is going to be a key piece of the puzzle.

TIGE HUTCHESON | staff writer

Greenway / page 27shannon rathmanner • msu reporter

Chad Greenway led the Vikings with 144 tackles last season.


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LOAD ‘EM UPAfter the release of Bryant McKinnie, more attention will be paid to third-

year offensive lineman Phil Loadholt. The big man thinks he’s ready.REECE HEMMESCHstaff writer

Vikings right tackle Phil Loadholt is trying to smoothly make the transition from young linemen to one of the more veteran players on the line, even though he doesn’t believe so. “

It doesn’t really change at all, we’re all starting new,” Loadholt explained. “The only difference is I have couple years under my belt.”

Considering this 6’8 343 pound right tackle started every game last season and 15 of 16 his rookie season, in his third year with the team, Loadholt is part of an offensive line that struggled last season to say the least. But with all of the starters returning besides Bryant McK-innie, the chemistry has to be up on a team that will need the line for its run heavy offense.

“Chemistry is big,” Loadholt said after day one of training camp. “We lost a few backups and got some new guys so I’m excited to see how everyone does.”

The line is about the only spot on the offensive side of the ball which most things keep the same. With a pair of new quarterbacks plus a brand new offensive coordinator, things are different for the linemen this time.

“Everything changes, brand

new offense, new terminology it makes it a lot different. We’re all coming in starting from scratch, so we need this time to learn it all brand new,” Loadholt said.

With Bill Musgrave taking over the play calling on offense, the scheme will stay the same with the west coast, but new coach means new play names

and different audibles to learn before the start of the preseason. Add that with the quarterback controversy of Christian Ponder and veteran Donovan McNabb, who will bring their own tenden-cies to the table, things will take awhile for the line to learn.

Another change that will affect his position is the differ-ence in tight end use between

former offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and Musgrave. Bevell believed that the main use of a tight end was for block-ing schemes on the offensive line, Musgrave is a coach that uses the tight ends as more of a receiver than a blocker, giv-ing Loadholt nobody on his outside to help him contain the defensive end on most passing

plays, but a third-year player like himself should have no trouble adjusting to all these new changes. If Loadholt can adjust to everything new in this offense, along with keep his streak of starting in games going on — don’t be surprised to see him turn this offensive line into dominance again after a some-what disappointing 2010 season.

wale agboola • msu reporterPhil Loadholt has been consistent on the offensive line, starting 31 out of 32 games in his career.



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With the loss of Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin has emerged as the team’s No. 1 option at receiver.THE MAIN TARGET

TIGE HUTCHESONstaff writer

The decision not to place the franchise tag on Sidney Rice was not an easy one for the Minnesota Vikings. In the end, it came down to two factors, really: that Chad Greenway was more valuable to the team and that Rice has had injury concerns since the day he entered the league. But there’s a third factor that many people forget to consider: the potential of third-year wide re-ceiver Percy Harvin as Rice’s replacement.

Clearly the Vikings front office is confident in Harvin’s abilities as a number one receiver, and as reassuring as that is, it’s a lot of pressure to put on a 23-year-old kid, isn’t it?

“I had a lot of good things I took out of last year,” said Harvin. “I’m confident in my game and confident in the system so there’s no added pressure at all.”

During Rice’s breakout season in 2009, Harvin fit in perfectly as the Vikings number two starting receiver, finishing second on the team with 60 receptions for 790 yards and six touchdowns. Harvin’s eventual Offensive Rookie of the Year Award was overshadowed by Rice’s first career Pro Bowl selection and the seemingly perfect chemis-

try between Rice and former quarterback Brett Favre.

But in 2010, Rice was sidelined for much of the season, rehabilitating from hip surgery he sustained the previous season. Not only that, but the Vikings were forced to shut down Brett Favre after 13 games, leaving a once-dangerous passing game in the hands of a pair of inexperi-enced quarterbacks with whom the Vikings’ wide receivers had little chemistry. Despite so much change in such a short period of time, Harvin stepped up and led the Vikings with 71 receptions for 868 yards and five touchdowns.

Despite his success, there are still a few question marks surrounding Harvin, the big-gest of which regards the migraine attacks that knocked him out of three games last season. But Harvin insists the migraines are behind him and, frankly, he’s sick of talking about it.

“I’m not going to address it anymore but I’m a hundred percent healthy,” he said.

Another question mark sur-rounding the entire offense is new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave’s offense. Harvin assures the team is doing well with learning and apply-ing the new terminology and system, but one of the biggest differences is that the new system essentially makes all

the receivers interchangeable, lessening the importance of a ‘number one and number two receiver.’

“It’s all interchangeable,” said Harvin. “To be a number one receiver here really doesn’t matter because you’re going to play inside and you’re going to play outside.”

Another important piece in rebuilding the Vikings broken passing game will be the ad-dition of veteran quarterback

Donovan McNabb, who Har-vin is excited to play with.

“Donovan [McNabb] is an established veteran and proba-bly a Hall of Fame quarterback who has led his team to a lot of divisional championships,” said Harvin. “We’re confident that we’ve got a good general that knows how to lead his army.”

Coach Musgrave will be forced to reignite Minnesota’s passing game, which dropped

from eighth in 2009 to 26th in 2010. But even with inter-changeable receivers and a veteran quarterback, everyone knows who is the Vikings most dangerous receiving weapon, and the success of the Vikings passing game ultimately rests in Harvin’s hands.

“We’re expecting to be great this year,” said Harvin. “We’re not basing anything off of last year.”

wale agboola • msu reporterPercy Harvin caught 71 balls for 868 yards and five touchdowns last season.


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Ready to ReboundJared Allen and the rest of the Minnesota defense struggled last season. With a mystery on the

offensive side of the ball, it’s up to Allen and Co. to guide the Vikings in 2011.Reece Hemmeschstaff writer

2008: 14.5 sacks2009: 14.5 sacks2010: 10 sacks

J.A. THROUGH THE YEARSAfter week seven of the 2010

season, things weren’t going so hot for Vikings defensive end Jared Allen. The once-promising Vikings were off to a miserable 2-4 start, and Allen was held to a mere one sack. The 24-28 loss to the Packers that week must have been the breaking point for Allen, who went on to amass 10 sacks in his last nine games, giving him a season total of eleven, tenth best in the NFL.

Even though it was not a bad season statistically for Allen, it was his lowest sack total as a Viking, after 14.5 sacks the two previous years. It also was the defensive line’s low point during his three-year tenure, as they were second and first in his two previous years, respectively, in rush defense and fell to ninth in 2010.

Last season was also the first year the team averaged giving up more than 100 yards rushing a game. Add all that to a 6-10 record and a last place finish in the NFC North.

“We just got to let it go. We learned a valuable lesson that no person is bigger than the team,” Allen said about the struggles of last season. “We need to learn from that. Our coaches made some changes to help that, we got a lot of new players on both

sides of the ball and we just need to remember that feel-ing of how bad that sucked

last year.” If the Vikings don’t want a

repeat of last year on defense, they’re going to need Allen to step up his game earlier in the season rather than week seven.

With Pat Williams more than likely playing somewhere else, and Kevin Williams facing possible suspension early on in the year, that leaves only the defensive ends. Allen and Brian Robison from last season. Robi-son collected only two sacks last seasons playing in all 16 games.

If the Vikings want to com-pete on defense; they’re going to have to get the rush defense down to less than 90 yards al-lowed a game. Expect teams to pass heavily on the Vikings with a somewhat young defensive backfield. If the aerial attack is working for the opposing teams, the line is going to need to stop the run to get some sort of defensive positioning. They cannot afford to give up 100 yards on the ground to go with 200 yards in the air.

If Allen himself can start the season like he ended the last and end up around the 15 sack mark, there’s no reason why he can’t return to Hawaii for his fourth Pro Bowl and the defense can return to its prowess as one of the top run stoppers in all of football. In 2008 and 2009, the

Vikings defense was known as a rock solid bunch of players. The offense during those years was at times a rollercoaster, where each week you didn’t know how many points they were going to score.

For the Vikings to even get back to above the .500 mark, they need to return to this type of football.

As for Allen, he looked fit and ready during the first two days of training camps. The three-time Pro-Bowler claims he has been working out in the offseason as if everything was normal.

“I had all my trainers with me down in Arizona helping me out. I worked out just as status quo,” Allen said. “Coming in with a relatively new head coach, a new offensive coordinator and plenty of new position players, I feel like we’re behind the eight ball. But we are all profession-als and when that whistle blows we’re going to be ready to play.”

wale abgoola • msu reporterAfter peaking in ‘09, Allen and the rest of the defense had a rough 2010 season.


Ready to ReboundJared Allen and the rest of the Minnesota defense struggled last season. With a mystery on the

offensive side of the ball, it’s up to Allen and Co. to guide the Vikings in 2011.

wale abgoola • msu reporterAfter peaking in ‘09, Allen and the rest of the defense had a rough 2010 season.

The Henderson Bros.With E.J. being the star linebacker, little brother Erin Henderson was just an afterthought. Now, it looks like both Henderson brothers might be starting at linebacker for Minnesota.

JOEY DENTONstaff writer

People will often go out to football games and get to see two brothers playing on the same team. This happens a lot in Pee Wee football, high school football, and on a rare occasion college football. But it is like finding a needle in a haystack to find two brothers starting on the same team in NFL history, let alone the same position. The Vikings’ E.J. and Erin Henderson will have that opportunity this season, and it will be a lot of fun for them and for the fans.

The two have been on the Vikings together for three sea-sons already, but it is getting pretty interesting now, because due to some cuts and Erin’s vast improvement, he will have the opportunity to start at out-side linebacker alongside Chad Greenway and his brother EJ. The two brothers know that it is a possibility, but E.J. isn’t putting more pressure on Erin than he already has.

“I don’t think he has been putting extra pressure on me,

just tries to throw me some hints, letting me know that you know what you got to do,” said Erin. “He makes sure that I’m working to get to that point. He doesn’t want to put any extra pressure on me. I have enough of that on me already. I know what I have to do. I know what I have to take care of, and I’m ready to go out there and handle my business.”

According to head coach Leslie Frazier, Erin is penciled in as the starter right now, but it is a competitive spot. The coaches are also looking at Jas-per Brinkley, Kenny Onatolu and Ross Homan.

E.J. is astounded by Erin’s development as a player and as a person, and he is glad Erin has the opportunity to play with him in the NFL.

“I’m not pushing for it as much as anybody, but I hope he comes out and proves himself this camp and gets the opportunity to more playing time and be out there next to each other,” E.J. said.

Growing up in Aberdeen, Maryland, home of Cal Ripken

Jr., the Henderson brothers never thought about playing in the NFL together, because they had never been on the same team ever. They are six years apart, so they were never on the same high school team or at the University of Maryland at the same time. No matter how they happen to be team-mates in the NFL, they are both glad it happened.

“I never really thought about that, but it’s been fun and great. When you come out here your rookie year, you don’t really know a lot of people. You kind of got to figure things out on your own, but I was fortunate enough to have somebody out here that I grew up with and know very well,” Erin said. “It was a great plus to have my brother on the team. You got a friend and someone to talk to, and I am excited to get out there and ac-tually play with him this year.”

Erin definitely looks up to his older brother E.J. and is glad to have had him on the Vikings when he became a rookie in the NFL. E.J. helped

him ease into the transition in to being in the NFL, but he knows Erin isn’t a kid any-more.

“I hope he looks up to me. I try to be a role model, but he’s 25 now. He’s a grown man and has a family of his own, so we are more of best friends

than older brother and younger brother now,” said E.J.

By the end of these two linebacker’s careers, hope-fully the town of Aberdeen, Maryland will be known as the town of Cal Ripken Jr. and the Henderson brothers.

wale agboola • msu reporterE.J. Henderson has been consistent for the Minnesota defense over the last five seasons. His brother, Erin, hopes to do the same starting in ’11.

Page 16 • MSU Reporter 2011 Minnesota Vikings

2011 Vikings sCHEDULE

2011 nfC nortH sCHEDULE

8/13/11 7:00 p.m. @ Tennessee Titans8/20/11 9.00 p.m. @ Seattle Seahawks

8/27/11 7:00 p.m. Dallas Cowboys9/1/11 7:00 p.m. Houston Texans

9/11/11 3:15 p.m. @ San Diego Chargers9/18/11 Noon Tampa Bay Bucs9/25/11 Noon Detroit Lions10/2/11 Noon @ Kansas City Chiefs 10/09/11 Noon Arizona Cardinals10/16/11 7:20 p.m. @ Chicago Bears10/23/11 3:15 p.m. Green Bay Packers10/30/11 Noon @ Carolina Panthers

BYE WEEK

11/14/11 7:30 p.m. @ Green Bay Packers11/20/11 Noon Oakland Raiders11/27/11 Noon @ Atlanta Falcons12/4/11 Noon Denver Broncos12/11/11 Noon @ Detroit Lions12/18/11 Noon New Orleans Saints12/24/11 Noon @ Washington Redskins1/1/12 Noon Chicago Bears

PrE-sEAson

rEgULAr sEAson

PrE-sEAson8/13/11 Buffalo Bills8/22/11 @ New York Giants8/27/11 @ Tennessee Titans9/1/11 Cleveland Browns

rEgULAr sEAson9/11/11 Atlanta Falcons9/18/11 @ New Orleans Saints9/25/11 Green Bay Packers10/2/11 Carolina Panthers10/10/11 @ Detroit Lions10/16/11 Minnesota Vikins10/23/11 @ Tampa Bay Bucs BYE WEEK11/7/11 @ Philadelphia Eagles11/13/11 Detroit Lions11/20/11 San Diego Chargers11/27/11 @ Oakland Raiders12/4/11 Kansas City Chiefs12/11/11 @ Denver Broncos12/18/11 Seattle Seahawks12/25/11 @ Green Bay Packers1/1/12 @ Minnesota Vikings

PrE-sEAson8/12/11 Cincinnati Bengals8/19/11 @ Cleveland Browns8/27/11 New England9/1/11 @ Buffalo Bills

rEgULAr sEAson9/11/11 @ Tampa Bay Bucs9/18/11 Kansas City Chiefs9/25/11 @ Minnesota Vikings10/2/11 @ Dallas Cowboys10/10/11 Chicago Bears10/16/11 San Francisco 49ers10/23/11 Atlanta Falcons10/30/11 @ Denver Broncos

BYE WEEK11/13/11 @ Chicago Bears11/20/11 Carolina Panthers11/24/11 Green Bay Packers12/4/11 @ New Orleans Saints12/11/11 Minnesota Vikings12/18/11 @ Oakland Raiders12/24/11 San Diego Chargers1/1/12 @ Green Bay Packers

PrE-sEAson8/13/11 @ Cleveland Browns8/19/11 Arizona Cardinals8/26/11 @ Indianapolis Colts9/1/11 Kansas City Chiefs

rEgULAr sEAson9/8/11 New Orleans Saints9/18/11 @ Carolina Panthers9/25/11 @ Chicago Bears10/2/11 Denver Broncos10/9/11 @ Atlanta Falcons10/16/11 St. Louis Rams10/23/11 @ Minnesota Vikings

BYE WEEK11/6/11 @ San Diego Chargers11/14/11 Minnesota Vikings11/20/11 Tampa Bay Bucs11/24/11 @ Detroit Lions12/4/11 @ New York Giants12/11/11 Oakland Raiders12/18/11 @ Kansas City Chiefs12/25/11 Chicago Bears1/1/11 Detroit Lions

CHiCAgo BEArs DEtroit Lions grEEn BAY PACkErs

Training Camp 2011 MSU Reporter • Page 17

2011 Vikings Depth Chart

2011 Vikings nUMeriC rOster

r = rookie

free safety39 H. Abdullah 437 E. Frampton 5

strOng safety25 T. Johnson 433 J. Sanford 4

COrnerbaCk26 A. Winfield 1331 C. Cook 1

taCkle74 B. McKinnie 1060 S. Kooistra 8

wiDe reCeiVer12 P. Harvin 284 M. Jenkins 8

kiCker8 R. Longwell 15

kiCk retUrner12 P. Harvin 2

pUnter4 C. Kluwe 7

pUnt retUrner12 P. Harvin 2

gUarD76 S. Hutchinson 1072 C. DeGeare 2

fUllbaCk83 J. Dugan 840 J. Kleinsasser 13

Center65 J. Sullivan 468 J. Cooper 2

qUarterbaCk5 D. McNabb 137 C. Ponder R14 J. Webb 2

rUnning baCk28 A.Peterson 532 T. Gerhart 1

gUarD64 A. Herrera 878 S. Olsen 2

tight enD81 V. Shaincoe 982 K. Rudolph R

taCkle71 P. Loadholt 179 P. Brown 2

wiDe reCeiVer87 B. Berrian 819 D. Aromashodu 5

COrnerbaCk23 C. Griffin 621 A. Allen 9

MiDDlelinebaCker

56 E.J. Henderson 854 J. Brinkley 2

DefensiVetaCkle

93 K. Williams 992 R. Ayodele 590 F. Evans 698 L. Guion 4

weaksiDelinebaCker

50 E. Henderson 455 K. Onatolu 3

DefensiVe enD96 B. Robison 597 E. Griffen 1

strOngsiDelinebaCker

52 C. Greenway 659 H. Farwell 7

DefensiVe enD69 J. Allen 867 A. Awasom 3

3 Bomar, Rhett QB 6-2 225 26 2 Sam Houston State4 Kluwe, Chris P 6-4 215 29 7 UCLA5 Donovan McNabb QB 6-2 240 34 13 Syracuse7 Ponder, Christian QB 6-2 229 23 R Florida State8 Longwell, Ryan K 6-0 200 36 15 California9 Whitaker, Nate K 5-9 185 22 R Stanford11 Johnson, Jaymar WR 6-0 176 27 2 Jackson State12 Harvin, Percy WR 5-11 184 23 3 Florida13 Lincoln, Ryan WR 6-11 195 22 R Texas A&M Kingsville14 Webb, Joe QB 6-4 220 24 1 UAB15 Holmes, Andrew WR 6-5 206 23 R Hillsdale16 Arceneaux, Emmanuel WR 6-2 211 23 R Alcorn18 Johnson, Dominique WR 6-4 225 23 R Cal Poly21 Allen, Asher CB 5-9 194 23 3 Georgia22 Castille, Simeon DB 6-0 203 25 2 Alabama23 Griffin, Cedric CB 6-0 203 28 6 Texas24 Parks, Cord CB 5-10 178 24 1 Northeastern25 Johnson, Tyrell S 6-0 207 26 4 Arkansas State26 Winfield, Antoine CB 5-9 180 34 13 Ohio State27 Booker, Lorenzo RB 5-10 191 27 4 Florida State28 Peterson, Adrian RB 6-1 217 26 5 Oklahoma29 Torrence, Devon CB 6-0 199 22 R Ohio State30 Raymond, Mistral DB 6-1 194 22 R South Florida31 Cook, Chris DB 6-2 212 24 2 Virginia32 Gerhart, Toby RB 6-0 231 24 2 Stanford33 Sanford, Jamarca S 5-10 200 25 3 Mississippi34 Robinson, Alexander QB 5-9 191 23 R Iowa State35 Sherels, Marcus CB 5-10 175 23 R Minnesota36 Burton, Brandon DB 6-0 185 22 R Utah37 Frampton, Eric S 5-11 205 27 5 Washington State39 Abdullah, Husain S 6-0 204 26 4 Washington State40 Kleinsasser, Jimmy TE 6-3 272 34 13 North Dakota41 Adingupu, Chris S 6-1 197 22 R Prarie View42 Barham, Ed TE 6-3 260 23 R North Carolina43 Hill, Ryan S 6-0 205 24 R Miami44 D’Imperio, Ryan FB 6-2 241 23 2 Rutgers46 Loeffler, Cullen LS 6-5 241 30 8 Texas47 Gilmore, Jonathan LB 6-4 295 24 R Western Oregon48 Asiata, Matt FB 5-11 220 24 R Utah49 Gipson, Marcell CB 5-10 189 24 R Wyoming

50 Henderson, Erin OLB 6-3 244 25 4 Maryland52 Greenway, Chad OLB 6-2 242 28 6 Iowa54 Brinkley, Jasper LB 6-1 252 26 3 South Carolina55 Onatolu, Kenny LB 6-2 225 28 3 Nebraska-Omaha56 Henderson, Eric MLB 6-1 245 30 9 Maryland57 Homan, Ross LB 6-1 240 24 R Ohio State58 Washington, Mark LB 6-3 258 25 R Texas State59 Farwell, Heath LB 6-0 235 29 7 San Diego State60 Akinniyi, David DE 6-4 262 23 R North Carolina State60 Amituanai, Conan OL 6-4 335 23 R Arizona60 Kooistra, Scott OT 6-6 335 30 8 North Carolina State61 Huntley, Rod OL 6-3 320 24 R UTEP61 McKinley, Cedric DE 6-6 282 24 R Minnesota63 Fusco, Brandon C 6-4 306 21 R Slippery Rock64 Herrera, Anthony G 6-2 315 31 9 Tennessee65 Sullivan, John C 6-4 301 25 4 Notre Dame66 Welch, Thomas T 6-7 310 24 R Vanderbilt67 Awasom, Adrian DE 6-5 280 27 3 North Texas68 Cooper, Jon C 6-2 291 24 1 Oklahoma69 Allen, Jared DE 6-7 270 29 8 Idaho State71 Loadhold, Phil T 6-8 343 25 3 Oklahoma72 DeGeare, Chris G 6-4 325 24 2 Wake Forest73 Isom, Byron OL 6-3 302 23 R Auburn74 McKinnie, Bryant T 6-8 335 31 10 Miami76 Hutchinson, Steve G 6-5 313 33 11 Michigan78 Olsen, Seth G 6-5 308 25 2 Iowa79 Brown, Patrick T 6-5 310 24 1 Central Florida81 Shiancoe, Visanthe TE 6-4 240 31 9 Morgan State82 Rudolph, Kyle TE 6-6 259 21 R Notre Dame84 Jenkins, Michael WR 6-4 217 29 8 Ohio State85 Camarillo, Greg WR 6-1 190 29 6 Stanford86 Burton, Stephen WR 6-1 221 21 R West Texas A&M87 Berrian, Bernard WR 6-1 185 30 8 Fresno State90 Evans, Fred DT 6-4 305 27 6 Texas State- San Marcos92 Ayodele, Remi DT 6-2 318 28 5 Oklahoma93 Williams, Kevin DT 6-5 311 30 9 Oklahoma State96 Robison, Brian DE 6-3 259 28 5 Texas 97 Griffen, Everson DE 6-3 273 23 2 USC98 Guion, Letroy DT 6-4 303 24 4 Florida State99 Ballard, Christian DT 6-4 283 22 R Iowa

Page 18 • MSU Reporter Minnesota Vikings Issue Training Camp 2011 MSU Reporter • Page 19 Training Camp 2011 MSU Reporter • Page 19

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After only playing two games for the Vi-kings last season, Cedric Griffin is ready to be back in purple and lead the defensive backs this season. Last season’s week 5 injury of Griffin turned into an ACL tear in his left knee that left him sidelined for the remainder of the season. But Griffin has had a long offseason with the lockout to rehabilitate his knee and rejoin his team.

“Based on what the doctors have told me, we kind of have to go slow early on. But we want to try to get him ready for that San Diego game,” head coach Leslie Frazier said. “We can’t ask him to do everything that all other players are doing for this early part of camp.” “I’m fine,” Griffin said about his injuries. “It’s football, injuries happen all the time and I’m ready to go.”

Before his injury, Griffin was one of the key defensive backs for the Vikings NFC champi-onship run in 2009, where he had a career high four interceptions to go along with 60 tackles and three forced fumbles. In order for the Vikings to be a top pass-defending team, they will need Griffin to step up and be a big time defensive back.

Returning to the other cornerback position is

the seasoned veteran Antoine Winfield. The big question with Winfield is whether or not he’s still got gas in the tank? Winfield at age 33 is still one of the best pass defenders on the team, and having 72 tackles last season shows even at his age, he can still step up and make a play. He also provides a mentor for young cornerbacks like Chris Cook and Asher Allen to learn off of until they get comfortable in the NFL. Both of which could also be seeing playing time this year if Griffin is not quite ready to come back from his injury at the beginning of the season.

The key position that needs to step up in the defensive backfield has to be the two safeties positions, filled with inexperienced youngsters who need nothing but playing time to help them out. The safety depth chart could go in a bunch of directions this season as there is no for sure starter at each position.

“It gives opportunities for Jamarca Sanford. It gives an opportunity for Tyrell Johnson to really show what they’re capable of doing, Frazier said about the young safeties. “Mistral Johnson as well, it creates more competition.” Expect Tyrell Johnson and Jamarca Sanford

REECE HEMMESCH | staff writer

Cedric Griffin was the next up and coming cornerback. Knee injuries have set him off, but he’s ready to go back to his 2009 form.

shannon rathmanner • msu reporterCedric Griffin was a big part of the NFC Championship run two seasons ago, but after two major knee injuries, he will have to prove himself again. Griffin / page 28


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A New Underrated WeaponIf Kyle Rudolph could have stayed healthy his junior year at Notre Dame, he likely

would have been a first round pick. He plans on playing like one anyway.

Chances are if Kyle Ru-dolph wasn’t injured last sea-son, he would have been a first round draft pick. The thing is, he still plans on performing like a first-rounder.

“I’m going to do everything I can on offense as well as special teams and whatever is asked of me,” the 21-year-old Rudolph said.

Injuries have plagued Rudolph’s college career as a tight end for Notre Dame as he’s only played in 15 games over the last two seasons due to shoulder and hamstring injuries.

The numbers were still there, however, just a bit depleted. During his freshman year at Notre Dame, Rudolph became the only tight end in school history to start every game. He caught 29 balls for 340 yards and two touchdown. In just six games his sopho-more year, Rudolph caught 33 balls for 364 yards and three

touchdowns. Last season, also playing just six games, he caught 28 balls for 328 yards and three touchdowns.

One must remember that the Notre Dame offense wasn’t ex-actly on the same page making the transition to Charlie Weiss and then to Brian Kelly.

He’ll have to deal with what all the other rookies have had to deal with: the NFL lockout. The lockout made it difficult for rookies to get to know the coaching staff, and more importantly to get to know the playbook. Rudolph doesn’t think that will be a problem for him.

“Our first couple days of install I’ve had for a while and I’ve been able to go through those so I definitely feel com-fortable,” Rudolph said. “It’s something that I’m familiar with in the past. My freshman year at Notre Dame was kind of the same situation with going in with Coach [Char-lie] Weis’ playbook, which is pretty big and pretty specific,

so I think I’ll be alright as far as the playbook goes.”

He was considered the top tight-end prospect in this year’s draft and while many second-guessed the Viking’s decision to take a tight end

when the team had many other holes, Minnesota looked to be making a move offensively for the future revolving around quarterback Christian Ponder, Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin and Rudolph.

Rudolph will sit behind Shiancoe for the 2011 season, but in offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave’s “tight end happy” offense, look for the


wale abgoola • msu reporterKyle Rudolph was the first Notre Dame tight end to start every game in his freshman season.

Rudolph / page 28


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Replacing Sidney Rice

Just as Vikings fans were beginning to get excited to see Donovan McNabb spreading the ball around to the team’s plethora of receivers, he lost his number one target when Sidney Rice left via free agency to the Seattle Seahawks.

After extended talks with both the Vikings and Sea-hawks, Rice chose to follow close friend and former Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson to Seattle and also reunited himself with former Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Rice and the Vikings had been at odds over his contract for the past year and a half, and in the end the wide-out opted to take more money and sign with the Seahawks.

Coming off a breakout 2009 campaign, Rice was injured for most of 2010 and the Vikings were not ready to pay him what he felt he deserved. The team could have bought some more time to work out a long-term contract by using the franchise tag on Rice, but instead they used it on linebacker Chad Greenway.

Rice’s departure left the Vikings with very few established wide receivers, as the position went from a strength to a weakness overnight. Other than 2009 Rookie of the Year and Pro-Bowler Percy Harvin, the Vikings had nobody else on the depth chart who

produced starting wide-out numbers in 2010. The position also lacked height and a red zone

threat.Despite coming on strong in his first

year in Minnesota in 2008 when he led the NFL in yards per reception (20.1), Bernard Berrian was nowhere to be found last sea-

son. Greg Camarillo also did very little to capitalize on all the playing time he received.The Vikings turned to free agency for help,

first signing Devin Aromashadu and then Michael Jenkins to fill the void left by Rice. In doing so, the

Vikings passed on some of the higher-rated free agent wide receivers, such as Braylon Edwards, Malcolm Floyd and James Jones.

So who is going to step up and be the guy opposite Harvin?

Berrian and Jenkins have both started before on playoff-caliber teams, and are both trying to get back to where they were a few years ago.

Although it had been rumored that Berrian’s time in purple was almost up, the wide receiver remained positive and ended up restructuring his contract to stay with the Vikings.

“Bernard has a great attitude and so do so many others,” said head coach Leslie Frazier. “I am just en-thused about the way he has come to camp and the fact that he has a chip on his shoulder, which should turn out to be good for our football team.”

With a new offensive coordinator and quarterback this season, Berrian has the perfect opportunity to step up and be the guy the Vikings thought they were get-ting when they gave him that contract in ’08.

“He knows he has some things around him and we have his best interest at heart and he has a chance to really thrive in our offense,” Frazier said.

Jenkins, on the other hand, has the early edge for second on the depth chart, having played under of-fensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and wide receivers coach George Stewart as a member of the Atlanta Falcons. At 6’4”, Jenkins has the frame to be a go-to guy in the red zone, but he only had two touchdowns last season.

“Michael brings a lot of toughness to the wide receiver room,” said Musgrave. “He’ll fit in really well with our mentality, and of course he has size and speed, which will help when we do throw the football down the field.”

No matter who grabs hold of the starting job, the Vikings will need every wide-out to contribute in order to keep pace in the high-scoring NFC North.

LEE HANDELsports editor

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Did the Vikings make the right move?Was bringing in Donovan McNabb the right thing to do, or should have the Vikings let

Christian Ponder take his bumps and bruises during his rookie season?JOEY DENTONstaff writer

Even though this offseason wasn’t anything like a regular offseason, training camp for the Vikings will be the exact same. It’s in Mankato, it’s in the first week of August, and Brett Favre isn’t showing up. The difference is, Favre isn’t going to join the team after training camp this time around (as far as we know).

There is going to be a differ-ent seasoned quarterback joining the Vikings this season, and that man is Donovan McNabb. I really doubt that the organiza-tion is going to pay the former Redskin to sit on the bench, at least not this season.

It seemed to be head coach Leslie Frazier’s plan to have first-round draft pick Christian Ponder start this year, until this

summer’s NFL lockout pro-hibited Ponder from working with the team at minicamps and OTAs. It would have been a disaster to have Ponder go out there this season as the Vikings starter, given the short amount of time rookie quarterbacks get to work with their teams, even with a regular offseason.

Bringing in McNabb was a great move for the Vikings. With

a large handful of veterans and players a little past their prime, the team is looking to win now, not in three years. The NFL now is a quarterback-driven league. When a team has an efficient quarterback, they win.

Despite last year’s fiasco with the Redskins, McNabb has been a very efficient quarterback. During his 11 years in Phila-delphia, he took the Eagles to five NFC Championships and a Super Bowl. When Frazier was an assistant with the Eagles he got to see McNabb play a lot, so he knows what he is capable of. It was a steal to be able to get a quarterback at his caliber for two sixth round draft picks.

NFL defenses are much faster and way more complicated to read than college defenses and there are only a handful of rookie quarterbacks that can pull off starting right away. Most of those quarterbacks were drafted by teams very early in the draft and are usually in a rebuilding season, like the Rams last year after drafting Sam Bradford. They were looking to the future. They weren’t expecting him to take the team to the playoffs last season.

One of the great aspects of bringing the veteran quarterback to the team is he can teach the two youngsters, Christian Pon-

der and Joe Webb. The organiza-tion seems to have high hopes for those two, and McNabb would be a great mentor for the next few seasons. When he was with the Eagles, Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick definitely benefit-ted from being behind him until they were ready to break out and become NFL starters.

Young quarterbacks definitely benefit from watching and learn-ing from All-Pro quarterbacks, just ask last year’s Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers. He spent several seasons under future Hall of Famer Brett Favre. Rodgers was drafted in the first round, and he wasn’t rushed into the starting role his first season. He was on the bench and taking in what Favre had to offer him. Favre showed him how to win, and how to be a great teammate. Now look at Rodgers, he’s a Super Bowl winner and a valid candidate for MVP every year.

That is what McNabb can offer Christian Ponder. McNabb has the will to do whatever it takes to win, and hopefully it will rub off on Ponder for the future. With all the other posi-tions pretty well stacked on the Vikings, it was a great decision to bring in the veteran to win now and teach the young guns for later.

shannon rathmanner • msu reporterDonovan McNabb and Christian Ponder joke around on the first day of training camp.

Vikings passed on some of the higher-rated free agent wide receivers, such as Braylon Edwards, Malcolm Floyd and James Jones.

So who is going to step up and be the guy opposite Harvin?

Berrian and Jenkins have both started before on playoff-caliber teams, and are both trying to get back to where they were a few years ago.

Although it had been rumored that Berrian’s time in purple was almost up, the wide receiver remained positive and ended up restructuring his contract to stay with the Vikings.

“Bernard has a great attitude and so do so many others,” said head coach Leslie Frazier. “I am just en-thused about the way he has come to camp and the fact that he has a chip on his shoulder, which should turn out to be good for our football team.”

With a new offensive coordinator and quarterback this season, Berrian has the perfect opportunity to step up and be the guy the Vikings thought they were get-ting when they gave him that contract in ’08.

“He knows he has some things around him and we have his best interest at heart and he has a chance to really thrive in our offense,” Frazier said.

Jenkins, on the other hand, has the early edge for second on the depth chart, having played under of-fensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and wide receivers coach George Stewart as a member of the Atlanta Falcons. At 6’4”, Jenkins has the frame to be a go-to guy in the red zone, but he only had two touchdowns last season.

“Michael brings a lot of toughness to the wide receiver room,” said Musgrave. “He’ll fit in really well with our mentality, and of course he has size and speed, which will help when we do throw the football down the field.”

No matter who grabs hold of the starting job, the Vikings will need every wide-out to contribute in order to keep pace in the high-scoring NFC North.


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WHAT DO THE VIKINGS DO WITH JOE WEBB?TIGE HUTCHESONstaff writer

As the old adage goes: “Opportunity knocks only once; it’s up to you to answer the door.” For 24-year-old quarterback Joe Webb, the op-portunity to emerge as a for-real NFL quarter-back revealed itself last season on December 8, when Webb made his first career start against the heavily favored Philadelphia Eagles.

Webb was drafted by the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft as a wide receiver prospect, despite starting at quarterback in 2008 and 2009 for the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Despite natural leadership skills, Webb’s potential as a quarterback was over-shadowed by his extraordinary numbers at UAB’s Pro Day, scaring off many NFL teams who viewed him as a player with an undefined position.

After beating out veteran quarterbacks like Sage Rosenfels at Vikings Training Camp, Webb watched most of the 2010 season from the bench, seeing limited action as a kick returner and rarely-used receiver, until starting quarterback Brett Favre and backup Tarvaris Jackson were lost to injury the week of the Eagles game.

Viewed as two touchdown underdogs, the untested and inexperienced Webb surprised the world by outplaying Eagles quarterback Mi-chael Vick and leading the Vikings to a 24-14 upset. Webb scored one rushing touchdown and threw for 195 yards, going 17-for-26 without giving up any interceptions to the crafty Eagles defense.

“I think [Webb] did well especially consider-ing the situation,” said Vikings head coach Les-lie Frazier. “All of the sudden he’s our starting quarterback late in the season and I thought he performed very well.”

Despite Webb’s late-season heroics, the Vikings entered the 2011 offseason looking for answers at quarterback. After the “retire-ment” of Favre and the departure of Jackson, Webb looked to be a serious candidate to be the Vikings starter entering the season. The front office, however, had other plans, drafting QB

Christian Ponder with the 12th overall pick and trading for veteran Donovan McNabb, leaving Webb on the outside looking in as the probable third-string quarterback.

But that’s nothing Webb can control, and he understands what he needs to do: not get frus-trated and keep competing.

“That’s just the business of the game, and you can’t let it get you down,” said Webb. “The thing you need to do is just compete and show the coaches that you have what it takes.”

Even though he has proven himself capable of being an NFL quarterback, Webb still has doubters everywhere that believe he would be a better fit as a receiver, special situation quarter-back, or even possibly a utility defender.

“I really feel I can do anything, but right now coach asked me to be the best quarterback I can be so right now that’s how I’m going to treat it,” said Webb.

While Webb’s future as a quarterback is yet to be confirmed, for now he is donning the same red jersey worn by Ponder, McNabb, and Rhett Bomar. In fact, with free agents, including Donovan McNabb, unavailable to practice until August 4 under the new CBA, Frazier intends to hand the reins to Webb.

“The incumbent, the guy who has the most experience [will be taking first-string snaps with McNabb unavailable]. And right now that’s Joe Webb for us.” said Frazier earlier in the week.

“I’ll do whatever the team asks me to do to help us win games, but as of right now, I am a quarterback,” said Webb.

Most players in Webb’s shoes would view the situation as unfair. Two of the golden rules of athletics--priding yourself in your work ethic and being ready just in case your number is called—have been completely thrown to the side. Webb is an unfair exception to what is sup-posed to be one of the cardinal rules of athletics.

But Joe Webb understands that sulking in disappointment won’t change his situation. Only one thing will: competing hard.

“That’s all I’m here to do,” said Webb.And training camp is the perfect time for

Webb to once again begin making his case. shannon rathmanner • msu reporterJoe Webb led the Vikings to a memorable win over the Eagles last season.


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There will be a lot of changes for Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams this season. The Williams Wall has been brought down for the first time in six seasons due to Pat Williams departure, his suspension is up in the air right now, and his former teammate to the left of him, Ray Edwards, is a Falcon now. It will be a true test this season for the nine-year veteran.

Without the big seam-plugger Pat Williams, the shorter half of the Williams wall continues to work hard and won’t let that affect him. He is excited, and he can’t wait to see who he will be playing next to this season.

“I had a few years where I had Pat [Williams] before and I’m definitely going to miss him and it’s going to take some getting used to,” said Kevin.

Kevin definitely learned a lot from Pat, but there are just certain skills Pat had that nobody can learn.

“I learned you can’t play the nose position the way he plays it. There’s some unique things that he does down there in the middle,” said Kevin. “You don’t want to copy it, you might get ‘dump-trucked.’ The ways he handles guys, I’ve tried it before and I always find myself in bad situations.”

Unfortunately ,this season Kevin Williams could be facing a suspension for the StarCaps

scandal in 2008. He and other defensive players, including Pat Williams, were tested positive for an illegal dietary substance that was not banned in 2008, according to Andy Hutchins of sbnation.com.

Kevin was asked about his suspension, and he doesn’t know what is going to happen. It may disappear or he may have to serve it this season.

“We haven’t heard anything. [Laughing] Hopefully they forget about it, you know how that goes. Whatever happens, happens,” said Kevin. “I’m just going to go with it. I haven’t heard back from the league, but maybe when the CBA gets settled completely, maybe we’ll hear from them.”

There are a lot of legal things to sort out for this, but one thing

is for sure, and that is he is ready to rock this season. Last season he had 39 tackles and a career-low one sack. This season he intends to bounce back and compete at a high level.

With Pat gone, the team picked up defensive tackle Remi Ayodele from the New Orleans Saints, and they drafted a de-fensive tackle from Iowa named Christian Ballard in the fourth

round of this year’s draft. Those two will be competing for the other starting D-tackle spot next to Kevin. With Kevin being next to them, they will learn how to be All-Pro defensive linemen.

“He’s a great coach. He’s been here for 11 years, and he knows all the ins and outs of the game. I‘m just listening, taking it to the heart and trying to learn from one of the best,” said Ballard.

Will he be suspended? How will he do without Pat Williams by him? The defensive tackle has plenty of questions to answer.JOEY DENTONstaff writer

shannon rathmanner • msu reporterKevin Williams has 49.5 sacks in his career, but had just one in 2010.


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The Reporter’s 2011 Minnesota Viking Fantasy Football PreviewAdrian Peterson is a sure thing this season, but what about other skilled position players like Donovan McNabb, Christian Ponder, Percy Harvin, Michael Jenkins and Visanthe Shiancoe?KYLE RATKEeditor in chief

Fantasy football play-ers have spent the last few months holding their breath on whether or not there would be an NFL season. Well, thanks to the football gods and Jeff Saturday, here we are at train-ing camp.

Most fantasy nerds will be having their drafts over the next month, so what better time to grade the Vikings play-ers and where they should go in your upcoming draft with smelly uncle Ted. Here’s the Reporter’s ratings:

Quarterbacks:

Donovan McNabb McNabb is coming of the

worst season of his career, but best receiver last season was Santana Moss and there was a cluster of mediocre running backs. This season he’ll have Percy Harvin and Adrian Pe-terson. Sounds like a huge up-grade? It is, but it still doesn’t make McNabb worthy of draft pick. If anything, McNabb is a waiver wire type of guy to help with injuries.

Prediction: 3,230 yards, 18 touchdowns, 15 interceptions.

Christian Ponder

The guy looks like he could be the next big quarterback in

the league. He’s smart and has the quarterback build. Unless you’re in a keeper league, don’t touch him with a 10 foot pole.

Prediction: 500 yards, three touchdowns, five interceptions.

Running back:

Adrian Peterson

He’ll probably be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft and rightfully so. If you have a top-three pick, Peterson better be in your radar. Having McNabb helps, but losing Sidney Rice hurts. If the Vikings can’t get a decent pass game going, expect defenders to stack the box against the Vikings. Don’t expect them to take down Pe-terson, who’s rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his five sea-sons. If anything’s a sure thing in 2011, it’s that when healthy, Peterson will be great.

Prediction: 1,600 yards, 14 touchdowns. 340 yards receiv-ing, two touchdowns.

Wide receievers:

Percy Harvin

When healthy, Harvin was a lock as a fantasy team’s No. 2 receiver last year. That’s the thing, though. Harvin is rarely healthy and when he is, he’s a “questionable” healthy (the

worst kind of healthy there is.) Harvin is worth a gamble as your No. 3 receiver and will perform like a No. 1 at times. It’s all about the health. Harvin will also be affected by Rice’s departure as he will be unable to sneak underneath Rice’s fade routes.

Prediction: 75 catches, 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns.

Michael Jenkins

The goal is for Jenkins to fill in Rice’s role. That might

be wishful thinking. In an explosive offense with the Falcons last season, Jenkins caught for just over 500 yards. The good news is he is familiar with offensive coordinator and former Falcons quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave. Still, Jenkins is not worth a selection in your draft.

Prediction: 40 catches, 450 yards, four touchdowns.

Tight end:

Visanthe Shiancoe

During the Brett Favre Era, Shiancoe was a main target in the red zone. McNabb has been known to like his tight ends also, but don’t waste a pick on Shiancoe. You’ll be able to pick him up in free-agency. And if you can’t, someone else reached for him.

Prediction: 50 catches, 600 yards, six touchdowns.

wale agboola • msu reporterDonovan McNabb had a rough 2010 season, throwing for 3,377 yards, 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.


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A BITTERSWEET TRAINING CAMPThis year’s training camp is the 10 year anniversary of Korey Stringer’s death.

TIGE HUTCHESONstaff writer

Training camp is supposed to be an exciting time; it’s a blank slate for every team in the NFL, marking the begin-ning of an unwritten chapter in NFL history. Teammates are reunited with one another, buzzing with anticipation and excitement about the end-less potential in store for the upcoming season. Every team is a Super Bowl contender and every player is a legitimate candidate for MVP. Yes, these are happy times across the NFL.

Unfortunately, training camp is also a yearly reminder of one of the greatest tragedies in NFL history, and it hap-pened right here in Mankato. August 1 marked the 10-year anniversary of the death of talented football player, but more importantly beloved teammate, Korey Stringer.

“We just wanted our players to take a moment to remember Korey [Stringer],

a guy who was affable and loved by so many,” said Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier, an assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles at the time.

Stringer, the Vikings start-ing offensive tackle and for-mer first round pick in 1995, was coming off of a Pro Bowl season in 2000 and was one of the most respected leaders on the Minnesota Vikings roster heading into the 2001 training camp. Unfortunately, String-er’s career was cut short when he suffered complications brought about by heat stroke.

And while his team and fans would much rather still have him back in purple and gold, Stringer has somehow managed to keep protecting his teammates even from the grave. Information revealed from a wrongful death law-suit filed by Stringer’s widow against the NFL brought about the creation of a heat illness prevention program, and shed light on other factors contrib-

uting to Stringer’s death in hopes that no NFL player after him would be lost.

“So, you feel bad for what happened, but the league has definitely changed when it comes to how we practice and how we emphasize hydration with our players and a lot of it has to do with what happened to Korey,” said Frazier.

Ten years have passed, but players still remember String-er as a great guy and a great leader. With No. 77 painted onto a practice field in his honor, Stringer will always be a Minnesota Viking and seem-ingly has yet to stop his work on the football field.

“Everyone misses him and wishes he could come out and practice today, but in a way I felt like he was there today,” said Frazier after Monday’s practice. “I just feel like he lives on in a number of ways through the pride our players have and a lot of people miss him.”web photo

There is an institute named after Korey Stringer that researches heat-related sickness at the University of Connecticut.


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BREAKING DOWN THE NFC NORTHLIONS, PACKERS AND BEARS, OH MY!

LEE HANDELsports editor

After ruling the North in 2009, the tables were turned on the Vikings in a big way in 2010. The Purple went 6-10 and fell from first to last place, tied with the lowly Lions at the bottom of the division. The other two teams from the Black and Blue division, the Packers and Bears, battled each other for a spot in the Super Bowl, with Green Bay defeating Chi-cago and going on to become Super Bowl champions.

Although it was likely hard to see their fiercest rivals win the whole thing, the Vikings know that 2011 is a new year and the division is looking as competitive as it ever has. For the first time since the Barry Sanders days, the Lions look like a legitimate contender. Many associated with the NFL are also referring to the North as the toughest division in football.

Here is how the division stacks up:

Green Bay Packers

The Packers might be even more dangerous this season than they were last season. One must remember that the Pack was in danger of missing the playoffs all-together before

they put together a winning streak at the end of the season that ended with a Super Bowl Championship. Head coach Mike McCarthy and quarter-back Aaron Rodgers finally figured out how to win the big games and now the Packers are heavily favored to win the North again in 2011.

The Packers’ offense was solid last season, but figures to be even more dangerous this year. Freakish athlete Jermi-chael Finley is fully healthy again at tight end for Green Bay and might be the best re-ceiving tight end in the NFL if he stays healthy this year. Ryan Grant will also be back at run-

ning back to com-pliment James

Starks, who came up big in place of Grant in the play-offs last

year.

Starting wide-outs Greg Jen-nings and Donald Driver are back, and so is big play threat James Jones after testing free agency.

The defense lost Cullen Jen-kins and Nick Barnett, but has suitable replacements already in place and figures to be one of the best in the NFL again this year with linebacker Clay Matthews and corner Charles Woodson leading the way. When all is said and done it will be hard for the other three teams to keep the Pack from becoming NFC North champs.

Prediction: 11-5.

Chicago Bears

One thing to remember is the Bears are actually the defending NFC North champs and had a first-round bye in the 2010 playoffs. The Bears offense finally put it all to-gether last year. Quarterback Jay Cutler finally seemed to gain a handle on Mike Martz’s schemes and the team also received big contributions from running back Matt Forte and wide receiver Johnny Knox.

The Bears took a flyer on a couple of Dallas Cowboys castoffs this offseason, sign-ing former Minnesota Go-phers running back Marion Barber and wide receiver Roy Williams, who will be counted on to give the

Bears the power runner and possession receiver the team was lacking last season.

The defense is aging, but seemed to come up big time and time again in 2010 and is led once again by pass rusher Julius Peppers and lineback-ers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.

Prediction: 9-7 (no playoffs)

Detroit Lions

Optimism abounds for the first time in years in Detroit. The Lions finished 6-10 last year, but were competitive in nearly every game. This was without emerging young quar-terback Matthew Stafford, who was injured in the third game of the season after getting off to a hot start.

Stafford’s number one target, Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, has emerged as one of the top wide-outs in the league. Second-year running back Jah-vid Best looks to be a keeper as well. Throw in former Viking Nate Burleson and tight end Brandon Pettigrew and the Lions should be able to keep up with anybody on offense this season.

The defense is also on the rise, as the Lions have drafted defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley in the past two drafts. They will anchor a defensive line that

should give quarterbacks in the North nightmares for the next decade.

Prediction: 8-8

Minnesota Vikings

One would assume the Vikings can only improve in 2011. The trade for Donovan McNabb and his arrival to training camp is already a sign of progress. New head coach Leslie Frazier seems to have created more of a positive vibe around camp than predecessor Brad Childress and the players hopefully are buying in.

The talent on offense is there, with Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin and Visanthe Shiancoe returning. If the of-fense can learn all he nuances of and excel with new coordi-nator Bill Musgrave’s system, the Vikings should be able to score some points. Newcomers Michael Jenkins and Kyle Ru-dolph will need to contribute, as well as the revived Bernard Berrian.

The defense has star power as well, and Jared Allen needs to get back to playing at an All-Pro level. If Kevin Wil-liams avoids suspension and the linebackers and corners stay healthy, the defense should once again be the strength of the team.

Prediction: 8-8

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his still has many productive years left in the league. Everyone associated with the Vikings organization is confi-dent in the latter, and McNabb wants to make it clear that he has no chip on his shoulder.

“I’ve moved past that whole some-thing to prove deal,” he said. “For me, it’s about going out there, being who I am and doing what I do.”

Not only did the Vikings only have to give up two sixth-round draft choices for McNabb’s services, but the veteran quarterback’s presence will also keep

Ponder and Webb’s feet out of the fire until they are truly ready to be starters in the NFL.

“I’ve been in their shoes before,” Mc-Nabb said. “We will continue to work together and help each other, push each other and challenge each other and make each other better as we continue on.”

Ponder, the team’s first round pick in last April’s draft, tweeted after the trade that he still plans to compete for the starting job for week one. That being said, he has had nothing but good things to say about McNabb since the trade

was made.“The biggest thing that I’m going to

soak up from him is his preparation,” said Ponder. “How he handles being an NFL quarterback.”

No matter what lies ahead for the Vikings this year, McNabb is here and trying to set the right tone from day one.

“That’s what the mindset is all about, of having an opportunity to play with a team with a lot of veterans who have won and had success and I’m looking forward to getting back to that winning edge.”

McNABB “I’ve moved past that whole something to prove deal,” McNabb said. “For me, it’s about going out there, being who I am and doing what I do.” continued from 3

well, but he thinks McNabb com-ing to Minnesota will be a great thing for Ponder.

“Anytime you can get a guy that’s been there before, to be able to teach and kind of bring him along, it’s definitely great for Christian [Pon-der]. I know he’s very excited as well,” Rudolph said.

Did the Vikings reach for Ponder? During the draft, everyone thought so. But Ponder’s done everything he’s been able to during the offseason to make us think otherwise. His body

language, his media appearances and organizing team workouts have fooled us into thinking Minnesota has finally drafted its guy. Maybe his play on the field will fool us, too. Even if it’s not this season.

Ponder is ready to learn, but he’s also ready to play. After the McNabb deal was announced, Ponder tweeted, “Excited to have McNabb join. Will learn a lot from a Pro Bowler. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still fight-ing to start week 1.”

Maybe four years from now in-

stead of asking whether or not the Vikings reached for Ponder, people will wonder who the quarterbacks were taken ahead of Ponder and why he fell so far. Ultimately, it’ll all be up to Ponder.

So far, so good. No matter who starts for the Vikings, the future is Ponder and he couldn’t be more excited to fast-forward to then. Until then, he’ll wait and learn. And then hopefully win.

PONDER “Did the Vikings reach for Ponder? During the draft, everyone thought so. But Ponder’s done every-thing he’s been able to during the offseason to make us think otherwise.” continued from 6

start training camp.Johnson, 27, who had

started 54 out of 74 games with the Colts and protected Peyton Manning’s blind side, figures to take over for McKinnie.

“He’s a guy that I am fa-miliar with from our days in Indianapolis and of course watched him progress and we’re fortunate that he was available and we’ll just see how he fits in,” Frazier said.

Third-year tackle Phil Loadholt and fourth-year center John Sullivan are improving each year and Hutchinson is a Pro-Bowler, but the other two spots are in question right now. Assuming Herrera is ready for week one and Johnson fits in nicely, the Vikings offensive line could have a bounce-back year.

“We got a pretty good core coming back.” Hutchinson said.

OFFENSIVE LINE “We got a pretty good core coming back,” Hutchinson said. continued from 7

“There’s no reason not to believe that we can fight our way back into a playoff situation this year,” said Greenway. “We feel confi-dent about that and we don’t really care if anybody else thinks that way or not.”

GREENWAY “The lineback-er has to prove he was worth the franchise tag, as the Vikings passed on putting it on wide receiver Sidney Rice who ended up signing for the Seattle Seahawks.” continued from 10


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the top three attempts leaders last year; Peterson would have been second in the league’s rushing yards instead of sixth.

Another stat Peterson has improved on is his fum-bling down from the 2008 and 2009. Those two years he had a combined six-teen fumbles that drove all Vikings fan’s crazy, which

looks bad compared to his one fumble from last year. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t running hard anymore either, he still showed his power and agility but kept the ball in his hands all but one time in the year, major improvement from year’s past. He is also turning into more of a veteran player than years before, he’s com-

ing into himself as a player and is not just a young kid anymore; he’s been on the offense just as long as any other offensive player has been, it’s his turn to be a leader.

If he can remain healthy and the Vikings continue to give him the ball, Peter-son should be a leader in almost all stat categories.

He should receive about 330 attempts on the ground. Keep that up with his 4.8 career yards per carry that brings him up to 1,584 yards, which will put him on the top of the list. Due to the fact that Toby Gerhart is used as a goal line run-ning back, you have to take a few touchdowns away from Peterson; he might get

them to the goal line but Gerhart will bring them in. A safe bet would be thirteen touchdowns on the year. Add three or four fumbles in there, and A.P. ends the season right where he should, the top of the list.

PETERSON “If he can remain healthy and the Vikings continue to give him the ball, Peterson should be a leader in almost all stat categories. He should receive about 330 attempts on the ground... which brings him to 1,583 yards, which should put him at the top of the list.” continued from 8

to both be going hard for the starting safety position during training camp, they both had under 15 tackles last season so hopefully it pushes those two to be-come better players, but as of right now, strong safety is the Vikes’ low point on the defensive side of the ball. “The more competi-tive we get, the better we’ll be,” Sanford said about himself and Johnson going for the top spot. Free safety Husain Abdullah is coming

off a decent 2010, where he racked up 50 tackles and three interceptions.

“It’s a different approach every year in training camp for me.” Abdullah said after day one of training camp. “This year I want to be a starter.”

Frazier believes the future is bright for young Abdullah; they just need to find someone to go along-side him. Mistral Johnson could also be looking at some playing time behind

Abdullah at free safety. All four starting defen-

sive backs will have some-thing to prove at the start of this season. Winfield has to show everybody even though he’s 33; he still has enough to be one of the top corners in the NFL. Griffin needs to show us that he is no longer just a starter at cornerback, but one of the top defenders on the team, and the safeties are out to prove everybody wrong.

CEDRIC GRIFFIN “All four starting defensive backs will have something to prove at the start of this season... Griffing needs to show people that he is no long just a starter at cornerback, but one of the best defenders on the team.”

continued from 18

athletic Rudolph to be used for passing plays. While Shiancoe has proven to be a red zone threat over the last three seasons, Rudolph will give him a run for his money. Rudolph has something in common with another great tight end in the league — Antonio Gates — in that both players are very talented at basketball.

Rudolph was ready to play basketball at Wake Forest before deciding to play foot-ball at Notre Dame.

If Rudolph can have a career anything like Gates’, he’ll be happy. The good news is that he will definite-ly have the opportunity.

KYLE RUDOLPH “While Shiancoe has proven to be a red zone threat over the last three seasons, Rudolph will give him a run for his money.”

continued from 19


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Wilf still optimistic about stadium

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said Wednesday that he remains hopeful that there will be a special leg-islative session in the fall to consider a stadium bill for the team.

Wilf said the team is still working on its $1 billion plan for a new stadium in the Twin Cities suburb of Arden Hills, but remains confident that they are getting closer to presenting it to lawmakers for approval.

“We still have some work ahead of us to put all the pieces in place, but we’re very confident that we will have something worked out in the near future,” Wilf said at training camp at Minnesota State University, Mankato. “Hopefully that could be ad-dressed in a special session. But we’re very confident in our location and the future of the franchise in a new stadium in Arden Hills.”

Gov. Mark Dayton said last month that the Vikings plan was “incomplete and unsatis-factory.” The Vikings initially were hoping to be included in a special session this summer to address the state’s budget shortfall, but the ensuing government shutdown forced the stadium issue to the back burner yet again.

Dayton did say he would seriously consider calling another special legislative ses-sion later this year if he sees a stadium plan that’s a “good deal for Minnesota.” He says this “takes every partner” and “that hasn’t occurred yet.”

The Vikings’ lease at the Metrodome expires after the upcoming season, and the team has been pressuring Dayton and the legislature to address the issue and ensure the franchise’s long-term vi-ability in Minnesota.

The team and Ramsey County officials have at times expressed frustration with the process, with vice president of stadium affairs Lester Bagley saying in July that the team was “assessing its options.”

But Wilf said on Wednes-day that he has not reached a breaking point in the process and that the team remained committed to getting this deal done.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us and it’s an ongo-ing process,” Wilf said. “We want to make sure when it’s all said and done that the fa-cility works out for everybody

who is a partner in the venture and that it’s a venture that ev-erybody can look forward to and utilize for the best benefit of everybody in Minnesota and for our fans.”

Wilf also expressed relief and excitement that the NFL’s labor battle with the play-ers ended before the start of training camp. While Com-missioner Roger Goodell and representatives from the play-ers’ union were still working on the finishing touches of the new collective bargain-ing agreement on Wednesday, Wilf said he was pleased that the focus was shifting from the courtroom back to the field where it belongs.

He said he was very pleased with the addition of new quarterback Donovan McNabb, whom he called “a consummate professional and an exceptional quarterback.”

Wilf and his brother Mark addressed the team after the second practice of the day on Wednesday, and both said they expected big things after a disappointing 6-10 finish last year.

“We’re all very excited to get going here and compete,” Zygi Wilf said. “That’s always been our goal, to win champi-onships. We start out all even and hopefully we’ll be on top when it’s all over.”

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Leslie Frazier insists he wasn’t trying to send a message when left tackle Bryant McKinnie, a fixture on the Minnesota Vikings offensive line for the past nine years, was abruptly released two days into Frazier’s first training camp as a head coach.

Even if that wasn’t his intent, that was how the move was being received by the rest of the team.

Frazier repeatedly declined to cite the specific reasons for McKinnie’s departure, only say-ing that it had nothing to do with money and that the former Pro Bowler “wasn’t the right fit” for the team any longer.

“In Bryant’s case, he’s been a terrific player for the Vikings. I love him as a person. We’ve had a great relationship together,” Frazier said. “But at this point, for all parties involved, I just thought it was the right thing to do, and I’m sure he’s going to catch on with a team and he’s going to do well.

“He’s a terrific player right now, but for where we are right now and where we’re trying to go to, it just wasn’t the right fit for the direction that we want to go.”

Actually, McKinnie’s level of play dropped noticeably in the second half of last season. Then, after a summer-long lockout prevented Vikings coaches from working with him in the offsea-son, McKinnie showed for train-ing camp woefully out of shape and significantly overweight.

“With so much time off, guys do different things. Some guys relax, some guys travel. Some guys like to party,” cornerback Antoine Winfield said. “But you have to be disciplined. All you have to do is go work out, stay in some kind of shape, and perform.”

Frazier side-stepped ques-tions about McKinnie’s con-ditioning and extra pounds on Wednesday, but several prominent teammates made it clear that his physical condition played a role in the decision.

“We all understood, everyone as professionals, that all we had to do is come in and come in shape,” Winfield said. “Coaches really had no choice but to do what they did.”

Steve Hutchinson played alongside McKinnie for five sea-sons on the left side of the line. The captain of the offense called McKinnie’s situation “disap-

pointing,” but said the team did it in part to prevent McKinnie from any serious injuries or health issues.

Now the Vikings plan to start Charlie Johnson at left tackle to protect Donovan McNabb’s blind side. Johnson just signed on Monday and said he has a lot of catching up to do. He’s had to watch the first three days of practice because his contract will not kick in until the new collective bargaining agreement goes into effect.

“They’ve kind of said come tomorrow I’m going to be thrown out in the fire a little bit,” Johnson said. “I’ve had the three days to go over the playbook and stuff. When tomorrow comes, it’s trial by fire. I’m excited. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a new experi-ence, but something you have to be excited about.”

Vikings cut McKinnie


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MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Randy Moss dominated when he wanted to dominate.

He scored when he wanted to score, cooperated when he wanted to cooperate and acted out when he wanted to act out.

Moss spent 13 seasons do-ing things on his own terms, which is why perhaps the loud-est career the NFL has ever seen — both in terms of the roars he induced on the field and the aggravation he caused off it — ended so quietly on Monday.

No farewell speech from maybe the most physically gifted receiver to don a helmet. No tearful goodbye from a record-setting performer who changed the way defense is played in the NFL. Just a one-sentence statement from his agent saying one of the most colorful careers in league his-tory was over.

“Randy has weighed his op-tions and considered the offers and has decided to retire,” Joel Segal said on Monday.

It was vintage Moss, a revo-lutionary talent who was never very much interested in doing things the conventional way.

Fans were awed by his once-in-a-generation blend of size, speed and intelligence. Teammates were charmed by the charisma he showed behind closed doors and coaches were often infuriated by his boorish antics and lack of respect for authority.

“I don’t know if anybody can totally pin down who Ran-dy Moss is,” said Tim DiPiero, one of Moss’ first agents said last year.

If this indeed is the end for Moss, he leaves the game with some of the gaudiest statis-tics posted by a receiver. His 153 touchdowns are tied with Terrell Owens for second on the career list, and he’s also fifth in yards (14,858) and tied with Hines Ward for eighth in receptions (954).

“In a lot of ways, he was the Michael Jordan of offenses in our league,” Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. “He was a special player for a long, long time.”

Those numbers, and his status as perhaps the best deep threat in NFL history, will make him a strong candidate for the Hall of Fame. But vot-ers will also be weighing those achievements and his six Pro Bowl seasons against a history of mailing in performances and a reputation as a coach killer.

As Moss himself famously said: “I play when I want to

play.”And when he wanted to,

there was no one better. And when he didn’t, there was no one more destructive.

Trouble off the field in high school prevented Moss from attending Notre Dame or Florida State, so he landed at Marshall and scored 54 touchdowns in two electrifying seasons with the Thundering Herd.

The character questions hurt Moss in the 1998 draft. He fell to the Vikings at pick No. 21 and he spent the next seven years making every GM in the league who passed on him regret it. He scored 17 touch-downs to help the Vikings reach the NFC title game, a season so overpowering that the rival Packers used their first three picks in the follow-ing April’s draft on corner-backs to try to slow him down.

Didn’t do much good. Moss scored at least 10 touchdowns in all but one season in his first tour with the Vikings.

“The things I’ve seen him do, I don’t think I’ll ever see another player do the things he did,” Vikings tight end Jim Kleinsasser said. “Great career. Tough to see him not playing because I think he had a lot left out there that he could have done for somebody.”

He also got into several controversies along the way, bumping a traffic cop in down-town Minneapolis, squirting

a referee with a water bottle during a game and leaving the field early in a game against Washington, just to name a few.

Sensing a change of scen-ery was needed, the Vikings traded Moss to Oakland in 2005, where he spent two quiet seasons before his career was revived in New England. He re-emerged as a force with the Patriots, hauling in a single-season record 23 TD passes from Tom Brady to help the Patriots reach the Super Bowl.

Vikings fans were euphoric at the news of his return last season, but things soured in a hurry. He caught 13 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns in four games back in purple, clashed with coach Brad Chil-dress in the locker room and brought embarrassment to the organization when he berated a caterer at team headquarters.

He hugged former Patriots teammates after a Vikings loss, and then bizarrely stepped to a podium to fawn over the Patriots, criticize the Vikings for ignoring his strategic advice, and announce his plan to interview himself the rest of the season instead of letting reporters do it.

An enraged Childress unilaterally decided to cut Moss shortly after, a decision that helped seal his fate with Vikings ownership.

Moss finished the season with eight games in Tennes-

see, but only caught six passes. Segal said earlier this summer that the receiver was training hard and determined to prove to the doubters that he could still dominate the game like he had in the past.

The Jets were believed to have some interest in Moss, but Segal declined to elaborate on the options that were available.

“Randy has been a great player for a long time,” said Bob Pruett, Moss’ college coach at Marshall. “He’s choosing this on his own terms and I think that’s good. If that’s what he wants to do, that’s what he should do.”

While many grapple with what Moss’ legacy will be, there is no denying the impact he had on the game. The Cover 2 defense has become a fash-ionable scheme over the past 10 years, and it was designed

in large part to prevent Moss from burning opposing defen-sive backs for long TDs.

“He’s a guy who changed defenses,” Vikings corner-back Antoine Winfield said. “You had to put two defend-ers on him to take him out of the game so it opened up the rest of the offense. Great guy, great teammate, I have a lot of respect for him, he’s brought a lot to this game and I wish him well.”

Whether the 34-year-old Moss is truly done is anyone’s guess. That, of course, appears to be completely up to him.

“He’s one of the best receiv-ers of all time to play this game,” Vikings receiver Percy Harvin said. “I’m sure he hung it up with no regrets, so I wish the best for him. He had a great career and did a lot of great things.”

Former Viking great announces retirement


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