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2008 Team Report: Minnesota Vikings

Quarterbacks

Starter: Tarvaris Jackson
Backup(s): Gus Frerotte, Brooks Bollinger, John David Booty [R]

Starting QB: Tarvaris Jackson returns after a mostly inconsistent 2007 campaign. It's no secret that Jackson failed to show marked improvement in his second season, but his defenders will point to the poor receiving corps he's been handed -- the team's receivers have consistently been the culprits of some very critical dropped passes over the last few years. Jackson was swapped out of the lineup at times, even when healthy, suggesting a lack of confidence from the coaching staff. During the offseason, the Vikings added Bernard Berrian in an attempt to give Minnesota a legitimate No. 1 receiver. Jackson should also be helped by the league's top rushing offense a year ago, because a full season from standout running back Adrian Peterson should help take even more pressure off of Jackson. Jackson can also get the job done on the ground himself, having run for 260 yards and three touchdowns a year ago. One thing he'll have to do to improve in 2008 is remain healthy. He suffered injuries to his leg, groin, hip, finger, and a concussion that kept him out of four full games and parts of several others.

Backup QB: Gus Frerotte returns to Minnesota for his second go-round with the club, having experienced a measure of success with the team in limited duty during the 2003 season. Frerotte has spent the past two years backing up Marc Bulger in St. Louis and will be expected to provide stability and veteran leadership to a position that far too often seemed a bit out of control last season. Frerotte is just two seasons removed from a 3,000-yard, 18-touchdown campaign with the Dolphins, and his spot on the team becomes all the more important after Tarvaris Jackson suffered through an injury-plagued 2007 season. The Vikings will value his ability to come in off the bench to "manage the game" -- a trite and overused expression. Brooks Bollinger played fairly well when pressed into action last season, but the Vikings hope that he'll remain firmly on the bench for the entire year serving only as the emergency/third-string quarterback.

Running Backs

Starter: Adrian Peterson
Backup(s): Chester Taylor, Maurice Hicks
Fullback(s): Thomas Tapeh

Starting RB: Adrian Peterson exploded out of the gate in 2007, easily taking home the league's Rookie of the Year award while challenging for the rushing title until the final week of the season. He demonstrated both shiftiness and toughness between the tackles, as well as a propensity for breaking the big gain. In his first NFL game, he took a screen pass up the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown against the Falcons; from there, he never really looked back. He posted his first 200-yard game in Week 6 against the Bears, and topped that one with an NFL-record, 296-yard performance against the Chargers just three weeks later. Even a scary knee injury suffered in Week 10 didn't hold him down as he returned with 116 yards and two touchdowns in his first game back. To top it all off, he was named the MVP of the Pro Bowl, putting to rest any lingering concerns about the knee. Heading into 2008, he's already challenging LaDainian Tomlinson as the top running back in the fantasy game and will be one of the first players off the board. The Minnesota offense is fairly well intact from 2007, and they've upgraded a defense that was already stout to begin with. Coupled with better QB play, that could lead to more victories and more leads to protect, which could mean even more carries for Peterson.

Backup RBs: Chester Taylor was one of fantasy football's biggest question marks heading into the 2007 season. It was unknown how head coach Brad Childress planned on teaming him with rookie sensation Adrian Peterson. Despite starting off slowly, the end result was that Childress seamlessly integrated both players into the offensive game-plan with Taylor turning in perhaps his best season as a pro. While his overall statistics decreased due to a drop in carries, Taylor scored a career-high seven touchdowns and his yards per touch rose from 4.4 to 6.0, a staggering increase. When Peterson missed two games due to injury, all Taylor did was put up 291 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns. He also performed well enough after Peterson returned to assure some sort of regular role with the team in 2008. It helps that Taylor is also a very adept receiver. Third-string runner Maurice Hicks was brought in from San Francisco after Mewelde Moore defected to Pittsburgh. Hicks is coming off a season in which he averaged 5.6 YPC in very limited duty with the 49ers. That will likely be the case as well in Minnesota.

Fullback: When a team boasts two players as talented as Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor in the backfield, there is typically very little room for the fullback to make much of a fantasy impact. Such is the case with the Vikings. Thomas Tapeh, he of the 26 career carries in three seasons, was brought in as a free agent from the Eagles to mostly block up front for the two horses. Tapeh has decent hands out of the backfield, but any touches he sees in the offensive gameplan will be inconsistent and very far between. His role is strictly that of a blocker, something he has done very well in three seasons for Brian Westbrook in Philadelphia.

Wide Receivers

Starters: Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice
Backups: Bobby Wade, Robert Ferguson, Aundrae Allison

Starting WRs: Bernard Berrian has increased his receiving yardage in each of his four seasons in the league. He may have a difficult time doing that again in Minnesota where he joins a team that threw the football fewer than any other squad in 2007. Still, having played in Chicago for the past four years, he is well accustomed to performing well despite a poor overall passing game. The Vikings almost had to sign Berrian. Their top wide receivers the past three seasons have caught 54, 57 and 50 passes, respectively. Berrian had 70 last year, and the team is hoping he'll be a big upgrade to the departed Troy Williamson. If nothing else, he should provide a stabilizing influence on young Tarvaris Jackson. At best, he'll help provide a deep threat to open up the underneath for the vaunted running game. Second-year man Sidney Rice quietly turned in a productive rookie season. He didn't light up the stat sheet, but he made his presence felt quite a bit for a second-round rookie WR. Rice hauled in 31 receptions to go along with four touchdowns including a stretch of games where he scored three times in four weeks. On the other hand, with Berrian in town now and a league-low last year for passing attempts, the opportunities for Rice may be somewhat limited to really break out.

Backup WRs: Playing with his third team in four years, Bobby Wade had career bests in receptions, yards and touchdowns. After the signing of Bernard Berrian and the ascension of Sidney Rice, Wade will likely find himself as the third wide receiver this year. But should an injury befall one of the starters, Wade is the top option to jump into the starting lineup. Robert Ferguson turned in a typical Robert Ferguson season in 2007. That is, he provided a reliable target as a third option in the passing game without really putting up big numbers. His production increased as the season went on, which was likely aided by the injury to starter Sidney Rice.

Tight Ends

Starters: Visanthe Shiancoe
Backups: Jim Kleinsasser

Visanthe Shiancoe came over from the Giants as a free agent in 2007 and was expected to provide a big boost to a sagging passing game. Instead, Shiancoe went long stretches where he was absent from the offense. He had five games without a reception, something the team hopes to change in 2008. Part of the problem last season could have been that Shiancoe was one of the team's only reliable targets in the passing game and thus drew extra coverage. A large part of the problem was the passing game in general. If a team is 28th in the league in passing offense, there's a good chance that the tight end isn't going to put up staggering fantasy numbers. Whatever the reason, it's obvious that Shiancoe didn't come close to posting the numbers some expected of him. Coach Brad Childress' offense heavily utilized the tight end when he was the offensive coordinator of the Eagles. It logically stands to reason that Childress would like to do similar work with Shiancoe as he did in Philadelphia with L.J. Smith. Jim Kleinsasser has really dropped off the fantasy landscape over the last few years. He's always been a reliable target, but with an offense like Minnesota's where running the football is so critical, Kleinsasser's real value lies in his blocking ability.

Place Kicker

Ryan Longwell : In 1998, Gary Anderson scored an NFL record 164 points for the Vikings. Since then, they have averaged 99 kicking points a year, which is exactly what Longwell scored last year. It was an improvement over his 90 points in 2006, due to an increase in PATs. He had averaged 117 points during his nine years with Green Bay. Longwell has done well with his limited opportunities since joining the Vikings, hitting 21 of 25 (84.0%) field goals in 2006 and 20 of 24 (83.3%) field goals. The four misses each year were all from long range. He has been perfect from under 40 yards each of the last two years. Longwell was at the bottom of the standings on kickoffs in 2006, so he spent the off-season working on them and rebounded in 2007 with his best numbers since his rookie year.

Kick and Punt Returners

Kick Returners: Aundrae Allison; Maurice Hicks; Adrian Peterson; Jaymar Johnson; Charles Gordon; Bobby Wade; Chester Taylor; Benny Sapp; Robert Ferguson

The Vikings have plenty of players with kickoff return experience. WR Aundrae Allison emerged as a pleasant surprise last year, averaging 28.7 yards on 20 returns and scoring once. Free agent acquisition RB Maurice Hicks led the 49ers in kickoff returns the last three years (63 returns, 23.8 avg. last year). Hicks and Allison will probably compete with or share time as the lead kickoff returner. The team was willing to occasionally use RB Adrian Peterson last year (16 returns, 25.8 avg.), and have indicated they are willing to doing so again in certain circumstances. Speedy rookie WR Jaymar Johnson averaged 18.5 yards on kickoff returns during his career at Jackson State. WR Bobby Wade led the Titans in kickoff returns in 2005 (50 returns, 23.9 avg.). CB Charles Gordon served as a backup last year (2 returns, 24.0 avg.). RB Chester Taylor has experience returning kickoffs from his years with the Ravens, including 12 returns with a 21.1 avg. in 2005. Free agent acquisition CB Benny Sapp averaged 24.9 yards during his senior year at Northern Iowa, but didn't fare as well for Kansas City last year (15 returns, 16.7 avg.). WR Robert Ferguson has done well when healthy, but he has not played a full 16 games since 2002.

Punt Returners: Bobby Wade; Jaymar Johnson; Charles Gordon; Aundrae Allison; Bernard Berrian

The Vikings have less experience on punt returns. Bobby Wade handled punt returns for the Bears in 2005 (33 returns, 9.6 avg. 1 TD), but had troubles hanging onto the ball and was waived. He appears to have since corrected that problem. He averaged 9.0 yards on three returns for the Titans in 2006. Last year he averaged 7.0 yards on 16 returns for the Vikings. Charles Gordon returned punts for Kansas in 2005 (9.7 avg., 398 yards ranked 8th), and earned All-American honors as a result. Sixth round draft pick Jaymar Johnson averaged 9.6 yards and scored once during his college career. After two straight years in the top ten in fantasy returns, the Vikings slipped to 19th last year. Aundrae Allison could also get a look on punt returns. Newcomer WR Bernard Berrian periodically returned punts (7.2 avg.) during his years with the Bears.

Offensive Line

Projected Starters: LT Bryant McKinnie, LG Steve Hutchinson, C Matt Birk, RG Anthony Herrera, RT Ryan Cook
Key Backups: Marcus Johnson, Artis Hicks

Commentary coming soon.

Team Defense

The Vikings rode eight defensive touchdowns, an opportunistic scheme and a stingy run defense to a top-10 fantasy finish last season. Unknown to many casual fans of defensive football, Minnesota's league-best DT duo of Kevin and Pat Williams set the tone by shutting down the line of scrimmage up the middle. That allowed the playmaking and aggressive back seven led by MLB E.J. Henderson, CB Antoine Winfield and S Darren Sharper free reign to take advantage of any offensive mistakes. If there was a weakness in the defense last season, it was a lack of pass rush from its front four. The team addressed that issue by trading for one of the league's elite pass rushers this offseason, bringing Jared Allen over from Kansas City. Allen, coming off a league-best 15.5-sack season in 2007, should have no problem continuing his disruptive edge rushing ways alongside Minnesota's two stud defensive tackles. The Allen deal overshadowed the signing of safety Madieu Williams in free agency, who will combine with Sharper to form one of the best playmaking safety pairs in the league. Unlike last season, the Vikings aren't likely to fly under the radar until late in your draft. If you want them on your roster, you'll have to step up, but they are very likely to be worth the investment.

Defensive Line

Starters: DE Jared Allen, DE Ray Edwards, NT Pat Williams, DT/DE Kevin Williams
Backups: DE Brian Robison, DE Jayme Mitchell, NT Fred Evans, DT Ellis Wyms.

Starting DL: The Vikings made a huge move to upgrade their pass rush by acquiring 2007 NFL sack leader Jared Allen from the Chiefs. Over the last three seasons, Allen has had 34.5 sacks, eight fumble recoveries, and 14 forced fumbles. Ray Edwards moves to LDE and hopes to improves on a 3.5 sack performance last year. Edwards figures to see more single coverage with Allen on the opposite side of the line. Pat Williams returns at the nose tackle and the anchor of one of the best run defenses in the NFL. He will turn 36 this season, but shows no signs of slowing down. Kevin Williams is one of the best interior linemen in the league and along with Pat Williams, forms a virtually impenetrable middle of the Vikings defense.

Backup DL: Second year DE Brian Robison was impressive as a rookie last season, but will be backing up Jared Allen this year, which figures to significantly reduce his playing time. Robison finished the year with five sacks. The Vikings depth took a big hit when DE Kenechi Udeze was lost for the season after being diagnosed with leukemia. DE Jayme Mitchell adds depth to the defensive line. DT Fred Evans has shown a lot of promise in his short NFL career, but off the field issues have kept him from reaching his full potential. The Vikings added veteran depth to their interior line by signing free agent DT Ellis Wyms.

Linebackers

Starters: M/WLB E.J. Henderson, SLB Ben Leber, WLB Chad Greenway
Backups: W/SLB Derrick Pope, MLB Vinny Ciurciu, SLB Heath Farwell, LB Rufus Alexander, LB Erin Henderson

Starting LBs: E.J. Henderson has improved dramatically since being moved to MLB two years ago and is now one of the most productive LBs in the NFL. Henderson has led the Vikings in tackles in each of the last two seasons and set career highs in 2007 with 119 tackles and 5.5 sacks. Chad Greenway suffered a season ending knee injury in his rookie season, but returned last year and had a solid year for the Vikings. He finished his first full season with 105 tackles. He likely was not 100% last year due to the recovery time for a torn ACL, so he should be even better this year. Ben Leber starts at SLB and is a solid all around LB. Leber tied a career high with five sacks and added 67 tackles.

Backup LBs: The Vikings signed free agent LB Derrick Pope during the offseason, hoping to add some veteran depth to an inexperienced group of backup LBs. He racked up 64 tackles in 2007. Pope has starting experience and he is also a very good special teams player. Vinny Ciurciu returns to back up MLB E.J. Henderson. Like Pope, Ciurciu is a strong special teams player. Heath Farwell is yet another backup LB who is a special teams ace. Rufus Alexander, who spent his rookie season on injured reserve, will battle for a roster spot. E.J. Henderson younger brother Erin will also try to make the team after being signed as an undrafted free agent.

Defensive Backs

Starters: SS Darren Sharper, FS Madieu Williams, CB Antoine Winfield, CB Cedric Griffin
Backups: FS Tyrell Johnson [R], SS Michael Boulware, CB Marcus McCauley, CB Charles Gordon, CB Benny Sapp

Starting DBs: Antoine Winfield is one of the best run defending CBs in the league and is regularly among the league leaders in tackles among defensive backs. Winfield missed six games due to an injury last year and still finished with 67 tackles. He is joined at CB by another solid tackler in Cedric Griffin, who racked up an impressive 92 tackles in only his second year in the league. Darren Sharper returns at strong safety for the Vikings and brings a big play element to the secondary. Sharper has 33 interceptions over the last six seasons. The Vikings signed former Bengal safety Madieu Williams to shore up the lone weakness in their secondary. He has 268 tackles in only 48 games. Williams can play either safety position and is solid in both pass and run defense.

Backup DBs: 2007 3rd round pick Marcus McCauley started six games last year when Winfield was injured and enters camp as the nickel back. He ended his rookie campaign with 64 tackles. McCauley had some ups and downs as a rookie, but he should gain consistency as he becomes more experienced. He faces a challenge from Charles Gordon, who also struggled at times last year. The Vikings signed veteran free agent Benny Sapp to add depth and experience to the secondary. Rookie Tyrell Johnson has the versatility to play either safety or CB and may have a chance to win the nickel back job. Veteran Michael Boulware was signed as a free agent and is in the mix to be the top backup at strong safety.

Last modified: 2008-06-10 04:47:59