Friday Mailbag: Is Arizona a trap?
The 5-1 Vikings get back to action on Sunday and fans want to know if this thing is for real
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By Matthew Coller
Alright folks, hopefully you had a good bye week. Let’s dive right into your questions…
@JoshuaR_Smith Since it's Cardinals Week: When will we see another Larry Centers?
I don’t think we’ll ever quite see something like Centers again because of the death of the split-back pro formation. Those under the age of 30 would be shocked to see Steve Young under center with Ricky Watters to his left and William Floyd to his right in the backfield. All of the underneath routes used to be out of the backfield or from the tight end, now they come from WR3s. How crazy is this: Larry Centers had 200 catches between 1995 and 1996. Two hundred. And somehow did not gain 1,000 yards in either season. Crazy stuff. Anyway, Kyle Juszczyk is about as close as it gets these days to Centers but the checkdown fullback is RIP. Long live the checkdown fullback.
@Scott_Roberts25 Does the fact there is so much buzz the Vikings are shopping for a receiver make the hindsight fair to look at us passing on the opportunity to take one at the top of round 1 (I know Jameson Williams is hurt) or at least say that they didn’t properly evaluate that position group?
Yeah, it’s not just passing on Jameson Williams, it’s also signing Albert Wilson and only Albert Wilson in the offseason and then desperately trading for Jalen Reagor to get any semblance of receiving depth. I’m not sure any of us would have predicted that neither Adam Thielen, KJ Osborn or Irv Smith Jr. would average more than 10 yards per catch this deep in the season but it was very clear that the position was fragile as all heck. There was only so much cap space and draft capital to go around but picking a safety, guard and linebacker when a super premium position (of which rookies can make an instant impact) had such a need is pretty puzzling. There must have been something about Williams that they didn’t like but that felt like a great fit with his incredible speed to go alongside Justin Jefferson. Now they are in a position where a win against Arizona almost forces their hand to spend on another receiver.
@jrm531 Everyone wants the Vikings to trade for a star WR. It’d be amazing but impractical. A one dimensional deep ball WR may be all they need, are there any of those on the block, that may not command large sums of cash or picks? What are some realistic improvement options if any?
I don’t think any trade that’s going to make them better this year is impractical because of the landscape we’re dealing with. The last time a conference felt this up for grabs was in 2017. If they take a big swing to strike while the iron is hot, I’ll respect it, especially if it’s at one of the top three most valuable positions. As far as less expensive receivers on the block, Brandin Cooks makes a lot of sense to me. He’s a deep threat and has familiarity with the offense. Plus he’s a proven veteran who should be able to catch on and help pretty quickly.
@OldNorse In the spirit of your “pleading with the Vikings” episode… Am I ever going to see a designed back-shoulder throw to JJ? JJ is elite at stopping and adjusting. For Kirk it could be a quick and calm-minded throw. Have they disappeared from the NFL for some reason?
I don’t see Cousins as having the rocket to pull off the back shoulder throw. If that thing floats a little bit it’s getting picked off and going the other way. Dan Marino and Aaron Rodgers can pull them off but there’s a velocity cutoff for that thing. The precision and timing of those throws are probably the reason you don’t see them much as teams favor things like underneath routes and slants that get receivers open quickly and make life easier on the QB. However, long live the back shoulder throw. There are few things more pretty when pulled off.
@RobDN1 Talk me out of a Vikings-Eagles rematch in the NFC championship game. The Eagles look very good in all phases of the game; the Vikings look okay but have deficiencies.
Well, the Arizona Cardinals started 7-0 last year so there’s no guarantees the Eagles end up with the No. 1 seed, as inevitable as it seems right now. There are so many ways it could go for any team. We could be surprised by a different team getting hot or falling off. Think about it this way: How much has happened already this year? Tons of unexpected things right? We’re not even halfway through the season. Looooong way to go.
@bobh332 Incredible lack of injuries, favorable schedule, offense and defense not even ”there yet”. Non Vikings fans would probably be celebrating right now.
Beyond Vikings fans generally assuming the worst because of *gestures at everything,* I think circumstances matter a lot. If Malik Willis was leading the 5-1 Vikings everyone would be freaking out about having found the next Fran Tarkenton. Here’s how I know: I was in Buffalo in 2008 when they started 5-1 behind a young Trent Edwards. There’s no more comparable fans to the Vikings than in Buffalo and those people were calling him the next Joe Montana. It didn’t help that Bill Walsh was also saying that. I was working in a grocery store at the time and we spent many hours arguing about it. As you guys could probably figure, I was a skeptic. But for about six weeks it was against the law to question Trent Edwards. This team isn’t like that. These are the players you know. This is the friend who promised they wouldn’t miss your wedding and then no-showed for the 100th time. It’s reasonable not to trust them yet. Of course, they have every opportunity to earn that trust and keep it going.
@BIG_dannn After the bye week usually you hear that’s when rookies start playing more. Is this the week we see hicks snap trend down so Asamoah can spy Murray? Also will booth finally see some snaps as well ?
Asamoah has been a standout on special teams and I think they want to find ways to reward him and use some of his explosiveness on defense. I’m not sure they want to give him a huge assignment just yet. If anybody is familiar with how Kyler Murray operates, it’s Jordan Hicks. Linebacker isn’t an easy development position because offenses are constantly trying to mess with them to create openings in the middle of the field. Asamoah might be physically the best guy they have but it even took Eric Kendricks until halfway through 2016 before he understood the ins and outs of the position. Mixing Asamoah in seems like a good idea. Taking a veteran out too much might be a little risky.
@terryrheault I'm worried about the Cardinals game. Kyler Murray, with his mobility and receivers, conjures bad memories of the Jalen Hurts game. Kirk is going to have to play much, much better than he did in the Dolphins game for us to win.
Yeah, I don’t think you’re taking crazy pills. Murray is a completely different person when he has DeAndre Hopkins. The sample size is too big now to call it a coincidence. They are a desperate team with their season on the brink and the Vikings have made inferior QBs to Murray look pretty competent. The thing the Vikings have going for them is that Arizona’s O-line is banged up and Murray’s best trait is going downfield. The other plus for the Vikings is that the Cardinals’ defense is not good by any measure. This is exactly the type of game where Cousins has historically put up huge numbers. Overall this is a tough one to feel wildly confident about.
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