Friday mailbag: What will the Vikings be in the next stretch?

It may be the bye week but Vikings fans still have plenty of questions

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Bye Week everyone. Use this Sunday to take a deep breath and enjoy non-stressful football. In the meantime, let’s take a look at what Vikings fans are thinking about this week…

@AdPlusVerb Scenario: <2:30 remaining in 1st half. Both teams have all of their timeouts. Opposing team is in range to get at least a FG. Question: Why do coaches (Zimmer included) let the offense control the clock here and only aggressively use timeouts when a punt is likely?

I think after the Eagles won with some of these tactics in 2017, we have seen a lot more aggressiveness and eye on point maximization in the last three or four years. There’s probably some credit that also goes to fans, who get upset now when their team plays it safe. Coaches used to say, “you guys will criticize me if we go for it on fourth down and fail.” Now media will write what the numbers say and fans will boo their team off the field if they’re not making the same decisions Madden players would use (as we saw vs. Detroit). We’re noticing it more with the Vikings because other teams are pulling ahead in their decision making efficiency. Certainly not all teams, though, *cough cough Mike McCarthy and Bill Belichick.* Anyway, you’re right. In that spot, you try to stop the clock, get a defensive stop and give yourself as much time as possible to travel the field for a final score.

@jojogonzo13 Can we get grades for the free agent acquisitions?

With the criteria being expectations vs. performance (so a B would be a player who has met expectations)…

Dalvin Tomlinson: B+, Everson Griffen: A+, Xavier Woods: B+, Patrick Peterson: C+, Sheldon Richardson: D, Mackensie Alexander: C+, Bashaud Breeland: D, Nick Vigil: C, Stephen Weatherly: C-

@_kevvbot Give me some Kene info! What was he doing at camp that impressed the coaches? Do you see a role for him? Our good friends Ameer Abdullah is now gone, do you see a big role for our young combine stud?

@jokerman5000 Yeah, I was wondering about Nwangwu, too. Presumably he’ll now be the primary KR. Any sign that the Purple will make use of that world-class speed on offense?

You folks seem excited about Kene Nwangwu coming off injured reserve and I think you’re justified. Nwangwu is the quickest player I’ve seen during any of the Vikings’ training camps I’ve covered. He looked like he was starting to understand how the offense is supposed to work just around the time that he got hurt. Could he come in and get 5-10 snaps per game and have a chance to create an explosive play? Seems like the screen game is built for a guy like that. I would expect him to kick return. No guarantees he’s the next Harvin or Patterson but he’s got a gear that most players do not have.

@Erikjeriksen Why do you think the Vikings are going to win any more than 1 game in the next 4? Cousins has struggled against winning teams in the past, with only 4 wins in the last 3 seasons against teams that ended the year with a winning record. I don’t see any reason to think that is going to change dramatically this season.

Well, I’m not very good at guessing results so I don’t know how many they’ll win out of the next four. If you want a reason that they could split or better, it would be this: None of the next four teams is perfect. Dallas has to come to US Bank Stadium and they’ve got an underwhelming head coach, the Ravens are banged up and have escaped a bunch of close games, the Chargers just got steamrolled last week and the Vikings almost always play the Packers close. If the Vikings’ passing game can look somewhat like it did against the Panthers in the second half and at other times this year i.e. against Seattle and Arizona, they have a chance to play tight with those clubs. It’s reasonable to expect 2-2 in this stretch. Anything less puts the season on the brink again.

@thomasmckoskey Other than through injury, do you see Stephen Weatherly contributing other than special teams? Should the Vikings try to trade him for a late round pick? Kenny Willekes could possibly play these special teams snaps and he may have a higher overall ceiling than Weatherly.

I do think Patrick Jones and Kenny Willekes have potential but there’s two things that would hold them back from a trade: 1) I’m not convinced they could get anything in return. If teams weren’t shelling out good picks for Riley Reiff last year, they won’t for a DE who hasn’t had a sack since 2019 2) He may be a replacement-level type player but he’s a replacement-level player who knows how to play in Zimmer’s defense and be competent. If this year was about finding out who can play, I’d say yeah, move on. But they’re trying to win. Not a great idea to give away depth.

@LangeBang12 the Cowboys ran a couple plays with Pollard and Zeke in the backfield. Would there be benefit to the Vikings using 21 personnel with Cook/Mattison?

They did that once or twice against Arizona and then we haven’t seen it again for health-related reasons but I’ve always been in favor of the two-back — and not just because I grew up in the 90s, either. Not sure why it didn’t happen in 2018 with Cook/Murray. There was a play versus the Cardinals where Cook lined up at receiver and took an end-around handoff while Mattison faked running the other direction and the linebackers’ heads just about spun off.

@RalphVixCPA Is the NFL trade deadline the biggest talked about non-event in sports? Meaning plenty of articles but rarely an impactful trade.

I had several snarky answers go through my head but my favorite was: Twins playoff games. Anyway, I think Rick Spielman explained it well the other day. It’s just hard to get any value for a player in a trade. Even guys that are acquired after training camp rarely make an impact i.e. Tramaine Brock, Blake Bell, Chris Herndon etc. The last one I can remember mattering was Philly trading for Golden Tate and even then it wasn’t a massive impact. Learning a system to the point where you can be out there for entire games is super tough at this point and teams always want top dollar for the players they’re trading away. Not to mention the cap is hard to work around at this point. Soooo, yes, the “WHAT SHOULD OUR TEAM DO A THE DEADLINE” articles are usually not worth the internet space they’re written on.

@alexjjlarsen If you had your pick, where would you sit in a stadium (or, at US Bank, if that changes things)? Do you go sideline, get a unique view from the end zone, or maybe go up to the box seats for an aerial view with better snacks?

I’ve never been on the sideline for an NFL game, so that would be cool to experience. I’d love to hear what’s being said and get a close look at actual game speed. Being right next to the field during training camp is insane already. There’s nothing like the speed and power out there. It would be something to watch when they are actually tackling.

@jvangelder favorite punter ever? favorite vikings punter? what's the longest punt you've kicked in a football video game. used to be able to kick line drives that bounce 30 yards downfield, but you cant do that anymore

My top three favorite punters: 1) Tom Tupa because he started half a season at QB for the Cardinals 2) Jeff Feagles because I had a bunch of his football cards and because I was on his radio show once and he was cool as hell 3) Brian Moorman, the only punter in history to lead the team in jersey sales (I’m not 100% joking about this, they were everywhere because he was such a great guy in the community and the rest of the team was bad).

On the video game side, on the Tecmo version where you could create players (III maybe?), I once made a punter with 100 power and you could legitimately punt it the entire length of the field.

@LfcMay If you could play one video game for the first time again what would it be and why?

Easy answer: NBA Jam. If you’re old enough, you remember what sports video games were like before that. Brutal. Unplayable. And then Jam came along. It was functional in terms of the players actually doing what you commanded them to do and the characters had a 3D-ness to them that looked amazing at the time. Smashing the backboard was the coolest thing any game had ever invented. It’s got a great case for the most fun sports game of all time.

@thetuse Will Caleb Williams's #13 be retired in Vikings lore and not just the Ring of Honor?

He does look like a future No. 1 overall pick, doesn’t he? So he is going to be coming out of college in, what, 2023? That would mean the Vikings would have to run their course and tank pretty soon. Tough to see that happening unless they actively decided to be bad for a year. They aren’t in a spot to do that even if they move on from Cousins after this year. Of course, this is why they get stuck in the middle.

@Jeff_M_Mastro Question is: why do Viking fans (and press) think Patrick Peterson has been good?

There’s a difference between people thinking he’s been “good” and believing it could be a big problem without him. Peterson has been fine. PFF credited him with that 77-yard throw in Arizona (that was probably everyone’s fault) but aside from that he’s allowed 18-of-31 for 205 yards and one touchdown. That’s an 88.8 rating. Dantzler has been a roller coaster over his year-plus and Breeland has struggled and been banged up. Hard to be confident in that against Dallas’s receivers.

@Sidhu6_ Tua? That’s the question.

Meh. In the right spot, Tua can probably win in the same way that Jared Goff could win but I don’t see a whole lotta reasons for the Vikings to be interested.

@mattverick Mason Cole looked good in the OL review you did in your article. Any chance he'd be a better center than Bradbury? Seems like there's still a weak link of pressure up the middle.

Cole’s numbers as a starter in Arizona were very similar to Bradbury’s. I’d be surprised if they considered a move because they are going to give him every opportunity and he is a good run blocker but it is concerning that he’s given up 13 pressures already. That’s second most in the NFL while playing for a team that’s trying to get rid of the ball quickly.

@Conorm511 Talk me into beating the Cowboys

The Cowboys have an absolutely phenomenal offense but their defense has been largely a product of splash plays. They’re 19th in points allowed and 23rd in yards allowed. Dallas is causing turnovers on 20% of drives, which is not sustainable. The Vikings’ offense should have a chance — especially at home — to get rolling and go toe to toe with the Cowboys. I’m expecting a good game.

@benjackson0812 Trevon Diggs leads the the NFL in interceptions but his PFF grade is very mediocre. How good of a corner is he??

Seems that he’s kind of like Marcus Peters. You don’t accidentally pick off this many passes but he’s not Revis either. The grade probably means that he’s a tremendous playmaker that also gets burned when attempting to get interceptions. The Vikings might be able to take advantage of that with some double moves and such. Cornerback numbers are also weird. He’s been targeted 43 times — such a small sample size. A good or bad game can swing the grade a lot.