Minnesota Vikings 2007 Season Preview

Posted: Wed Aug 15 4:57 PM

By Tony Moss, NFL Editor

(Sports Network) - Each team in the NFL has major questions heading into every season, but none are more basic than those that confront the 2007 Minnesota Vikings.

Question 1: Who's going to throw it?

In just two seasons, the top two rungs of the depth chart have gone from bearing the identifiable names of Daunte Culpepper and Brad Johnson to the lower-recall monikers Tavaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger. The four quarterbacks in camp this season have combined for 10 NFL starts, including two for Jackson, the second-year-pro who most expect to win the job. two for Jackson, the second-year-pro who most expect to win the job.

Question 2: Who's going to catch it?

The Vikings' 2006 leader in catches and receiving yards, Travis Taylor, bolted to Oakland via free agency. The man who ultimately led the team in touchdown catches, Marcus Robinson, didn't even last the '06 season in Minnesota. Tight end Jermaine Wiggins, who averaged 62 catches a year since 2004, now resides in Jacksonville.

And the organization didn't do a heck of a lot to fill those voids, bringing in journeyman Bobby Wade and second-round pick Sidney Rice (South Carolina), neither of whom looks like the second coming of Cris Carter or Randy Moss.

Those are the most basic queries that Brad Childress must answer in his second year in the Twin Cities, but they're by no means the only ones.

Childress must figure out how to best use rookie Adrian Peterson and 1,000- yard returnee Chester Taylor in the running game, and must also address depth issues along the offensive line.

Defensively, the Vikings have to adjust to life without coordinator Mike Tomlin, now the head coach in Pittsburgh, and have to figure out how to breathe some life into a pass rush that struggled mightily last year.

The questions are all significant, and if Childress doesn't make progress toward answering them, he could soon be facing some question marks about his job status as well.

Below we take a capsule look at the 2007 edition of the Minnesota Vikings, with a personnel evaluation and prognosis included therein:

2006 RECORD: 6-10 (3rd, NFC North)

LAST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: 2004, lost to Philadelphia, 27-14, in NFC Divisional Playoff

COACH (RECORD): Brad Childress (6-10 in one season with Vikings) COACH (RECORD): Brad Childress (6-10 in one season with Vikings)

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Darrell Bevell

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Leslie Frazier

OFFENSIVE STAR: Adrian Peterson, RB (1st Round, Oklahoma)

DEFENSIVE STAR: Kevin Williams, DT (36 tackles, 5 sacks)

OFFENSIVE TEAM RANKS: 16th rushing, 18th passing, 26th scoring

DEFENSIVE TEAM RANKS: 1st rushing, t31st passing, 14th scoring

FIVE KEY GAMES: at Detroit (9/16), Green Bay (9/30), Philadelphia (10/28), at San Francisco (12/9), Chicago (12/17)

KEY ADDITIONS: RB Adrian Peterson (1st Round, Oklahoma), WR Sidney Rice (2nd Round, South Carolina), WR Cortez Hankton (from Jaguars), WR Bobby Wade (from Titans), TE Visanthe Shiancoe (from Giants), LB Vinny Ciurciu (from Panthers), S Mike Doss (from Colts), CB Marcus McCauley (3rd Round, Fresno State)

KEY DEPARTURES: QB Brad Johnson (to Cowboys), WR Travis Taylor (to Raiders), WR Bethel Johnson (to Texans), TE Jermaine Wiggins (to Jaguars), T Mike Rosenthal (to Dolphins), OL Jason Whittle (to Bills), DT Ross Kolodziej (to Cardinals), LB Napoleon Harris (to Chiefs), LB Jason Glenn (retired), CB Fred Smoot (to Redskins)

QB: The battle for quarterback duties is at best a nominal one during training camp, as second-year pro Tarvaris Jackson (475 passing yards, 2 TD, 4 INT) will have to either get hurt or experience a major meltdown to lose the No. 1 job. Jackson is athletic and smart with a good arm, but is raw and looked mostly unsure of himself in two starts at the end of last season. His main competition is overachiever Brooks Bollinger (146 passing yards, 1 INT), who appeared in a couple of games last year after going 2-7 as a starter for a disaster of a Jets team in 2005. No. 3 quarterback duties will go to either seventh-round draft choice and Coastal Carolina product Tyler Thigpen or Cowboys castoff Drew Henson.

RB: The Vikings caught a break when Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson slipped to them in the No. 7 spot of the April Draft. Don't look for Minnesota to bring Peterson along slowly - the explosive back should begin getting a full platter of touches from the outset of the regular season. That will mean a lesser role for Chester Taylor (1216 rushing yards, 6 TD, 42 receptions), who carried the ball a lot but did not prove himself to be a No. 1 NFL ball carrier after arriving in Minnesota from Baltimore last season. The versatile Mewelde Moore (131 rushing yards, 46 receptions, 1 TD) has an inside track on the third running back job due to his abilities in the return game, though Moore's injury history could also prompt the team to keep another back such as Ciatrick Fason (99 rushing yards, 1 TD) or Artose Pinner (190 rushing yards, 3 TD). Fullback Tony Richardson (13 receptions) is back after missing seven games with a broken arm last year. Richard Owens (6 receptions, 1 TD), who can also play tight end, has a decent chance to stick as Richardson's backup.

WR/TE: Minnesota had one of the weakest receiving corps in the league last season, with no player emerging as a reliable outlet for the team's quarterbacks. The symbol of this ineptitude was former first-round pick Troy Williamson (37 receptions), who had the speed to get open but lacked the hands to catch the ball. This will be a make-or-break year for Williamson, who will still be given a chance to produce after the team made few credible additions to the receiving ranks. Ex-Bear and Titan Bobby Wade (33 receptions, 2 TD with Tennessee) and second-round draft choice Sidney Rice are the new faces attempting to break through, though neither will necessarily trouble opposing defensive coordinators. Holdover Billy McMullen (23 receptions, 2 TD) should also be welcomed back, with fifth-round draft pick Aundrae Allison and late 2006 addition Martin Nance (4 receptions) possibly vying for a starting job. Tight end Jim Kleinsasser (7 receptions) will try to replace the departed Wiggins, and will be backed by former Giant Visanthe Shiancoe (12 receptions with New York) and perhaps holdover Jeff Dugan (8 receptions, 1 TD).

OL: The addition of left guard Steve Hutchinson did some good things for the Minnesota offense, particularly within the running game, but the overall unit wasn't much better than average. Hutchinson, left tackle Bryant McKinnie, and center Matt Birk are all top-tier talents, but there isn't much to recommend the rest of this group. Right guard Artis Hicks is a fringe NFL player, and probable right tackle Ryan Cook is a former college center who will be in trouble against some of the better pass rushers in the league. The backup corps will include just two players with game experience, Anthony Herrera and Marcus Johnson, and should also feature greeenhorns like Chase Johnson and Jimmy Martin.

DL: The Vikings were among the worst pass-rushing teams in the league last year, not an acceptable trend for a team that used first-round draft picks on defensive ends in both 2004 and 2005. Part of the problem was the 14-game absence of one of those players, Erasmus James, due to knee surgery. The other was that the regular ends in 2006, former No. 1 Kenechi Udeze (29 tackles) and Darrion Scott (46 tackles, 6 sacks), were stronger against the run than the pass. The Vikings really need James to make a full recovery and begin pressuring passers, and will also require some impact from situational pass rushers Ray Edwards (10 tackles, 3 sacks) and rookie Brian Robison. The club is in much better shape on the interior line, where no one got by tackles Kevin Williams (36 tackles, 5 sacks) and Pat Williams (44 tackles, 1 sack) last year. With both Williams' setting the tone, the Vikings came up just short of the NFL record for fewest rushing yards allowed in a season. Spencer Johnson (15 tackles) and Howard Green will be join Scott among the backups in the tackle rotation.

LB: The development of Minnesota's linebackers will be essential to team success, as the group that starts the 2007 opener will be drastically different from its 2006 counterpart. Moving from the weak side to the middle is E.J. Henderson (109 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 INT), who led Minnesota in tackles a year ago but had his problems patrolling the middle earlier in his career. Making his first appearance on the weak side will be 2006 first-round draft pick Chad Greenway, who needs to prove himself after missing all of his rookie year with a knee injury. The most anonymous member of the unit is Ben Leber (46 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT), who is capable but not flashy on the strong side and will get the nod over the inconsistent Dontarrious Thomas (31 tackles, 1 sack). If the Vikings sustain any injuries in the linebacking group there could be trouble. Two of the LBs that figure to be kept are Heath Farwell (27 tackles) and Vinny Ciurciu (18 tackles with Carolina), who are almost exclusively special teams players.

DB: The lack of a pass rush caused major problems for the Minnesota secondary, which was left out on a island more often than not in the Vikings' Cover-2 scheme. There is plenty of talent in this area, however, with cornerback Antoine Winfield (97 tackles, 4 INT) at the forefront of the group. Winfield is outstanding in run support and also a capable man in coverage. Fellow corner Cedric Griffin (41 tackles, 2 INT) could be destined for stardom in his second year in the league, and the projected nickel back, rookie Marcus McCauley, looks like a gamer as well. Safeties Darren Sharper (67 tackles, 4 INT, 1 sack) and Dwight Smith (78 tackles, 4 INT, 1 sack) are both in decline but remain rock-solid. If one of them goes down, the next man in will likely be former Colt Mike Doss (29 tackles, 2 INT with Indianapolis), who missed the second half of 2007 with a torn ACL. Players like safeties Greg Blue (14 tackle) and Tank Williams along with cornerbacks Charles Gordon (14 tackles), Dovonte Edwards, and Ronyell Whitaker (24 tackles) were left to battle for 2-3 remaining d-back jobs.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Ryan Longwell (21-25 FG) doesn't have the deepest leg in the world, but is accurate and has been in a number of big-game situations during his 10-year NFL career. It was believed that the Vikings might bring someone in to test punter Chris Kluwe (42.3 avg.) during training camp, but that plan apparently never came together. Long snapper Cullen Loeffler is set to begin his fourth year in that role. Mewelde Moore (10.1 punt return avg., 1 TD) will probably be kept on to field kickoffs, and new addition Bobby Wade (23.9 kickoff return avg. with Tennessee) is among the favorites for punt return duties.

PROGNOSIS: Childress must think a great deal of his schematic abilities, because this offense is not one that is going to succeed based on its talent. Peterson will help, but he'll have trouble becoming a dominating player with no one to take the pressure off of him (think Willis McGahee in Buffalo). Minnesota is going to have to win games on defense, and while there are some studs on that side of the ball, opponents should have little trouble exposing the Vikings' continued weakness against passing attacks. All told, Minnesota doesn't look ready to challenge Chicago in the NFC North by any stretch of the imagination, and if things go really poorly, Childress and company could find themselves at the bottom of the division.