Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ FSUVike said:
I'm sorry, I watched every play Dozier was in like a hawk. Cuz he was my dark horse FA signing that I thought would surprise. He wasn't better or as good as Kline. Shit, he couldn't even displace Elf, likely the worst starting Guard in all of football.
The team is prepared to take a step back next year in order to maximize 2021. New Starter at RDE, new Starting 3T (likely a Rookie), new Starting Outside CBs (1 highly likely to be a Rookie), no current Slot CB even in the Roster, new Starting LG & RG (1 highly likely to be a Rookie), new Starting WR.
The team has enough money for what, 1 Tier 3 FA? Likely either Slot CB or WR or RG.
All Vowels, Hughes, Hill, Boyd, Watts, Samia and Bisi. 6 of those Players will either be Starters or it will be a Rookie in that spot. This team is so young they'll get carded at Rated R movies!
Young players make more mistakes than veterans, so there will be some growing pains next year in terms of blown assignments, poor eye discipline, missed blocks, etc. But they will also make some splash plays with their energy and athleticism. A couple of them will be busts.
We were staring at a swiftly closing window hoping for one more shot. The team decided that window had shut and is now retooling in order to open a new window. That's just the reality of it. And I'm fine with it.
The Kline news tells me that the Vikings are very likely working on several other restructures. Never thought KLINE would be a part of that, but there are several other good candidates: Barr, Rudy, Reiff, Harry...
I sort of trust that if Kubiak is involved in some of these decisions, they may know what they're doing. Plus, we now have 5 picks in the top 105 to help fill some of those holes. And as good as this receiver class is, I think it would be a mistake to try to replace Diggs with one of them. Sign a veteran you know can start opposite Thielen. Won't be a Diggs talent, but in a run-first, last and only offense, he probably doesn't have to be.
Of course, there's now ZERO room for error. No doubt, Rick has been one of the NFL's best drafting GMs, but he's going to have to take it to a new level this year.
The Vikings do not need to negotiate when they restructure contracts like they did last year with Kendricks. These restructures are built into most large contracts because teams were tired of agents asking for more when all it is just an accounting manuever.
Players like Barr, Hunter, Thielen, Kendricks (again), Smith, and Reiff could all have 2 to 4 mil or more restructured. But I doubt they do much as it is not something Brezinski is keen to do.
I could see them doing something if they went after someone big like Clowney.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ Havoc1649 said:
This makes zero sense to me. He had an average salary for the spot and was a nice improvement when he came in. I just don’t get this one. I’m not sure on pressures but I think he only gave up like two sacks on the season. Have to wonder if they have their sights set on someone they need more cap for.
Kline was not a "great" IOL by any stretch, but he was, in terms of pass blocking anyway, our highest graded interior lineman last year (Elflein rated higher as a run blocker and can also play center). But here's the real head scratcher: Kline's cap number was $6M. $4.5 of that is dead. So you save only $1.5M by releasing him. Elflein's cap number is $2.4M with only .2 dead. Cap savings would've been nearly $2.2M. So I don't think this was about saving money.
This combined with the Diggs trade suggests to me the Vikings are going serious run heavy.
I think you are absolutely right; they are going to run, run, run. And they got a run-stuffing NT because they think the rest of the league is going to be running teams, too. The next news will be a huge deal for Cook.
I'm SMH because this feels like going back to the plan Zimmer had when he arrived: depend on Peterson to carry the offense. But every time this team bets on being run-centric, the star RB gets injured and suddenly they are looking at their QB and WRs and saying, can we get a passing game going??
Maybe they are planning on Spielman pulling another 5th round Diggs miracle or two. But since 2011, Spielman has had the most day 3 (rounds 4-7) picks of any team in the NFL. (Not hyperbole, I dug through this last year.) How many good starting players has he found in those picks besides Diggs?
This is a little bit of a catch-22 and farce by the media. Teams aren't necessarily running less on 1st & 2nd down. However the value of RBs has been shown to be irrelevant in most cases. Another way, regardless if you're Dalvin Cook or Mike Boone the success of a play is more likely determined by your O-lineman and the defensive alignment in front of you than your own talent. So there is still value in nose tackles. But extending Cook is a whole different matter.
Although the Vikings released guard Josh Kline on Wednesday, a reunion between the two parties “isn’t out of the question,” reports Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune ( Twitter link).
Minnesota attempted to get Kline to restructure his contract before cutting him, per Goessling. In this case, “restructure” almost assuredly meant “pay cut,” something Kline was apparently unwilling to do. The 30-year-old Kline signed a three-year, $15.5MM pact with the Vikings just last offseason, but made it through only one year before being released. Minnesota saved $1.56MM in cap space by parting ways with Kline but absorbed $4.46MM in dead money.
Kline, who has also spent time with the Patriots and Titans, played in 13 games for the Vikings a year ago, missing the other three contests due to injury. Pro Football Focus graded him the league’s 42nd-best guard among 63 qualifiers. He now joins a free agent guard market that also includes Andrus Peat, Ronald Leary, and Daryl Williams, among others.
Kline was the second highest paid lineman for the Vikings offense last year. Fans viewed him as competent for the most part. He looked like a gold jacket performer compared to guard he replaced.
In 2018 Remmers allowed a whopping 42 pressures and had a PFF grade of 58.9. Kline had only 22 pressures in the 13 games he played; a significant improvement in pass blocking.
Despite the pass blocking improvement, Kline's PFF grade was 61.48; not a great deal better than Remmers or Compton, who were both woeful the previous year.
I don't know anything about how PFF grades linemen. Some fans and Zimmer summarily dismiss their rankings as flawed.
But Klines overall grade suggests his run blocking was lacking.
The eyeball test says he was definitely better than Remmers, which is no surprise. But he is average at best.
Because of the critical need for a left guard, Vikings best hope at right guard is replacement by one of the young guys already on the roster or bringing Kline back at a reduced salary. I think the Vikings can probably function with that scenario provided they get a quality right guard.
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