Quote: @"Jor-El" said:
But to me, drafting Aruna means the coaches have little or no faith in some of the DE projects currently on the roster. Sure, he has awesome measurables - but so did Weatherley, very similar in fact. So isn't the physical freak with 2 years in our system a better bet to contribute than the physical freak who is a rookie? We also have Bower and Odenigbo as DE projects. Why draft another if any of them look promising? And - call me cynical - if they haven't had luck with any of those 3 longshots, why should we expect Aruna to be different?
I do like Holmes, especially to develop at 3T. Sounds like Jaleel Johnson is slated to backup Joseph at NT.
Show me the coaching staff that has routinely developed multiple late round picks into productive pass rushers.
It's one of the most important positions and yet, like OT there aren't even 32 good ones in !whole League.
That's why all teams, not just the Vikings, use late picks on super raw kids hoping to get a hit now and then so that you don't have to always use premium picks to get one.
Quote: @"FSUVike" said:
@"Jor-El" said:
But to me, drafting Aruna means the coaches have little or no faith in some of the DE projects currently on the roster. Sure, he has awesome measurables - but so did Weatherley, very similar in fact. So isn't the physical freak with 2 years in our system a better bet to contribute than the physical freak who is a rookie? We also have Bower and Odenigbo as DE projects. Why draft another if any of them look promising? And - call me cynical - if they haven't had luck with any of those 3 longshots, why should we expect Aruna to be different?
I do like Holmes, especially to develop at 3T. Sounds like Jaleel Johnson is slated to backup Joseph at NT.
Show me the coaching staff that has routinely developed multiple late round picks into productive pass rushers.
It's one of the most important positions and yet, like OT there aren't even 32 good ones in !whole League.
That's why all teams, not just the Vikings, use late picks on super raw kids hoping to get a hit now and then so that you don't have to always use premium picks to get one.
Fair enough, but the OP here was asking whether we fixed the pass rush - about which there has been a lot of angst since the end of the season. So, to that question - in my opinion, it's improbable that the latest longshot should be considered a likely "fix", any more than the last 3 were. It might mean they aren't counting on Weatherly/Bowers/Odenigbo, just as they would not trust any of those 3 last year. If the Vikings need an injection at DE, they should keep looking.
FSU, I'm not the guy from New Jersey, claiming this management and coaching staff are worse than anyone else in the NFL and should be fired. I know 6th round picks are longshots, for every staff, and a very small part of running a successful team. But I don't hesitate to point out on a message board when someone like Aruna is probably not the great answer, even when fluff in a post-draft press conference tries to paint him as such - or point out that the Vikings don't have a great success rate with late picks.
No worries, J. Aruna is simply another lottery ticket and we won't know for a while if that ticket pays off or not. So not likely to impact the pass rush this year like you said.
What I'm more interested in is how much and when Zimmer rotates in Weatherly, Bowers and Obdehjisyj or whatever the hell his name is.
Does Mike take Griff out only during blowouts? Will the kids get reps in the first halves of games? Do all three get a shot?
Quote: @"Jor-El" said:
But to me, drafting Aruna means the coaches have little or no faith in some of the DE projects currently on the roster. Sure, he has awesome measurables - but so did Weatherley, very similar in fact. So isn't the physical freak with 2 years in our system a better bet to contribute than the physical freak who is a rookie? We also have Bower and Odenigbo as DE projects. Why draft another if any of them look promising? And - call me cynical - if they haven't had luck with any of those 3 longshots, why should we expect Aruna to be different?
I do like Holmes, especially to develop at 3T. Sounds like Jaleel Johnson is slated to backup Joseph at NT.
would you rather see the vikings pass on their later round picks? you have to draft somebody and theyre all projects after the 2-3rd round depending where you want to draw the line.
Quote: @"Poiple" said:
Griffs foot is a worrisome thing. Really it is the main thing to affect our pass rush. We all saw the effect on the entire D at the end of last season.
Plantar Facietous is something that can come back and haunt you for a lifetime. Im sure he is rehabbing and experts are looking at it yadda... Even still it can stick around for years. I hope its not the case with Griffen. He seems to be a driving force.
I think Griffin getting hurt was only part of why the pass rush fell off. The lack of an interior pass rush was a big problem, which the Vikings addressed. Depth at DE is more of an unknown. We still have Robison who is in the late stages of his career, but is still an effective player. After that, we really don't know how guys like Weatherly and Bower would handle a bigger role. Maybe the staff has full confidence in them, but Weatherly only saw 9% of snaps and Bower 1% of snaps last year. We do have Holmes who can play DE as well, though it sounds like his focus will be UT/3-technique for now. I think there was a case for taking an edge rusher early, letting them be part of the rotation this year and then taking on a bigger role the following year. Maybe they feel that they already have that guy on the roster, but I really want to see them work their other pass rushers in more, so that Griffen and Hunter don't wear down too much as the season goes on.
I honestly thought Weatherly was going to get cut last year. I was surprised he made the active roster. Now, the fact that he made the active roster and not the PS means the team still feels he will get snatched by another team so that was good news.
Still, this TC is really it for him. If he doesn't burst onto the scene, then I think the curtain closes for him in Minnesota.
Quote: @"Ponifan" said:
I honestly thought Weatherly was going to get cut last year. I was surprised he made the active roster. Now, the fact that he made the active roster and not the PS means the team still feels he will get snatched by another team so that was good news.
Still, this TC is really it for him. If he doesn't burst onto the scene, then I think the curtain closes for him in Minnesota.
Outside of Robison, Weatherly played the most out of their reserve pass rushers last season. He only registered 7 tackles, but my guess is he's someone they can trust to play his assignment. Bower is more of a natural pass rusher, so he could supplant Weatherly. I think Arunda probably ends up on the practice squad, unless he really flashes some ability during TC and the preseason. If someone like Hercules Mata'afa makes the roster, then it is likely at the expense of Weatherly or Bower. I'd like to see Weatherly take the next step and stick around, because he is one of the most interesting guys on the team, but he still needs to beat out the competition.
Quote: @"Tyr" said:
@"Ponifan" said:
I honestly thought Weatherly was going to get cut last year. I was surprised he made the active roster. Now, the fact that he made the active roster and not the PS means the team still feels he will get snatched by another team so that was good news.
Still, this TC is really it for him. If he doesn't burst onto the scene, then I think the curtain closes for him in Minnesota.
Outside of Robison, Weatherly played the most out of their reserve pass rushers last season. He only registered 7 tackles, but my guess is he's someone they can trust to play his assignment. Bower is more of a natural pass rusher, so he could supplant Weatherly. I think Arunda probably ends up on the practice squad, unless he really flashes some ability during TC and the preseason. If someone like Hercules Mata'afa makes the roster, then it is likely at the expense of Weatherly or Bower. I'd like to see Weatherly take the next step and stick around, because he is one of the most interesting guys on the team, but he still needs to beat out the competition.
why interesting?
never mind, i saw that it was a link and not just highlighted. lol
he is interesting. a cool piece, thanks.
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