Roster Depth

[Guest]

This is the time of year when players are griping about teams being cheap or favoring the new signings over "loyalty to veterans".  But in past years, the Vikings held on to players too long or gave big contracts to marginal players. Which do you really prefer?
Look at the list of "notable player in the alarmist OP. If they are notable, how many would even be known to an NFL fan who isn't devoted to the Vikings? Sam Bradford and Michael Floyd are the best known, and partly for non-positive reasons.
Net effect of this offseason, SO FAR, has been the Vikings adding 2 players under age 30 who have played in Pro Bowls, and losing a handful of guys with modest production or big question marks.
The only guys I expect to miss at all are Wright and Stephen, but Jaleel Johnson and Stacy Coley will get better opportunities with them gone. There are still good FAs available and the draft.

[Guest]

They'll continue to keep shopping for depth as remaining UFA prices come down. But they are reshaping the roster a little bit to even out their personnel before they get too heavy defensively. 2017 may have been an eye opener that you can have both a strong defense and offense if you commit the time and resources to it. 

The larger culprit is the 2016 draft class that will show its ugly head. Those are the cost controllable players that are supposed to be making a significant impact in both 2018/2019. That class was: 

1 - Treadwell 
2 - Alexander 
3 - Traded to MIA 
4 - Beavers 
5 - Kentrell Brothers 
6 - Bohringer 
6 - Morgan 
7 - Weatherly 
7- Kearse 

[Guest]

@"AGRforever" said:
Not terribly concerned at this point except starting OL and backup DL.  Every year we've wondered why our draft picks aren't playing.  This year they'll get to.  We'll need 3 players from the draft to contribute. 

If they came back with 3 O linemen and 2 D lineman we would start to adress the depth problem given that some of them wont turn out.  I dont think there is anyway we see those numbers.
Im guessing draft 1 O linemen and 2 D linemen and try to pick up journeymen in the 2nd Fa.  

[Guest]

@"Watcher" said:

We still have the second and third waves of free agency and the lower rds of the draft -- Are we really that thin?

No. There are probably between 25 and 30 NFL teams who would love to have our "depth problem." It's important to have a little perspective. Yeah, it would be great to have Tom Johnson as depth, but my goodness, we just signed Sheldon Richardson and drafted a 3T last year. Broncos just traded for Jared Veldheer who's been injured both of the last two years. Smacks of a Jake Long type signing to me. We're not losing starters, we're losing players who have been upgraded. Yeah, it would be great to keep Jerrick McKinnon, but that was never in the cards because we now have Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray. Jeremiah Sirles was good, solid depth, but we drafted Danny Isadora. We drafted him because we KNEW that Sirles wouldn't be here in 2018. We drafted Coley to replace Wright. We drafted Alexander to replace Newman.

You gotta draft well and trust your draft. It would be one thing if we were turning over valuable depth slots to rookies, but we're not. Alexander is a 3rd year player. Jaleel, Coley, Isadora, these are 2nd year players.  And next year, when Murray leaves, we'll have a 2nd year back from this draft to take his place. This kind of down-depth turnover is not unusual. It's healthy.

[Guest]

@"Geoff Nichols" said:
They'll continue to keep shopping for depth as remaining UFA prices come down. But they are reshaping the roster a little bit to even out their personnel before they get too heavy defensively. 2017 may have been an eye opener that you can have both a strong defense and offense if you commit the time and resources to it. 

The larger culprit is the 2016 draft class that will show its ugly head. Those are the cost controllable players that are supposed to be making a significant impact in both 2018/2019. That class was: 

1 - Treadwell 
2 - Alexander 
3 - Traded to MIA 
4 - Beavers 
5 - Kentrell Brothers 
6 - Bohringer 
6 - Morgan 
7 - Weatherly 
7- Kearse 

Really great and important observation about that draft. Also a reminder that counting on the draft is dicey. Plenty of people saying we can draft a starting OL at #30 - but we couldn't find a productive WR at #23.
Any explanation why 2016 has been, to date, such a poor draft? Just a matter of "lucky in 2015, unlucky in 2016" or were different people involved?

[Guest]

@"Geoff Nichols" said:
They'll continue to keep shopping for depth as remaining UFA prices come down. But they are reshaping the roster a little bit to even out their personnel before they get too heavy defensively. 2017 may have been an eye opener that you can have both a strong defense and offense if you commit the time and resources to it. 

The larger culprit is the 2016 draft class that will show its ugly head. Those are the cost controllable players that are supposed to be making a significant impact in both 2018/2019. That class was: 

1 - Treadwell 
2 - Alexander 
3 - Traded to MIA 
4 - Beavers 
5 - Kentrell Brothers 
6 - Bohringer 
6 - Morgan 
7 - Weatherly 
7- Kearse 

And that was coming off a 2015 season where we went 11-5 and thinking all our holes were filled.  Hopefully we don't swing and miss this year lol because that draft was UGLY with a capital Sarah Jessica Parker

[Guest]

@"Jor-El" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:
They'll continue to keep shopping for depth as remaining UFA prices come down. But they are reshaping the roster a little bit to even out their personnel before they get too heavy defensively. 2017 may have been an eye opener that you can have both a strong defense and offense if you commit the time and resources to it. 

The larger culprit is the 2016 draft class that will show its ugly head. Those are the cost controllable players that are supposed to be making a significant impact in both 2018/2019. That class was: 

1 - Treadwell 
2 - Alexander 
3 - Traded to MIA 
4 - Beavers 
5 - Kentrell Brothers 
6 - Bohringer 
6 - Morgan 
7 - Weatherly 
7- Kearse 

Really great and important observation about that draft. Also a reminder that counting on the draft is dicey. Plenty of people saying we can draft a starting OL at #30 - but we couldn't find a productive WR at #23.
Any explanation why 2016 has been, to date, such a poor draft? Just a matter of "lucky in 2015, unlucky in 2016" or were different people involved?

A truly dreadful, dud of a draft...Cant afford many of those. 

[Guest]

Not having players develop in a draft class has a bigger long term impact than missing on a high pick.  It looks like the 16 class has left us thin, unless Alexander keeps improving and Treadwell breaks out with a different QB.  Morgan and Kearse have both had moments and can contribute.