Senior Bowl Weigh In and Practice Notes

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:
Yabbut....He doesn't fit the Zone scheme right???

Meinerz? Not especially. But his feet looked good to me. 

I've been thinking a lot about this. I think if you took the top 10 most athletic linemen in the NFL, Vikings would probably have three in O'Neill, Bradbury and Cleveland. Now all three are very good run blockers for the outside zone, but as you would expect, they struggle a little in pass pro because they're smallish. 

Makes me wonder if we shouldn't just tweak who we target a little bit. Don't dismiss athleticism, but maybe take it down a notch in your criteria. Like a QB's arm strength: if you can make all the throws, there's really no huge advantage to having a QB with a cannon. 

I go back to the 2019 draft. Packers didn't get the most athletic IOL in the draft when they selected Elgton Jenkins in the 2nd round. That would've been Bradbury. But Jenkins was a player with good size and strength and whose athleticism wasn't so bad it would kill you if put him in a zone. Packers run the same offense we do. Jenkins went to the Pro Bowl this year. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@purplefaithful said:
Yabbut....He doesn't fit the Zone scheme right???

Meinerz? Not especially. But his feet looked good to me. 

I've been thinking a lot about this. I think if you took the top 10 most athletic linemen in the NFL, Vikings would probably have three in O'Neill, Bradbury and Cleveland. Now all three are very good run blockers for the outside zone, but as you would expect, they struggle a little in pass pro because they're smallish. 

Makes me wonder if we shouldn't just tweak who we target a little bit. Don't dismiss athleticism, but maybe take it down a notch in your criteria. Like a QB's arm strength: if you can make all the throws, there's really no huge advantage to having a QB with a cannon. 

I go back to the 2019 draft. Packers didn't get the most athletic IOL in the draft when they selected Elgton Jenkins in the 2nd round. That would've been Bradbury. But Jenkins was a player with good size and strength and whose athleticism wasn't so bad it would kill you if put him in a zone. Packers run the same offense we do. Jenkins went to the Pro Bowl this year. 

I was harkening back to a current starting OG for the Giants, but yah...Jenkins illustrates the point even better. 

When you are up against those Chicago DT's twice a year? And some of the GB front 7 too? It's not pretty and the the Vikings have to get stouter up front for sure. 

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:

@MaroonBells said:

@purplefaithful said:
Yabbut....He doesn't fit the Zone scheme right???

Meinerz? Not especially. But his feet looked good to me. 

I've been thinking a lot about this. I think if you took the top 10 most athletic linemen in the NFL, Vikings would probably have three in O'Neill, Bradbury and Cleveland. Now all three are very good run blockers for the outside zone, but as you would expect, they struggle a little in pass pro because they're smallish. 

Makes me wonder if we shouldn't just tweak who we target a little bit. Don't dismiss athleticism, but maybe take it down a notch in your criteria. Like a QB's arm strength: if you can make all the throws, there's really no huge advantage to having a QB with a cannon. 

I go back to the 2019 draft. Packers didn't get the most athletic IOL in the draft when they selected Elgton Jenkins in the 2nd round. That would've been Bradbury. But Jenkins was a player with good size and strength and whose athleticism wasn't so bad it would kill you if put him in a zone. Packers run the same offense we do. Jenkins went to the Pro Bowl this year. 

I was harkening back to a current starting OG for the Giants, but yah...Jenkins illustrates the point even better. 

When you are up against those Chicago DT's twice a year? And some of the GB front 7 too? It's not pretty and the the Vikings have to get stouter up front for sure. 

Some of us were clamoring for him including myself, he hasnt been great but he is good in pass pro and we need to get away from inside pressure on KC 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@purplefaithful said:
Yabbut....He doesn't fit the Zone scheme right???

Meinerz? Not especially. But his feet looked good to me. 

I've been thinking a lot about this. I think if you took the top 10 most athletic linemen in the NFL, Vikings would probably have three in O'Neill, Bradbury and Cleveland. Now all three are very good run blockers for the outside zone, but as you would expect, they struggle a little in pass pro because they're smallish. 

Makes me wonder if we shouldn't just tweak who we target a little bit. Don't dismiss athleticism, but maybe take it down a notch in your criteria. Like a QB's arm strength: if you can make all the throws, there's really no huge advantage to having a QB with a cannon. 

I go back to the 2019 draft. Packers didn't get the most athletic IOL in the draft when they selected Elgton Jenkins in the 2nd round. That would've been Bradbury. But Jenkins was a player with good size and strength and whose athleticism wasn't so bad it would kill you if put him in a zone. Packers run the same offense we do. Jenkins went to the Pro Bowl this year. 

Plus, we ran a fair amount of power last year...assuming we move Cleveland to LG, pop in a rookie who can work in power and some (rarity but not exactly a unicorn) I think we flourish on O.