Interesting numbers on Dalvin

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"kmillard" said: I think they are going to need his cap room to improve the rest of the team.

That would be the only reason. And the two guys in the wings: Chandler and Nwangwu. Mattison is gone.

The same thing that won't net much in return for cook stands to devalue Mattisons potential deals,  im guessing he still ends up elsewhere next year,  but if he wanted to stay they could make it happen.  I would be surprised to see both him and Cook gone.

@"StickyBun" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"kmillard" said: I think they are going to need his cap room to improve the rest of the team.

That would be the only reason. And the two guys in the wings: Chandler and Nwangwu. Mattison is gone.

The same thing that won't net much in return for cook stands to devalue Mattisons potential deals,  im guessing he still ends up elsewhere next year,  but if he wanted to stay they could make it happen.  I would be surprised to see both him and Cook gone.

You could be right. Some cutting of salaries is going to have to happen to give KAM/KOC some flex room to do things their way. 

@"StickyBun" said:

@"kmillard" said: I think they are going to need his cap room to improve the rest of the team.

That would be the only reason. And the two guys in the wings: Chandler and Nwangwu. Mattison is gone.

I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

The good news is that Ingram is playing much better, grading 82 in pass pro last week, and Oli Udoh has played well on the right, giving up only one pressure in the last two games. 

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CookDa01.htm

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

We didnt lose Bradbury until after the Jets game,   Cooks numbers seem very similar to the first 13 weeks of the season.  Also I know I brought up Cooks dancing behind the LOS a couple months ago in a thread where we were discussing reasons why the run game wasnt firing.  I dont think its much on losing Bradbury myself.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CookDa01.htm

@"TBro" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

We didnt lose Bradbury until after the Jets game,   Cooks numbers seem very similar to the first 13 weeks of the season.  Also I know I brought up Cooks dancing behind the LOS a couple months ago in a thread where we were discussing reasons why the run game wasnt firing.  I dont think its much on losing Bradbury myself.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CookDa01.htm

Regardless, neither Bradbury or Reed played against the Giants. Bradbury grades out much higher in run blocking than pass protection. Reed is the polar opposite. Which would you rather have starting this Sunday? My hope is that Reed has improved from getting thrown into the meet grinder in Green Bay and that his run blocking continues to evolve going into Sunday because I'm still not confident we will see Bradbury back this week. Unless he and the Vikings are keeping it under the radar, everything out of Bradbury's mouth has indicated he still isn't ready to play. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

Agree. Bradbury is key to our postseason hopes. Relieved that Reed played a fairly clean game in Chicago, so it won't be a total disaster if he has to play, but we need everyone on board.

The good news is that Ingram is playing much better, grading 82 in pass pro last week, and Oli Udoh has played well on the right, giving up only one pressure in the last two games. 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

Agree. Bradbury is key to our postseason hopes. Relieved that Reed played a fairly clean game in Chicago, so it won't be a total disaster if he has to play, but we need everyone on board.

The good news is that Ingram is playing much better, grading 82 in pass pro last week, and Oli Udoh has played well on the right, giving up only one pressure in the last two games. 

Funny how Bradbury has become the king-pin of the line. When both he and Darrisaw play our run game has been good. When either or both miss time it's been a broken unit. So him getting on the field would be huge, assuming he can play at a high level. 

Taking it one step further, Bradbury has become a pretty key piece to the Vikings off-season plan. There aren't many other centers that would be an improvement in FA and its hard to go into the draft without a center. So will be interesting to see how that plays out. If they hit the FA market I think we'll be surprised by what both Bradbury and Irv will be able to get in a weak FA market. So it will be very interesting to see how the FO wants to approach that. 

Long-term the consideration is that you obviously need to keep Darrisaw and most would rank Cleveland > Bradbury in a hierarchy. So do they want to pay all 3 of those guys + O'Neill? 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

Agree. Bradbury is key to our postseason hopes. Relieved that Reed played a fairly clean game in Chicago, so it won't be a total disaster if he has to play, but we need everyone on board.

The good news is that Ingram is playing much better, grading 82 in pass pro last week, and Oli Udoh has played well on the right, giving up only one pressure in the last two games. 

Funny how Bradbury has become the king-pin of the line. When both he and Darrisaw play our run game has been good. When either or both miss time it's been a broken unit. So him getting on the field would be huge, assuming he can play at a high level. 

Taking it one step further, Bradbury has become a pretty key piece to the Vikings off-season plan. There aren't many other centers that would be an improvement in FA and its hard to go into the draft without a center. So will be interesting to see how that plays out. If they hit the FA market I think we'll be surprised by what both Bradbury and Irv will be able to get in a weak FA market. So it will be very interesting to see how the FO wants to approach that. 

Long-term the consideration is that you obviously need to keep Darrisaw and most would rank Cleveland > Bradbury in a hierarchy. So do they want to pay all 3 of those guys + O'Neill? 

I feel like I’m living in a different world than everyone
else.  I just don’t know how people come
to the conclusion that our OLine is doing good. 
I feel like with all 5 guys healthy it was barely good enough.  We couldn’t really run the ball when we
needed to and Cousins was at/near the top in terms of getting sacked/knocked
down/etc.  For the longest time, it was
common knowledge that Cousins was immobile and needed a sturdy OLine in front
of him, and now he’s getting hit at a rate near the top of the league and we’re
talking about Cook and Thielen needing to be replaced to fix the offense.  For me fixing our interior OLine is the top issue
on our offense by far.  Obviously Cook
and Thielen cost too much, but they’re not the limiting factors on our
performance this year.

@"medaille" said: I feel like I’m living in a different world than everyone else.  I just don’t know how people come to the conclusion that our OLine is doing good.  I feel like with all 5 guys healthy it was barely good enough.  We couldn’t really run the ball when we needed to and Cousins was at/near the top in terms of getting sacked/knocked down/etc.  For the longest time, it was common knowledge that Cousins was immobile and needed a sturdy OLine in front of him, and now he’s getting hit at a rate near the top of the league and we’re talking about Cook and Thielen needing to be replaced to fix the offense.  For me fixing our interior OLine is the top issue on our offense by far.  Obviously Cook and Thielen cost too much, but they’re not the limiting factors on our performance this year.

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

Vikings rush offense DVOA rankings

Darrisaw✅, Bradbury✅
Weeks 1-10 (through BUF): 11th

Bradbury✅, Darrisaw❌
Weeks 11-13 (DAL, NE, NYJ),: 18th

Darrisaw❌, Bradbury❌
Week 14 (DET): 25th of 26 (6 teams on bye week)

Darrisaw✅, Bradbury❌
Weeks 15-17 (IND, NYG, GB): 32nd

— Krauser (@Krauserrific) January 5, 2023

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"TBro" said: I hate to admit it because I'm not a big fan of Bradbury but Cook's decline in the second half of the season seems to coincide with Bradbury's injury. His mobility to pull and get to the second level is also a huge factor we've been missing since he's been out. We really need him back this Sunday. If we can run on the Giants that would open up a lot of options in the passing game.  

DVOA stats seem to support this...

Vikings rush offense DVOA rankings

Darrisaw✅, Bradbury✅
Weeks 1-10 (through BUF): 11th

Bradbury✅, Darrisaw❌
Weeks 11-13 (DAL, NE, NYJ),: 18th

Darrisaw❌, Bradbury❌
Week 14 (DET): 25th of 26 (6 teams on bye week)

Darrisaw✅, Bradbury❌
Weeks 15-17 (IND, NYG, GB): 32nd

— Krauser (@Krauserrific) January 5, 2023

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"Kentis" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said: Schematically moving to a 1-back setup has really hurt him. His splits with Ham on the field are much better. He still has all of his skill, you see it once he gets up on the LBs or DBs. But he can't work his way past the LOS. Part of it is the poor run blocking but in instances where the blocking is sufficient he isn't finding the hole. Mattison on the other hand runs much more downhill which is why I think you see him end up being more effective at times. 

So you agree he should be moved for draft capital this offseason…?  ;) 

I don't necessarily know how many takers you'll have considering the FA RB class is loaded. 

I don’t think Cook is worth the money they are paying him. RB is a position that can be filled with multiple players now. I think a Alexander Matt, at the right price is good enough and I honestly think the Vikings need a guy like Jerrick McKinnon. He was huge in ‘17, and if they could find a guy like that on the cheap, they’d be better off.

Cook is what people think Cousins is; too expensive for the productivity.

_alvin, I’m taking the “D” out of _alvin, until he shows the “D”esire to hit the hole & take what‘s available. The playoffs are here, quit dancing & quit looking to run out of bounds!!!  B)