Cousins already impressed with WR Jordan Taylor

@"StickyBun" said: After Minnesota’s OTA practice on Wednesday, quarterback Kirk Cousins was asked about the 27-year-old pass catcher and he had nothing but good things to say.

“I really like him. He’s a diamond in the rough. He’s got some stuff to him. Not only does he have some juice, but he’s been on the details.  He gets to the right spot and catches the football when it’s a tough catch. I love playing with people who are on their details and he is that way.”

That’s some pretty high praise for a guy like Taylor who has barely been with the Vikings for a month. If he can stay healthy next season, he could potentially emerge as a surprise weapon for Minnesota’s offense. Big emphasis on staying healthy though. Taylor hasn’t appeared in a regular season game in the NFL since 2017 after undergoing surgery on both of his hips in January of 2018. However, he hasn’t had any health issues yet during his short time with the Vikings and it’s resulting in him getting more opportunities. With fellow receiver Stefon Diggsnot on the field for the team’s first two OTA practices this week, Taylor has reportedly been getting snaps with Minnesota’s first-team offense.

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"StickyBun" said: After Minnesota’s OTA practice on Wednesday, quarterback Kirk Cousins was asked about the 27-year-old pass catcher and he had nothing but good things to say.

“I really like him. He’s a diamond in the rough. He’s got some stuff to him. Not only does he have some juice, but he’s been on the details.  He gets to the right spot and catches the football when it’s a tough catch. I love playing with people who are on their details and he is that way.”

That’s some pretty high praise for a guy like Taylor who has barely been with the Vikings for a month. If he can stay healthy next season, he could potentially emerge as a surprise weapon for Minnesota’s offense. Big emphasis on staying healthy though. Taylor hasn’t appeared in a regular season game in the NFL since 2017 after undergoing surgery on both of his hips in January of 2018. However, he hasn’t had any health issues yet during his short time with the Vikings and it’s resulting in him getting more opportunities. With fellow receiver Stefon Diggsnot on the field for the team’s first two OTA practices this week, Taylor has reportedly been getting snaps with Minnesota’s first-team offense.

Taylor is an intriguing prospect. Peyton Manning apparently loved him. I like what Cousins said about him. Something about if the route break is 14 yards, he breaks at 14 yards, not 13, not 15. 

Did you get the feeling that Kirk was comparing Taylor to Treadwell? (Especially when it comes to details.)

I think Kirk is saying things from his perspective because he often throws to spots where the receiver is suppose to be.
A lot of his passes are anticipation throws.
He has to be able to trust receivers to be there and to be there on time because he does not have a lot of time.  Last year he didn't IMO.

Another article about Taylor and Treadwell:

https://purpleptsd.com/taylor-overtakes-treadwell-at-otas/

Olabisi Johnson, Dillon Mitchell, Jordan Taylor, Jeff Badet, Chad Beebe, and Brandon Zylstra.

One of these will push Treadie to 2nd team - or off the roster.

At some point the $ value of keeping him vs cutting is overcome by the value of keeping another valuable asset on the 53.

That may very well be the case this year as the quality behind #11 has seemingly improved. 

@"StickyBun" said: Another article about Taylor and Treadwell:

https://purpleptsd.com/taylor-overtakes-treadwell-at-otas/

Athleticism? Not hardly. He was a big guy who tracked the ball well and was a strong contested catch receiver. But he had ZERO juice, or athleticism. That was the one thing I noticed when I first started watching him. 

Sunshine got some game. Check out the catch at :50

Why is it that if we can clearly see that tready is not getting it done and question why he's still on the team (we're termed haters).  He won't be the first 1st, rounder to wash out and definitely not the last.  How many potential players are we gonna lose to protect this mistake---take whatever trade ya can get to get out from under his last year hit and move on. 

Great to hear about Taylor.  I wish nothing but success for Tready. He is still a vike. I think his strength and athleticism was enoufh for college but in the NFL nearly every catch is contested.  He does not have great ball skills or the ability to fight and catch at the same time.  There is no doubt he has worked hard on his body, he is ripped. Add in the drops and he is basically a bench player

@"Bullazin" said: Great to hear about Taylor.  I wish nothing but success for Tready. He is still a vike. I think his strength and athleticism was enoufh for college but in the NFL nearly every catch is contested.  He does not have great ball skills or the ability to fight and catch at the same time.  There is no doubt he has worked hard on his body, he is ripped. Add in the drops and he is basically a bench player

While he wears our colors, I want him to succeed every time he hits the field...but, he's conditioned me (and countless others) not to expect even mediocrity at this point.  At some point, he's a "bust" and the hater-labeling is just delusion.

@"Akvike" said: Why is it that if we can clearly see that tready is not getting it done and question why he's still on the team (we're termed haters).  He won't be the first 1st, rounder to wash out and definitely not the last.  How many potential players are we gonna lose to protect this mistake---take whatever trade ya can get to get out from under his last year hit and move on. 

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Akvike" said: Why is it that if we can clearly see that tready is not getting it done and question why he's still on the team (we're termed haters).  He won't be the first 1st, rounder to wash out and definitely not the last.  How many potential players are we gonna lose to protect this mistake---take whatever trade ya can get to get out from under his last year hit and move on. 

how many have we lost to date?   I dont recall cutting any receivers in the last 3 years that went on to do anything more than Treadwell has.

@"BigAl99" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Akvike" said: Why is it that if we can clearly see that tready is not getting it done and question why he's still on the team (we're termed haters).  He won't be the first 1st, rounder to wash out and definitely not the last.  How many potential players are we gonna lose to protect this mistake---take whatever trade ya can get to get out from under his last year hit and move on. 

how many have we lost to date?   I dont recall cutting any receivers in the last 3 years that went on to do anything more than Treadwell has.

Jarius Wright is the only name that came to mind, and their catches, yards and TDs are about the same.  Aldrick Robinson is another name, but all he could do was catch TDs.

@"Akvike" said: Why is it that if we can clearly see that tready is not getting it done and question why he's still on the team (we're termed haters).  He won't be the first 1st, rounder to wash out and definitely not the last.  How many potential players are we gonna lose to protect this mistake---take whatever trade ya can get to get out from under his last year hit and move on. 

I do think his chances of making the team are much less this year, though, with Taylor, two draft picks and three pretty good-looking holdovers from last year in Zylstra, Badet and Beebe. 

Gun to my head prediction: Diggs, Thielen, Taylor, Beebe, and...I'll say Badet...with Zylstra and Johnson on the PS. Badet is the interesting one. I didn't think he'd be much of a consideration, but the Vikings gave him $75K for a reason. You know what they say..."teams lie all the time but they don't lie with their checkbook." 

He's going to get a shot at returning punts too...

I think the Vikings like Beebe a bunch. 

If the Vikings get their way, Cook is going to see a lot more work vs year-ago than anyone playing WR #3 will get vs last season. 

@"purplefaithful" said: If the Vikings get their way, Cook is going to see a lot more work vs year-ago than anyone playing WR #3 will get vs last season. 

Wouldn't surprise me if the TE2 (Irv Smith) and the RB2 (Alex Mattison) both get more yards than the WR3, whoever that is. 

Of course, no one knows quite what a Stefanski/Kubiak combo special is going to look like, but my hunch is that it's going to look a lot more like Kubiak than anything else. Stefanski has been with the team for years. He was even the coordinator for the last few games last season. And yet, all we've heard from OTAs is how the team is adjusting to the "new" offense, the "new" playbook, etc. To me that suggests that Kubiak's fingerprints will be all over this offense. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: If the Vikings get their way, Cook is going to see a lot more work vs year-ago than anyone playing WR #3 will get vs last season. 

Agree. Kubiak uses 12 personnel (1 back, 2 TE) more than most coordinators. I think I read where the WR3 in a Kubiak offense typically gets about 20 catches per season, which is 15 less than even Treadwell had last year. Pretty sure that's why the Vikings chose to drop WR among their list of needs in the draft. I really wanted us to look at WR3 in round two, but if I'd just thought about the offense we'll be running, it would've been obvious to me that WR wasn't an option for us that high. 

Wouldn't surprise me if the TE2 (Irv Smith) and the RB2 (Alex Mattison) both get more yards than the WR3, whoever that is. 

Of course, no one knows quite what a Stefanski/Kubiak combo special is going to look like, but my hunch is that it's going to look a lot more like Kubiak than anything else. Stefanski has been with the team for years. He was even the coordinator for the last few games last season. And yet, all we've heard from OTAs is how the team is adjusting to the "new" offense, the "new" playbook, etc. To me that suggests that Kubiak's fingerprints will be all over this offense.