Off Season SUCKS!!!

With the offseason wrapping up here in the next few weeks and the Vikings heading off to camp, the fans in the glacial region of the midwest finally have something to look forward to again. Gone will be the lazy days of watching the Twins and Brewers go through the motions in divisions unwinable. Gone will be the days of waking up to the headlines of "Royals Shutout again." The paper bags will be retired for another year and the glares of Reggie Sanders into the left field stands, aimed directly at 3 dedicated fans pronouncing thier disgust for the team, will cease. Football is around the corner!!!

Ask fellow Vikings fans about the future of the upcoming season and you will get mixed responses. Some feel that Brad Childress will require at least a year before we can make an evaluation on his head coaching talent. Some say that Wilf does not have enough experince yet in running a professional football team. Some are weary about the quarterback and running back situations. Some feel that there is no clear cut leader of the recieving corps. These are all very valid and very real concerns, which have only been magnified by the amount of transition and time for second guessing during the off-season.

The reality remains that no one really knows how next year will shape out. Brad Johnson will turn 84 this year, but he has been a consistent winner throughout his career as a starter. Our running back stable is chocked full of guys who are hungry to make a name for themselves but yet unproven. Our recievers are all above average, but no one is really a super-star. We have 3 #2 guys taking the field this year. Our defense has a history of being very shaky, but they really gelled last year to bring us back into the playoff hunt. Only time will tell, and now that the offseason is wrapping up and we get to actually see these guys in action in a few weeks, speculation is nearing an end.

But . . . offseason is not over yet, and there should be at least one more crackpot pronouncing his predictions for the year based on . . . well, basically nothing but intuition. Vikings Review will top off the offseason speculation with a petrified perfect pre-preseason prediction. (Say that 5 times fast, then send me an email telling me how pointless that endeveur was.)

Over the next few days I will try to give a bit of prediction upon the value of the:

Quarterbacks, Running Backs, O-Line, Recievers, D-Line, Linebackers, Secondary, Special Teams, and the Front Office.

Quarterback Situation?

Vikings Review has always had a soft spot for Brad Johnson. The only words I have uttered in anger over Brad Johnson have been to a little kid asking why Brad Johnson was not a secert player in the Super Nintendo version of NBA Jam . . . "Shut up about Brad Johnson!!!" I have always had faith in Brad since the days when he was a 3rd stringer rising up to take over for Warren Moon. Even during the amazing season of 1998, I was secretly hoping that Brad would come back fromhis injury to take over the team. He was subsequently traded in favor keeping Cunningham . . . then he went on to win a Super Bowl without us. But you always had to feel good about the guy, he was never a great quarterback in terms of ability, but his leadership skill was acheived by none.

Brad Johnson still sucks in terms of talent. Some might even say that he sucks even more now that he is older. But ther are things that he does do and does not do that allows him to put his team in position to win games.

1 - He does not turn the ball over. Vikings fans need not lose any more nights sleep over a quarterback with "hands too small" or poor decision making skills. We do not need to worry about the receivers carrying the quarterback inorder to win games. Daunte is gone and all the excuses we made to defend him can also be retired. Brad Johnson makes wise decisions on who to throw the ball to, when to throw it, and he will stay in the pocket and trust his line. I am under the firm belief that the defense was able to perform beautifully during the last half of last season due to the decrease in the number of turnovers. There is an old addage that says "What you don't do is often times just as important as what you do do." So we have that going for us . . .

2 - Brad Johnson is a proven leader and a proven winner with the attitudes to match. How else can you explain a guy with no real arm leading the Vikings into playoff contention last year. As soon as Brad took over the team last year, one could immediatly see the change in attitude the team undertook. With the "Love Boat" scandal hanging over our heads, and national media . . . and ESPN stopping thier T.O. coverage to denounce the Vikings, Brad lifted the team out of its ashes and made headlines by winning games. He was able to inspire the team at the critical moments, beating or achilles heel (Giants) with a 4th quarter drive into field goal range. Guys started to play inspired, as if they actually went out there to win games. This is also not an isolated incident either, when Brad took over for Moon, the same thing happend. He is a great leader of men despite his lack of skills. Would we rather have a superstar that has tremendous skills but cannot inspire the rest of his team, or one average guy that can bring out the best skills of the rest of his team despite his averageness? I would prefer the latter.

Tarvaris Jackson - The Backup?

We know nothing about this kid. He came out of a D-II school hidden away somewhere in the deep south. Many called him a steal in the draft, many said he was taken too early. Some say that he does not have the high level experince to make it in the NFL, others compare him to Mike Vick . . . only with quarterback skills. If Brad breaks his hip sometime this year, Jackson may be the guy that we are going to be seeing lining up behind the center.

What we do know is that in D-II he was mobile, he had a great arm, and he was accurate. Jerry Rice came out of a very small school outside the norm of "experince building" universities such as Miami. Adam Timmerman came out of a South Dakota school, and countless others have made solid names out of the smaller schools. This leads me to believe that it is not the school you come out of and the competition you face, but the level of heart which you play the game with. We know nothing about T.J. and thus it would be absolutly foolish to try and describe the amount of heart that he plays the game with, but with the skills he is supposed to have . . . any heart that he has is well backed by his skills.

Overall the quarterback situation is murky at best. Can Brad stay healthy, can T.J. learn quick enough to take over if Brad goes down? Is T.J. a leader? Are Brad's leadership skills good enough to cover his age? With quarterback being such an important position, these are questions, that when answered may shape our entire season.

Vikings Review fearless prediction on the Quarterback situation:

Brad Johnson will lead this team to a division title, although he will miss a few games due to a small injury. T.J. will win one and lose one, but gain valuable experince. Brad will then lead the team to the Super Bowl . . .

Feel free to post a comment . . . all are welcome.

Skol!!!!

Vikings Review