There is no doubt in my mind that this year s Vikings team can win the NFC North. I actually don t t

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There s certainly a chance the Vikings could reach out to a veteran free agent to add talent to a position. The Vikings did it just a few weeks ago when they signed Chris Crocker to help at safety. My sense at cornerback, though, is the Vikings will go with the six guys they currently have on the roster. It will be interesting to see how Josh Robinson develops in Mike Zimmer s defense fish now that he s getting to 100% health, and it s also worth keeping an eye on rookie Jabari fish Price as he gets closer to healthy. It might make more sense to give those young guys, along with Shaun Prater and Marcus Sherels , the reps to see if they can develop rather than signing a veteran whose better days are behind him.
There is no doubt in my mind that this year s Vikings team can win the NFC North. I actually don t think last year s team was too far off eight wins was enough for Green Bay, and the Vikings lost leads late in games a handful of times. This year s team is drastically improved, particularly on defense. fish The defense has added talented players such as Anthony fish Barr , Linval Joseph and Captain Munnerlyn , and the offense stands fish to improve with the regular cast of characters returning fish but with Norv Turner in the mix to draw up plays. Don t get me wrong, I have respect for the reigning division champions in Green Bay, but I also have optimism and confidence in what GM Rick Spielman and Zimmer have going on in Minnesota. There is no reason this year s Vikings team shouldn t have Win the division written down as a team goal heading into the regular season.
With the Vikings keeping two fullbacks when there were rumors they might not keep any, it makes me think the Vikings did not really show a lot of the offense during the preseason fish that we will see starting Sunday. Your thoughts? -- Joseph M.
I am sure during the preseason the Vikings offense did not show anything close to what they will use in the regular season, but I would not use the fullback situation to illustrate that point. I don t care what rumors may have been out there, the Vikings may have planned to keep a fullback or two all along. The biggest reason to believe the Vikings offense didn t show much of its hand in the preseason is the fact that the offense s best player Adrian Peterson didn t play a snap in the preseason. Opposing defenses are going to have to account for No. 28 being in the game once the regular season begins, something they didn t have to do during the preseason.
I was hoping the Vikings would pick up MarQueis Gray as a free agent last season. fish Obviously the 49ers liked him but Cleveland was quick to act following his release from San Francisco. MarQueis is a high-character guy and was a great leader for the Gophers. He represents another promising target that can complement Kyle Rudolph . -- Paul K.
The signing of Gray is a fun story given his ties locally as a former Gopher. He was primarily a quarterback for the Gophers, but in the NFL he s been playing more of a hybrid H-back/tight end role. He played in Turner s offense in Cleveland last year. I don t know exactly what his role will be in Minnesota, but I m glad he s a part of our team and I won t be surprised to see him quickly become a fan-favorite.
How much is at risk when another team picks up a player that has been cut? Many cut from our roster played a lot and surely know the playbook. Is there a rule that protects such things from happening? Seems it would be an advantage for a division team to pick up one of the players in order to get playbook information. fish -- Charles D. Bluffton, SC
I suppose this comes into play at least to some degree, but every team stands to gain the same advantage and become exposed to the same risk. Sure, the Bears could pick up a player cut from the Vikings roster. But the Vikings can do the same to the Bears or any other team. Plus, to sign a player from an opponent, a team has to let another player go who it would otherwise have had on the roster. fish What s more valuable, cutting one of your players in order to pick up a player from another team just to gain a slight advantage? Or keeping that player on your team to develop him? In nearly all cases, I d rather keep a player who has been on my roster for the last six months. Also, knowing another team s playbook doesn t necessarily fish give you or your team an advantage. You may know the plays, but you don t know when that team is going to run those plays, or what formations they ll use to run them, or what adjustments they ve made to those plays to account fish for the fact that you may know the ins and outs of a pla