DAILY CLIPS FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2019
LOCAL NEWS: Friday, March 1, 2019
Star Tribune
Vikings face questions on Barr, Richardson and Griffen By Andrew Krammer http://www.startribune.com/vikings-face-questions-on-barr-richardson-and-griffen/506501302/
Mike Zimmer considers hiring Vikings kicking coach By Ben Goessling http://www.startribune.com/mike-zimmer-considers-hiring-vikings-kicking-coach/506500772/
Pioneer Press
Vikings’ Mike Zimmer interested in hiring ‘a true kicking coach’ By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2019/02/28/vikings-mike-zimmer-interested-in-hiring-a-true-kicking-coach/
Vikings’ Mike Zimmer wants to keep Anthony Barr, Sheldon Richardson. But can he? By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2019/02/28/vikings-mike-zimmer-wants-to-keep-anthony-barr-sheldon-richardson-but-can-he/
VIKING Update
After struggles, Zimmer searching for ‘true kickers coach’ By Tim Yotter https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Mike-Zimmer-searching-for-true-kickers-coach-129581231/
Vikings surprise: The high-end linemen they haven’t interviewed By Tim Yotter https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Minnesota-Vikings-havent-interviewed-one-high-end-offensive-lineman- 129597774/
With Kubiak and Cousins, it’s less than six degrees of Shanahan By Tim Yotter https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Gary-Kubiak-Kirk-Cousins-both-connected-to-Mike-Kyle-Shanahan- 129589472/
Skor North
Zulgad: Offensive negligence: Vikings coordinated their own failure in 2018 By Judd Zulgad https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019/02/zulgad-offensive-negligence-vikings-coordinated-their-own-failure-in-2018/
The Athletic
Mike Zimmer opens up: Highlights from the Vikings coach’s talk at the combine By Chad Graff https://theathletic.com/844271/2019/02/28/vikings-mike-zimmer-combine-press-conference-kickers-free-agents-everson-griffen- offensive-line/
NATIONAL NEWS: Friday, March 1, 2019
ESPN
GM: Vikings' shortcomings in 2018 'not all on Kirk Cousins' By Courtney Cronin http://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/28201/gm-vikings-shortcomings-in-2018-not-all-on-kirk-cousins
Vikings expecting big things from Cousins in '19 By Courtney Cronin http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26105422/vikings-expecting-big-things-cousins-19
Sports Business Journal
Forum: Current and future leadership of the NFL By Abraham Madkour https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2019/02/11/Opinion/FORUM.aspx
MULTIMEDIA LINKS: Friday, March 1, 2019
Vikings at the Combine KMSP-FOX 9 http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=8c19423a-7b03-45e2-b7cc-261b8db67b1a
The Scoop with Doogie: Update on the Vikings KSTP-ABC http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=ed300cc3-2b2a-43dd-9570-bcd05c70c0b0
Mike Zimmer at the Combine KMSP-FOX 9 http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=86939099-e684-4611-bb9e-4bbb42b90e20
Mike Zimmer's Full 2019 Scouting Combine Press Conference Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/mike-zimmer-full-2019-scouting-combine-press-conference
Rick Spielman's Full 2019 Scouting Combine Press Conference Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/rick-spielman-s-full-2019-scouting-combine-press-conference
Garafolo: Vikings Should Be The Team In 2019 People Thought They'd Be Last Season Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/garafolo-vikings-should-be-the-team-in-2019-people-thought-they-d-be-last-season
Jeremiah, Davis Discuss Offensive Linemen, Tight Ends That Could Be Fits For Vikings Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/jeremiah-davis-discuss-offensive-linemen-tight-ends-that-could-be-fits-for-vikin
Zimmer Raves About Kubiak's Fit So Far, Discusses His Option Being Picked Up, Optimism With Cousins In Year Two Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/zimmer-raves-about-kubiak-s-fit-so-far-discusses-his-option-being-picked-up-opti
VIKINGS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK: Friday, March 1, 2019
Media Roundup: Highlights from OL Interviews By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/media-roundup-highlights-from-ol-interviews
Media Roundup: Highlights from RB Combine Media Sessions By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/media-roundup-highlights-from-rb-combine-media-sessions
Best of Zimmer’s Combine Media Blitz By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/best-of-zimmer-s-combine-media-blitz
Zimmer Says Offensive Meetings ‘Almost Romantic for Me’ By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/zimmer-says-offensive-meetings-almost-romantic-for-me
Mike Zimmer Thinking About Hiring Kicking Specialist Coach By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/mike-zimmer-thinking-about-hiring-kicking-specialist-coach
Lunchbreak: Outlining Vikings Areas of Need This Offseason By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-outlining-vikings-areas-of-need-this-offseason
Breer, Rapoport Weigh-in on Vikings Draft Predictions from Combine By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/breer-rapoport-weigh-in-on-vikings-draft-predictions-from-combine
Documentary Film Provides Generational Bridge for Gene Washington & Daughter By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/documentary-film-provides-generational-bridge-for-gene-washington-daughter
PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 3/1/19
Vikings face questions on Barr, Richardson and Griffen
By Andrew Krammer
INDIANAPOLIS – The Vikings front office will toe a tightrope in the next 12 days before NFL free agency starts.
One part of the balancing act is lucrative long-term deals for star defenders.
Another is quarterback Kirk Cousins' $29 million cap hit for the upcoming season.
Up in the air is the status of linebacker Anthony Barr and that of defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, both set to become unrestricted free agents on March 13.
General Manager Rick Spielman could find a way to re-sign one or both as negotiations are ongoing this week at the NFL scouting combine.
But because of the Vikings' tight salary cap situation, key defenders with little financial security — such as Everson Griffen and Andrew Sendejo — could be cut or have contracts restructured.
Coach Mike Zimmer said Thursday the Vikings "would love" to re-sign Barr and Richardson, but the Vikings could be priced out depending on what other teams are willing to pay for each defender.
"We have to budget where we're going," Zimmer said. "So, if it goes to — if Barr gets paid $18 million [per season], it probably ain't going to happen, you know? But if it's a reasonable deal … I think Anthony would love to be here, too."
One tool in Spielman's back pocket is the franchise tag, which can be used until 3 p.m. Tuesday; but even the one- year tender would require money to be cleared.
Tagging Richardson or Barr is expected to cost $14 million to $15 million, nearly double the Vikings' projected $7 million in cap space based on an expected cap increase to $190 million for each team.
It's unlikely the Vikings could stomach the tag for Barr or Richardson, but Spielman declined to comment Wednesday.
Barr has started 73 games for the Vikings since he was drafted with the ninth pick in 2014, and Richardson started all 16 games on a one-year deal last season.
Both are disruptive pass rushers.
"If we can afford them, we're going to bring them back," Zimmer said. "If we can't afford them, we're going to have to move on, unfortunately."
Some cost-cutting moves could shed proven talent but gain precious cap space. One involves Griffen, the longest- tenured player in the organization. A veteran of nine seasons, the 31-year-old missed five games last year to address mental health issues.
Any change in Griffen's contract or roster status would need to come by March 15, when his $10.9 million salary becomes fully guaranteed. Releasing Griffen would create more than $10.5 million in space.
The Vikings boast depth at defensive end, where Danielle Hunter has ascended into a star and Stephen Weatherly showed promise in six starts last season.
"It's very difficult," Spielman said of evaluating Griffen. "The way he attacked the issue and the way he came back to our team, he's been an integral part of our organization and sometimes you've got to take the football part out of it and recognize everything that he's been through.
"We're going to have to look at everything."
Potential restructures or cuts in the Vikings' cap puzzle also include cornerback Trae Waynes, whose $9 million salary becomes guaranteed March 13; and a $5.5 million option on Sendejo, the veteran safety whose season ended on injured reserve.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph and guard Mike Remmers, set to earn $7.275 million and $5.65 million, respectively, have no guaranteed money left in their contracts.
At the end of the season, Barr alluded to the two sides being far apart on a contract: "A lot of things have to happen for that to come together," he said, after negotiations last spring failed to produce a long-term deal.
Richardson, after the season-ending loss to the Bears, said he hadn't heard from the Vikings about a new deal.
A lot can change in two weeks before the free-agency bell tolls.
"Anthony was my number one pick as a head coach, right? I love him as far as the things he does for the organization, the football team," Zimmer said.
"It's just really going to depend on where the numbers go and really the same thing with Sheldon."
PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 3/1/19
Mike Zimmer considers hiring Vikings kicking coach
By Ben Goessling
INDIANAPOLIS – In search of an answer for the Vikings’ pernicious kicking problems, Mike Zimmer revealed Thursday he’s thinking about an unorthodox solution.
The Vikings coach said at the NFL scouting combine he’s been thinking about adding a kicking coach to the team’s staff, someone who could work directly with the Vikings’ specialists and lend more focused assistance to the unique challenges of the position.
Zimmer said he’d talked with Ravens coach John Harbaugh — himself a former special teams coordinator who has a specialists coach on his staff — about the idea, and new Vikings special teams coordinator Marwan Maalouf is open to the idea.
“[It’s] the technique and seeing a little flaw here or a little flaw there,” Zimmer said. “As you know, we’ve struggled finding the kicker or consistency at that position, especially, and I go back and I think about the three kicks [that Daniel Carlson missed] in Green Bay and when Blair Walsh missed that 27-yarder and how much that affected the organization.
“If we get in the playoffs [instead of missing them by a half-game in 2018], who knows? If we win that first playoff game [against] Seattle [after the 2015 season], who knows? Those are the kind of things that enter my mind if we’re trying to get to the next level.”
Zimmer said many of the candidates he’s considered are former kickers, and he could try to have someone in place by organized team activities in May. The Vikings have decisions to make on both of their specialists — kicker Dan Bailey is an unrestricted free agent, while punter Matt Wile is an exclusive-rights free agent — but Zimmer said he wouldn’t plan to have a specialists coach in place to help with those decisions in the coming weeks.
He even mentioned the idea of having someone other than the punter — such as wide receiver Adam Thielen, safety Harrison Smith or a backup quarterback — hold for field goals, to ensure a greater level of consistency handling the ball.
“A lot of these guys have done it in high school. I’m sure they done it a little bit in college. That part is important for the kicker, as well,” Zimmer said. “If you’ve got a holder that’s not real good, he messes up the kicker, too. That’s a part I probably took for granted a little bit maybe — how hard is it to do this? But I guess it’s harder than I thought.”
‘I never wanted to go’
Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman told reporters on Wednesday the team had picked up an option in Zimmer’s deal that keeps the coach under contract through the 2020 season. On Thursday, Zimmer said he’s never wanted to be anywhere other than Minnesota.
“I mean, first of all, I love this football team,” he said. “I’ve given them almost two eyes now. The organization, the owners, working with this group, the fans have been outstanding. I never wanted to go anywhere.
“I’ll be here for 10 more years. I don’t care. I love this situation that we’re in. I never wanted to go anywhere. It was just one of those things. I love it here and I hope I can stay here for eight more years. Whatever. Until they kick me out, I guess.”
PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 3/1/19
Vikings’ Mike Zimmer interested in hiring ‘a true kicking coach’
By Dane Mizutani
Mike Zimmer would be the first to admit that he’s especially hard on kickers.
And who could blame him?
In his five years in the Twin Cities, the Vikings coach has seen Blair Walsh yank a potential game-winning chip-shot field goal attempt wide left in the playoffs, Kai Forbath forget how to make extra points for a prolonged stretch, and Daniel Carlson completely melt down in overtime.
Those missed kicks, Zimmer admitted, have made him “a little bit more jumpy” than he should be when it comes to evaluating future kickers.
“Those are the kind of things that enter my mind if we’re trying to get to the next level,” Zimmer said Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “It’s like everything else. You might overreact or underreact. You’ve got to try to figure it out the right way.”
To alleviate some of the stress, Zimmer is trying to think differently. While the team recently hired Marwan Maalouf as the new special-teams coordinator, Zimmer is considering bringing in another coach to work specifically with the team’s kicker.
“You know, these golfers have a swing coach, and everybody’s got coaches now to do these things,” Zimmer said. “I’ve been thinking really, really hard about trying to find a true kicking coach where that’s all he really does.
“Most of them are former kickers. We’ll have to see if I can find the right one. That guy has to fit in with the rest of the coaching staff, as well.”
It sounds like a conversation with Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh might have been the thing that persuaded Zimmer to consider this as a viable option. After all, the Ravens have the luxury of rostering Justin Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history.
“I’m learning a lot more about it,” Zimmer said. “I was talking to John Harbaugh today about how important the holder is. That part about the consistency with the snapper and the holder and the kicker. Quite honestly, I’m not opposed to having Adam Thielen or the backup quarterback or Harrison (Smith) or anybody do it. That’s a part I probably took for granted a little bit.”
While everything should play itself out over the next few months, Zimmer doesn’t appear to have a timetable on when he wants to make the potential hire.
“I’ve been so involved with all this other (stuff),” Zimmer said. “I don’t think that’s a major hurry right now. I think it’ll be more important closer to phase one, two, three of OTAs.” PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 3/1/19
Vikings’ Mike Zimmer wants to keep Anthony Barr, Sheldon Richardson. But can he?
By Dane Mizutani
In a perfect world, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer wants both free agent linebacker Anthony Barr and free agent defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson back next season.
If only it were that simple.
“We’d love to have them both back,” Zimmer said Thursday morning before posing a rhetorical question that surely has been on the mind of general manager Rick Spielman. “Can we afford them? If we can afford them, we’re going to bring them back. If we can’t afford them, we’re going to have to move on, unfortunately.”
As for whether the Vikings can afford both players, that should play itself out over the next month or so.
While the Vikings currently have less than $6 million of cap space, according to Spotrac, there are ways to free up some money by cutting someone like, say, safety Andrew Sendejo, who carries a $5.5 million cap hit next season and can be released for nothing.
If the Vikings want to retain the rights to Barr and Richardson, they almost certainly will have to give both players raises. Barr made about $12.3 million last season, while Richardson made $8 million.
Addressing beat writers the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Zimmer spoke highly of Barr, whom he made the No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.
“He was my No. 1 as a head coach, right?” Zimmer said. ” I love him as far as the things he does for the organization, the football team. It’s just really going to depend on where the numbers go. If he gets paid $18 million (per season), it probably ain’t going to happen. If it’s a reasonable deal, I think he would love to be here, too.”
There’s reason to believe someone will throw big money at Barr this offseason. He has 13.5 sacks in five seasons with the Vikings, while spending most of his time at outside linebacker. There’s belief that he might be looking for a new role in which he can rush the passer with more regularity.
Adding to the intrigue, ESPN’s Adam Schefter told KFAN in an on-air interview that Barr actually wanted out last offseason, and that the Vikings actively shopped him before deciding to keep him.
“I would be really surprised if he’s back,” Schefter told KFAN. “I go back to last year at this time. My understanding was that he preferred to be on the West Coast. My understanding was that they would be open and receptive to listening to offers for him. Nothing ever materialized. I was waiting for him to be traded actually before the draft (and) it didn’t happen.”
As for Richardson, while he won’t cost nearly as much as Barr, he should still carry a hefty price tag. He performed well last season, recording 4.5 sacks from the three-technique spot.
Another intriguing storyline this offseason is what the Vikings plan to do with Everson Griffen. He carries a $11.7 million cap hit next season.
If the Vikings don’t want to pay Griffen that, they can cut him before March 15, and only have to pay a little more than $1 million in dead cap, or approach him about potentially restructuring his contract.
“I let Rick and Rob (Brzezinski) handle all that,” Zimmer said “We just talk about rank your players where they are. We talk about all those circumstances, but I don’t think that’s going to be a situation.” PUBLICATION: VIKING Update DATE: 3/1/19
After struggles, Zimmer searching for ‘true kickers coach’
By Tim Yotter
For the first time in his head coaching career, Mike Zimmer is considering adding a coach to his staff that strictly concentrates on kicking.
The Minnesota Vikings head coach made that announcement at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis Thursday and expanded on it in a side session with local beat writers. It’s an idea he hadn’t considered in the past but is now after talking with Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, a former special teams coach.
“You know, I’ve thought about that an awful lot, with the kicking situation we’ve had for the five years that I’ve been there,” Zimmer said. “I think part of it is that we allow them, especially a young guy, to make some mistakes, make sure they understand that we’re behind them. But I also have really been thinking hard about trying to get someone – you know, these golfers have a swing coach, and everybody’s got coaches now to do these things – and so I’ve been thinking really, really hard about trying to find a true kicker’s coach, where that’s all he really does.”
Zimmer said it would have to be the right guy, not just any kicking coach. The Vikings’ new special teams coordinator, Marwan Maalouf, is on board with the idea, Zimmer said.
Zimmer and the Vikings have had more than their fair share of kicking problems, from Blair Walsh’s missed 27-yard field in Zimmer’s first playoff game as a head coach that cost the Vikings a wild card win against the Seahawks following the 2015 regular season to rookie Daniel Carlson’s struggles to start the 2018 season to everything in between. Those past experiences can cause impatience with new kickers, Zimmer indicated.
“You sit there and you think about, ‘We missed the 27-yard field goal against Seattle in the playoffs,’ and then this happens, and you bring a guy in and he misses extra points,” Zimmer said. “Then maybe you’re a little bit more jumpy than maybe you should be, I think. It’s like everything else. You might overreact or underreact, and you’ve got to try to figure it out the right way.”
When Zimmer took the Vikings job in 2014, he inherited former fifth-round pick Blair Walsh, who had a record-setting rookie season and struggled after that, especially after his playoff miss. When Zimmer had enough during the 2016 season, the Vikings cut Walsh and turned to Kai Forbath, who went 15-for-15 in 2016 but was only 11-for-14 on extra points.
Forbath was 32-for-38 in 2017 but missed five of his 39 extra-point attempts. Last year, the Vikings drafted Daniel Carlson in the fifth round, but when he went 1-for-4 to start the season and missed three crucial kicks against the Packers in his second game, which ended in a tie when Carlson missed a kick to end overtime, he was gone and veteran Dan Bailey was signed.
Zimmer would lean on the kicking coach for technique more than psychological counseling for kickers.
“The technique and seeing a little flaw here or a little flaw there. As you know, we’ve struggled finding the kicker or with consistency at that position, especially, and I go back and I think about the three kicks in Green Bay and when Blair Walsh missed that 27-yarder and how much that affected the organization,” he said. “If we get in the playoffs, who knows? If we win that first playoff game in Seattle, who knows? Those are the kind of things that enter my mind if we’re trying to get to the next level.”
During Zimmer’s five years with the Vikings, his kickers have made 80.6 percent of their field goals, including 64.5 percent from 50 yards or beyond, and made only 90.3 percent of their extra points.
Since 2014, the league-wide field goal percentage has been between 84 and 85 percent while the extra point percentage has been above 93 percent.
“I’m learning a lot more about it. I was talking to John Harbaugh today about how important the holder is. That part about the consistency with the snapper and the holder and the kicker,” Zimmer said. “Quite honestly, I’m not opposed to having Adam Thielen or the backup quarterback or Harrison [Smith] or anybody do it. A lot of these guys have done it in high school. I’m sure they’ve done it a little bit in college. That part is important for the kicker, as well. If you’ve got a holder that’s not real good, he messes up the kicker, too. That’s a part I probably took for granted a little bit maybe – how hard is it to do this? But I guess it’s harder than I thought.”
Zimmer said the kicking coach won’t make the decision on who is kicking for the Vikings next season – Bailey is a free agent – and Zimmer has no deadline for making a coaching decision, saying he hopes to have one by the time offseason practices start in May.
He would only make the hire if he can find “the right guy.”
“I’m not trying to lay a lot of this on the kicker – but we talk about scoring points and we’ve played pretty good defense over the five years. But if we had really … that guy [the kicker] wins games for you because the type of games we’ve been playing,” Zimmer said. “So that kicker is important to get the right one and help him.” PUBLICATION: VIKING Update DATE: 3/1/19
Vikings surprise: The high-end linemen they haven’t interviewed
By Tim Yotter
The Minnesota Vikings predictably interviewed numerous offensive linemen at the NFL Scouting Combine – we’ll have many more of those analyses in the coming days and weeks – but the surprise of Thursday, when offensive linemen appeared before the media, was the player that hasn’t interviewed with Minnesota.
Offensive lineman Jonah Williams, who is a popular pick for the Vikings with the 18th selection in mock drafts, said he hasn’t interviewed with Minnesota, despite numerous other linemen saying they had.
Williams could play tackle or guard in the NFL, and that sort of versatility, combined with the Vikings’ needs on the offensive line, is what intrigues many about his potential to be Minnesota’s first-round selection.
“I’ll play wherever a team wants me to play. I was the best offensive tackle in college football, so I know I can play at the next level. But I’m a competitor,” Williams said. “I want to be on the field. I’ll play wherever a team wants me to play.”
Williams sounded defensive when asked about his measurements that indicated his arms were on the smaller side for a tackle – 33-5/8 inches compared to the top measurement (Martez Ivey) at 36¼.
“I think that’s a small portion of what it takes to be a tackle at the next level. I think if you look at a lot of the really successful tackles over the past 10 years – Joe Thomas, Joe Staley, Jake Matthews, Jason Peters, La’ell Collins, Riley Reiff, Ryan Ramczyk – just a couple guys off the top of my head that have shorter arms than me – I don’t think that’s necessarily a huge deal,” Williams said. “I’m proud of the way I play. My approach to the game makes me a great player. So, if my fingers were an 1/8 of an inch longer, I might be good enough? I think the way that I play is what defines me as a football player.”
Williams is a film junkie, relying on his study habits to make him better than the defensive end he is facing on a week- to-week in-season basis, and he encouraged anyone that has concerns – founded or otherwise – to watch the film on him and see he can play.
“Watch the film. I don’t have to come up here and be defensive and tell everyone they’re wrong. Everyone’s entitled to have their own opinion. If your opinion is that there’s a certain benchmark that you have to pass to be a tackle, that’s your opinion and I’m not going to change that and my arm’s not going to grow longer,” he said, adding later to another reporter: “… It’s extremely closed-minded to set an arbitrary threshold of you can’t do something if you’re this length. If your arms were that much longer, you’d be able to reach the keyboard a little bit better, but I think you’d be a great writer with whatever length your arms are.”
Williams is considered one of the top tackles in the draft this year, but former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah, who has the Vikings taking Williams at No. 18, believes he can be a perennial Pro Bowl guard.
Williams’ arm length is one of the very few knocks on his potential.
At 6-foot-4½ and 302 pounds, he has requisite size, especially for a guard, and his athleticism is what should stand out when tested for that on Friday in the speed and agility drills. Up until the Scouting Combine, he was credited with a 5.02-second 40-yard dash, a very solid number for an offensive lineman and something he will have the opportunity to back up on Friday.
“I think my greatest strength is athleticism, preparation and technique. Those are kind of the cornerstones of what I base my game off of,” he said. “I think I’m an extremely athletic player. I try to out-prepare everyone. I want to watch more film than everyone on the defense combined. I want to know what each player does before they do it. I want to know what their best moves are and what percentage they win on those moves, how I can combat those moves. If I don’t know how, I’ll reach out to resources. I’ve had great coaches that I’ve encountered in college and some current NFL players, guys I’m trying to emulate. I’ll study Joe Thomas, see how he handles a type of rush.”
Even before the Scouting Combine, Williams was known as a film junkie and a dedicated practice player that had the resolve to improve with every opportunity that presented itself on the field – playing field or practice field.
“I know I can outwork and outprepare anyone. That’s the way I was successful in college. That’s the way I’ll be successful in the NFL,” he said.
But then admitted that over-analysis can lead to …
“I would say the double-edge sword of that is I over-analyze things sometimes, kind of over-think things, play a little hesitantly,” he said. “So that’s something I’ve really been working on this past season – make your reads, read the defensive coverages, safety movement, defensive alignment, weight placement, and as soon as the ball snaps, cut it loose and try to take someone’s head off.”
He said he doesn’t have many hobbies, labeling football as “my life” and “my passion.”
“I’m extremely competitive. I want to be the best in everything that I do,” he said.
Some analysts compare Williams to Joe Thomas, while admitting he may not be on the same level, while others offer the comparison to Zack Martin of the Cowboys. Either way, he is a high-end prospect that came out after his junior year, which made it surprising that the Vikings hadn’t interviewed him yet. PUBLICATION: VIKING Update DATE: 3/1/19
With Kubiak and Cousins, it’s less than six degrees of Shanahan
By Tim Yotter
The connections between Kirk Cousins and Gary Kubiak are much closer than the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon games that postulates everyone is connected by six degrees of separation or less. In the Kubiak/Cousins discussion, it’s much less.
Although Kubiak has never coached Cousins, there is no doubt that one of the reasons the Minnesota Vikings were so aggressive in pursuing Kubiak as an offensive adviser for coordinator Kevin Stefanski is that Kubiak and Cousins were cut from the same offense.
Kubiak learned under Mike Shanahan in Denver. Kyle Shanahan, in addition to learning from his father Mike, got his first NFL position coaching job and coordinator experience under Kubiak with the Houston Texans from 2006-09. When Kyle Shanahan left the Texans in 2009, he became the offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins, who drafted Kirk Cousins in the fourth round of the 2012 draft. And now the Shanahan/Kubiak offense is reuniting with Cousins in Minnesota.
“It’s definitely going to help Kirk. The system, the terminology, the things he’s done really well with the Shanahans, with Kyle and coach [Mike] Shanahan, it’s definitely going to help,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said on Thursday. “As far as Kirk … I think he had a good year [in 2018]. I think because he signed the big contract, everybody’s on his rear end about that and we didn’t win enough games. Same with me, I guess.”
Zimmer believes many of his free agents have flourished in their second seasons in Minnesota. For some, that’s true. For others, it’s not. But because Cousins a quarterback and because the Vikings shelled out an average of $28 million guaranteed per season for him, they are doing everything they can to try to increase his effectiveness.
The Kubiak hire and his influence in shaping the offense are expected to help Cousins. According to general manager Rick Spielman, everyone was on board with bringing in Kubiak, including offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski.
“It’s a big factor because, like I said, we’ve got a quarterback that we think is a very good quarterback, but to put him into that system that he’s played in his entire career is why we paid him the money we did. I don’t think anyone in the building has any doubt that he’s going to have an outstanding season next year.”
Zimmer even indicated that Kubiak was interested in bringing Stefanski to Denver to mentor if he had stayed there.
For Cousins, the familiarity with the scheme and concepts being influenced by Kubiak should help. For other offensive players who will be getting into yet another scheme, one that Zimmer said is “very similar” to what Cousins ran in Washington, Zimmer downplayed any negative effect there.
“Eh, that happens all the time. A lot of these guys have been in this system. Some of the things are the same,” Zimmer said. “Some of the pass protection things are similar, terminology wise, but instead of saying, ‘34’ we say ‘14,’ you know? How hard is that? For some of these guys, it’s nothing.”
As the Vikings new offense has been forming, it’s been Stefanski in one chair, Kubiak in another, Zimmer watching over it all and other offensive coaches in the room.
Spielman said Kubiak had other options when he decided to leave Denver, but the Vikings were “very aggressive” in pursuing him. And Kubiak had interest in mentoring Stefanski and influencing Cousins and the scheme he knows.
“I think the way he feels with the quarterback we have in place and the quarterback playing in the scheme that we’re probably going to evolve to to highlight what Kirk does best was one of the attractions,” Spielman said.
Spielman said he believes Stefanski will be an “all-star” coach in the NFL, yet has “no ego.” He also said Stefanski was the “biggest flag-waver” for Kubiak when the opportunity to hire him arose.
“Whatever resources we can use, whatever areas of expertise we have all these people in, let’s all do it together because ultimately we want to win,” Spielman said. “When you can get a group of people together and a culture – and that starts with Coach Zimmer, the culture that we have – that gives you the best chance to win, in my opinion.”
Kubiak’s Super Bowl rings as a player and as a coach were attractive to the Vikings, but the familiarity that Cousins has with the system was a driving factor in the hire. And Kubiak’s influence won’t end there.
As a senior personnel adviser for the Broncos the last two seasons, he has been scouting a lot of the NFL prospects that the Vikings will consider in this year’s draft. Ultimately, that will help the Vikings decide what kind of player can best fit into the scheme and help protect Cousins, among other things.
“As we start making additions to this roster, what physical traits or what are you going to require that player to do to be effective in this scheme? I think what gets lost in the shuffle a little bit is a player – let’s take offensive line, for example – a player may be very functional in a gap scheme where he’s going straight ahead and moving people forward, but if we’re evolving to an outside zone scheme or different, well that’s going to be a different type of skill set or physical trait we’re looking at on the offensive line,” Spielman said.
“It always goes hand-in-hand from a schematic standpoint. Talking with Coach Zim, Coach Stefanski and Gary Kubiak as they put this offense together, what exactly are we looking for? I think we’ve got everybody on the same page over the last month.”
When the players return for offseason practices, most of them will be learning a new offensive scheme. For Cousins, however, the Vikings aimed to make his second season as familiar as possible with his and Kubiak’s one degree of separation from the Shanahans.
PUBLICATION: Skor North DATE: 3/1/19
Zulgad: Offensive negligence: Vikings coordinated their own failure in 2018
By Judd Zulgad
Yes, the Vikings made a wise decision by hiring Gary Kubiak to take over as head coach of their offense — make no mistake, that’s what he will be doing — but one has to wonder why the you-know-what this type of move didn’t happen a year ago?
General manager Rick Spielman’s comments on Wednesday from the NFL Scouting Combine might have been meant to look forward, but they also served as an indication of just how little thought was given to what would make the Vikings’ offense a success in what turned out to be a massively disappointing 8-7-1 season in 2018.
A story by Chad Graff of The Athletic (subscription) was especially eye-opening when it came to the missteps. Spielman compared Cousins’ transition to John DeFilippo’s offense to what Brett Favre went through in 2008 when Favre moved from the familiarity of the West Coast system run in Green Bay to his one season in a new scheme with the New York Jets. Favre then rebounded in a big way the next season when he returned to the West Coast system in Minnesota.
Of course, Favre’s issues in New York really were caused by an injury his suffered during the season, but let’s play along with what Spielman is saying here. His point being that Cousins will find more success with the Vikings in 2019 because he’s being put in a system with which he’s more familiar.
“When (Kubiak) decided to get back into coaching, we were very aggressive to jump on that opportunity,” Spielman told reporters. “I think he had maybe other options out there. I don’t want to speak for him, but I think the way he feels with the quarterback we have in place and the quarterback playing in the scheme that we’re probably going to evolve to, it’ll highlight what Kirk does best.”
So, here’s the logical question: Why did it take a year for the Vikings to put Cousins into a system that highlights what he does best? Especially, since we are talking about a quarterback who isn’t close to having the skills that a guy like Favre did.
The man was signed to a three-year, $84 million contract because the Vikings felt he was the best quarterback available to them, but that never meant he was capable of adjusting to a new offense and he’s certainly not worth the contract he received. He got that contract because the Vikings wanted to upgrade from Case Keenum.
The Vikings had done their due diligence on Cousins and watched all of his throws with Washington, so they knew what his strengths and weaknesses were going to be. There should have been no surprises. He had been a starter for three seasons in Washington and his greatest success came under Sean McVay, a Mike Shanahan disciple. Kubiak spent a decade in Denver coaching under Shanahan and, well, you get it.
“It’s definitely going to help Kirk,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Thursday. “The system, the terminology, the things he’s done really well with the Shanahans…that definitely is going to help.”
It’s at this point, that some Purple diehards will point out that DeFillippo was hired in February 2018, or about a month before Cousins was signed as a free agent. Guess what? I don’t care and you shouldn’t either. The Vikings knew in early February of last year that they were going to be all-in on the Cousins’ sweepstakes and should have been planning accordingly.
The coordinator the Vikings hired last February should not only have known how to get the most from Cousins, but also what scheme to run around him so that everyone, including the offensive line, would be in place to make the quarterback look as good as possible. The Cousins apologists will point to the fact that statistically he had a good season — he passed for 4,298 yards and 30 touchdowns — but Spielman is now admitting that Cousins wasn’t put in the best spot possible for the Vikings to be successful.
“To put (Cousins) into that system that he’s played in his entire career is why we paid him the money we did,” Spielman said. “I don’t think anyone in the building has any doubt that he’s going to have an outstanding season next year.”
But what about the $28 million the Vikings spent on Cousins last season? Are we supposed to just give the Vikings a mulligan on that one?
The problem is the wheels for an outstanding season — and that means a season in which a team coming off a 13-3 finish makes a deep playoff run — should have been put in motion at this time a year ago. Instead, the Vikings became infatuated with the quarterbacks coach from the team that embarrassed them in the NFC title game and gave little thought to how his system might work with the quarterback they were about to pursue.
Now, a year later, with expectations diminished, the Vikings are going to try to fix that. Spielman sounds satisfied, as if it’s OK that a year was wasted. Vikings ownership, and fans, should be livid. PUBLICATION: The Athletic DATE: 3/1/19
Mike Zimmer opens up: Highlights from the Vikings coach’s talk at the combine
By Chad Graff
INDIANAPOLIS — With a sixth season at the helm of the Vikings on the horizon, Mike Zimmer has taken time to identify all that he feels has gone both well and poorly in his first five years as a head coach.
He’s proud of the way his defense has remained among the best in the league year after year and confident it’ll stay that way. He’s steadfast in his belief that the offense will improve next season with Gary Kubiak helping guide Kirk Cousins in the quarterback’s second season with the Vikings. But with 83 regular-season and playoff games under his belt, Zimmer still can’t quite figure out his rotten luck with kickers, even if it predates him in Minnesota.
With all that needs to be addressed after an 8-7-1 season, Zimmer still finds himself often thinking about what could have been if rookie kicker Daniel Carlson didn’t miss three field goals during a tie in Green Bay Week 2. And three years later, he still thinks about how the trajectory of his team may have changed had Blair Walsh not pulled a certain 27-yard attempt against the Seahawks wide left.
“I think about … how much that affected the organization,” Zimmer said from one of the few quiet parts of the convention center here that houses the NFL scouting combine. “If we get in the playoffs (last season), who knows. If we win that first playoff game against Seattle, who knows. Those are the kind of things that enter my mind if we’re trying to get to the next level.”
So as he’s analyzed all that went wrong last season, Zimmer has arrived on a new idea, one that he ran by Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh Thursday morning. What if, Zimmer thought, we follow the Ravens and become the second NFL team to hire a specialized assistant coach who works only with the team’s kickers? The assistant wouldn’t help decide which kicker to hire or work on kickoffs or punts, duties that would fall on new special teams coordinator Marwan Maalouf.
“The technique and seeing a little flaw here or a little flaw there,” Zimmer said describing what he’d want from the not-yet-finalized position. “As you know, we’ve struggled finding the kicker, or with consistency at that position especially.”
Certainly, Zimmer isn’t without fault for added pressure placed on his kickers. After Carlson missed a field goal in a preseason game in August, Zimmer decided to go for two on the team’s next touchdown to send a message to the rookie. “Just let him know that if he’s going to miss them, I’m going to go for two,” Zimmer said after that exhibition game. After cutting Carlson following the tie in Green Bay, Zimmer explained the move by saying, “Did you see the game?”
Daniel Carlson Fifth-round pick Daniel Carlson lasted all of two games in Minnesota. It’s part of why Mike Zimmer is considering adding a specialty coach for the position. (Jeff Hanisch / USA Today) He’s analyzed his role, too, admitting that he can be a bit sensitive to kicking woes after watching his share of failed attempts.
“You sit there and you think about, ‘We missed the 27-yard field goal against Seattle in the playoffs,’ and then this happens, and you bring a guy in and he misses extra points. Then maybe you’re a little bit more jumpy than maybe you should be, I think,” Zimmer said. “It’s like everything else. You might overreact or underreact, and you’ve got to try to figure it out the right way. … I think part of it is that we (should) allow them — especially a young guy — to make some mistakes, make sure they understand that we’re behind them. But I also have really been thinking hard about trying to get someone (to coach them). You know, these golfers have a swing coach, and everybody’s got coaches now to do these things, and so I’ve been thinking really, really hard about trying to find a true kicker’s coach, where that’s all he really does.”
As Zimmer has done more research on the kicking game in the weeks since the Vikings’ season ended without a playoff berth, he said he’s realized the importance of having a good holder for the kicks. Like all NFL teams, the Vikings used their punter to hold kicks last season. But punter Matt Wile had little experience in holding for kicks prior to joining the Vikings.
“I’m learning a lot more about it,” Zimmer said. “I was talking to John Harbaugh today about how important the holder is. That part about the consistency with the snapper and the holder and the kicker. Quite honestly, I’m not opposed to having Adam Thielen or the backup quarterback or Harrison (Smith) or anybody do it. A lot of these guys have done it in high school. I’m sure they’ve done it a little bit in college. That part is important for the kicker, as well. If you’ve got a holder that’s not real good, he messes up the kicker, too. That’s a part I probably took for granted a little bit maybe. (I used to think) how hard is it to do this? But I guess it’s harder than I thought.”
Free agency looms Anthony Barr was the first player Zimmer drafted as head coach of the Vikings and his affinity for the linebacker is obvious. But with two weeks remaining until Barr officially becomes a free agent, it seems there’s a growing chance Barr could head elsewhere.
“If Barr gets paid $18 million, it probably ain’t going to happen, you know?” Zimmer said of the Vikings re-signing the soon-to-be 27-year-old. “But if it’s a reasonable deal (it could), and I think Anthony would love to be here, too.”
Barr is the team’s top pending free agent and they have the option of placing the franchise tag on him, though that seems unlikely. Defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson is the team’s other major pending free agent.
“With him, it’s the same with Anthony Barr, we’d love to have them both back,” Zimmer said. “The question is: Where’s the market going to go? Can we afford them? If we can afford them, we’re going to bring them back. If we can’t afford them, we’re going to have to move on, unfortunately.”
‘Romantic’ meetings Zimmer has sat in all the offensive meetings since Kubiak was added to the fold along with three of his close associates.
“It’s almost, like, romantic for me — there’s a sound bite for you — that I can sit there and hear about Bill Walsh and that offense, and how it evolved to Mike Shanahan, and so on and so forth,” Zimmer said. “For me as a football guy, all those things are just outstanding: how this came about, how that came about, how this play worked in this particular situation, and the way they’re putting this all together. I couldn’t be any happier with the way that situation’s been going.”
Zimmer revealed that general manager Rick Spielman put together a list of available offensive assistant coaches that could join their staff — “and (Kubiak) was No. 1,” Zimmer said.
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See Minnesota Vikings's other Tweets Kubiak is working with offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski on the team’s 2019 playbook, which Zimmer said will have “very similar” terminology to what Cousins used in Washington.
Cousins, for what it’s worth, is the only Vikings player Zimmer said he’s spoken with this offseason. He said part of the focus entering next season will be on limiting turnovers. Cousins threw 10 interceptions last season and his seven lost fumbles were the most in the NFL.
“I think the big thing is we turned the ball over a little bit too much early,” Zimmer said. “If we look at a year ago we were a plus-5 (in turnover differential) and this year we were 0. … I do think when he doesn’t have to drop back 46 times it’s going to help.”
Griffen likely back Even though Everson Griffen’s $10.9-million salary for next season becomes guaranteed in two weeks, Zimmer seemed to indicate that the Vikings won’t cut the veteran defensive end or ask him to re-negotiate his contract. “I don’t think so,” Zimmer said when asked whether the Vikings have a decision to make on Griffen’s future.
One year after recording a career-high 13 sacks, Griffen, 31, missed five games last season as he spent time away from the team to deal with mental health issues.
“I think missing five weeks hurt him a little bit,” Zimmer said. “It took him a little while to come back. You can still see the explosiveness and the power and playing the technique and things like that. It just maybe took him a little while. But he played good.”
Offensive line issues Zimmer conceded that his offensive line probably has “to get a little bit better” but said he views the improvements necessary there as “a two-fold situation.”
“One of the things I like about these (offensive coaches) when I’m sitting in that room is they’re talking about being able to protect a guy a little bit more if he’s on a better player this week,” Zimmer said, offering an example of how better coaching could help the line. “Just how the scheme can help a player be better. And I believe that’s true at every position really.”
The Vikings will also look to improve their line in free agency and the draft. They were chided a year ago when they chose cornerback Mike Hughes in the first round of the draft rather than selecting an offensive lineman. But Zimmer pushed back on that notion Thursday.
“Everybody went last year, ‘You didn’t take an offensive lineman in the first round,’ but the offensive lineman who was there when we were going to pick wasn’t a fit for us,” Zimmer said. “It wasn’t what we were trying to do. So everybody gets upset if we don’t take this position in this round. Well, if that guy doesn’t fit what we do, why pick him? So that’s kind of the give and take on the draft and how that goes. I mean, you can move up probably and get the exact player that you want, but the capital that you have to give up is pretty steep, especially when you’re moving in the first round.”
PUBLICATION: ESPN DATE: 3/1/19
GM: Vikings' shortcomings in 2018 'not all on Kirk Cousins'
By Courtney Cronin
INDIANAPOLIS -- Kirk Cousins' 2018 season was record-setting from a statistical standpoint. The Minnesota Vikings signal-caller set an NFL high for completion percentage (70.13) among QBs who have thrown for more than 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions in a season.
But those numbers fail to tell the full story of a disappointing outcome for a loaded roster with Super Bowl expectations that stumbled to an 8-7-1 finish while missing the playoffs.
The fully guaranteed $84 million contract Cousins signed was the crown jewel of the 2018 free-agent quarterback market and opened him up to a new level of scrutiny.
But the burden of the lost season should not solely rest on Cousins’ shoulders, according to Vikings general manager Rick Spielman.
"Kirk has a position, and the contract is going to get a lot of blame, but the blame has to be spread throughout," Spielman said Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine.
"I think Kirk, if you look at it from a stats standpoint, he threw for over 4,000 yards and had 30 touchdowns. ... We had two 1,000-yard receivers (Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs). We had Pro Bowlers. All that doesn't mean anything. All that comes down to is how we win and lose football games. If he throws for 1 yard and we get into the playoffs, that's all that matters. We had to go back and peel all the different layers off.
"Coach [Mike] Zimmer [says], 'I don't care what your stats are. It's always going to come down to winning and losing ballgames.' That's the most important thing. You know, a lot of times when guys come into a new system and have a new coordinator, especially at that position, I think he did a very good job from a statistical standpoint. We just didn't win enough games. And that's not all on Kirk Cousins, either. There's a lot of other reasons that we didn't win games."
Kirk Cousins put up some impressive numbers in 2018, but the Vikings suffered through a disappointing 8-7-1 season. Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire As the Vikings continue to sort through what went wrong, Spielman expressed a level of excitement for the direction the franchise is headed -- notably, what's in store for Cousins in Year 2 with the Vikings.
"... With my history with UFAs, they usually start clicking pretty good going into the second year," Spielman said. "And if you put them in a system that they're pretty familiar with, it makes that transition that much easier. I can just give an example of back with Brett Favre, when he ran the same system in Green Bay forever, and then he went to New York that year, a totally different system, and probably didn't have his most productive year as a pro. Then he ended up coming back to us and got back into a system that he was familiar with, and it made a huge difference. Those are the things you've got to look at."
The Vikings made a slew of additions to their offensive staff over the past two months, including removing the "interim" from Kevin Stefanski’s title as offensive coordinator and hiring Gary Kubiak as assistant head coach/offensive adviser.
Though Spielman made clear that Stefanski is in charge of the offensive meeting rooms, Kubiak was brought in to impart his wisdom on Minnesota’s philosophy while guiding a young offensive coordinator. The Super Bowl-winning coach’s history of working with both Mike Shanahan and his son, Kyle Shanahan, who coached Cousins in Washington, played no small role in the Vikings aggressively pursuing Kubiak once he decided to get back into coaching this offseason.
2019 NFL DRAFT
When: April 25-27 Where: Nashville, Tennessee How to watch: ABC/ESPN/ESPN App
"It's a big factor because, like I said, we've got a quarterback that we think is a very good quarterback, but to put him into that system that he's played in his entire career is why we paid him the money we did," Spielman said. "I don't think anyone in the building has any doubt that he's going to have an outstanding season next year.
"So, I think going back to an offense that he is very familiar with and working under that Shanahan/Kubiak tree and, really, him playing better. But everybody has to play better. We all have to do better at our jobs. But him highlighting what he does well, but that’s any player -- do the things that they do well. And that’s what I talked about earlier, is you have your schemes, but adjust some of the things in your schemes so you put your players in the best position to have enough success."
This week, the Vikings will get their first look at the crop of draft-eligible talent during workouts in Indianapolis. Though the outside perception is undoubtedly on improving the pieces around Cousins, particularly an offensive line that gave up a league-high 227 total pressures, Spielman noted that the new hires were brought in not only to aid Cousins but to help grow a unit that struggled in 2018.
"We’ll address everything in free agency and the draft," Spielman said. "But since that’s [the offensive line] the bone of contention with everybody, there’s some things not only from maybe improving the personnel up front but also from a schematic standpoint, are there things that we can do to maybe help the offensive line be more efficient, as well. It goes hand in hand -- the coaching, the scheme, can we do things differently to maybe help them, but also improving the personnel."
PUBLICATION: ESPN DATE: 3/1/19
Vikings expecting big things from Cousins in '19
By Courtney Cronin
INDIANAPOLIS -- As a new league year begins, the Minnesota Vikings are expecting bigger things as they turn the page to their second season with quarterback Kirk Cousins.
While Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer noted the ups and downs with Cousins in 2018, the focus shifted away from what didn't go right to how big of a jump they expect him to make this season.
And that's not just an expectation either believe is specific to Cousins. Both Spielman and Zimmer discussed the transition period for players they've acquired through unrestricted free agency and how the first-year learning curve often sets up success for Year 2.
"I think he had a good year," Zimmer said. "I think because he signed the big contract, everybody's on his rear end about that and we didn't win enough games. Same with me, I guess. But the big thing is, every free agent I've had in my 25 or 26 years, however many years I've been coaching, they've always played better the second year.
"They have to learn where everything is. They have to find a place to live. You can go through our free agents: Captain Munnerlyn, when he was with us, his second year. Linval Joseph, second year. All these guys, typically, they don't know anybody, they don't know where their locker is, all this stuff. You throw that in with new terminology, whatever. I think he's going to play great."
Spielman, who removed the interim tag from offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski and hired Gary Kubiak as an assistant head coach/offensive adviser this offseason, concurred.
"Going into his second year and with my history with UFAs, they usually start clicking pretty good going into the second year," Spielman said. "And if you put them in a system that they're pretty familiar with, it makes that transition that much easier.
"I can just give an example with Brett Favre, when he ran the same system in Green Bay forever and then he went to New York that year, a totally different system, and probably didn't have his most productive year as a pro. Then he ended up coming back to us and got back into a system that he was familiar with and it made a huge difference."
Bolstering the coaching staff around Cousins this offseason entailed making adjustments within the offense, including the use of "very similar" terminology to what Cousins worked with in Washington.
By hiring Kubiak, the Vikings hope to create synergy with Cousins by pulling back on the quarterback's time with the Washington Redskins. Kubiak's time coaching under Mike Shanahan in Denver and working with Kyle Shanahan in Houston will give the Vikings a chance to build upon established familiarity of a system that Cousins knows well.
"First of all, it's definitely going to help Kirk," Zimmer said. "The system, the terminology, the things he's done really well with the Shanahans -- with Kyle and coach [Mike] Shanahan -- it's definitely going to help." INDIANAPOLIS -- Kirk Cousins' 2018 season was record-setting from a statistical standpoint. The Minnesota Vikings signal-caller set an NFL high for completion percentage (70.13) among QBs who have thrown for more than 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions in a season.
PUBLICATION: Sports Business Journal DATE: 3/1/19
Forum: Current and future leadership of the NFL
By Abraham Madkour
I left this year’s Super Bowl feeling positive about the NFL.
■ The league has a compelling narrative around its forthcoming 100th season.
■ Super Bowl host city Atlanta was extremely gracious and successful.
■ The community and social activism of both the players and the league is admirable.
■ Some insiders actually believe the next round of labor negotiations could be much more amicable than first thought.
■ A new CBA would lead into the next round of media talks, which are poised to bring the league huge increases.
■ And while many are understandably tired of them, the New England Patriots offer a fascinating story of sustained greatness.
In addition to these feel-good stories, I continue to focus on the current and future leadership of the NFL, starting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Goodell’s public profile and PR strategy remains an issue. If there was one topic that dominated Super Bowl week among team executives and league partners, it was the way Goodell responded to the controversial aftermath of the NFC Championship game. Most of the people I spoke with felt the messaging from the league office on the officiating was too reactive and late. People wanted to see Goodell publicly address the controversy immediately and not let the issue dominate conversations before Super Bowl LIII.
For years, Goodell’s playbook as the public face of the league was to take criticism and the tough questions for ownership. But this season, the league shifted its communications strategy and lowered Goodell’s public profile. The shift seemed to work. The league bounced back on several levels this year, Goodell had fewer reasons to address the media, and many believed that helped avoid any public missteps.
The problem is that this strategy rubs both ways. Unfortunately, Goodell was not in top form during his annual address in Atlanta, coming across as stiff and scripted as I can remember. His performance showed someone out of practice with taking questions in public. I’m sure some owners were fine with this, especially given that the questions were dominated by on-field issues rather than the off-the-field domestic violence and health concerns that have dogged the league for years.
After 12 years as commissioner, Goodell’s public persona still surprises me. He excels in certain settings. I’ve watched videos of Goodell surprising fans at bars with unannounced visits, where he pays for meals and shows an easygoing personality that endears people to him. The morning of Super Bowl Sunday, I watched him walk along Peachtree Street in Atlanta with a small group, going unnoticed before greeting a fan who acknowledged him with an easy smile and pat on the back. Compare that relaxed Roger Goodell with the one from his media avails. I hear the negative reaction toward him and it reinforces the vast disconnect he has with NFL fans that unfortunately seems irreparable.
Goodell’s contract is scheduled to go through the 2023 season. He has acknowledged that this will be his last deal, with his focus on a new CBA and media deals. But there is no clear succession plan at the NFL, one not nearly as defined as the successful passing of the torch from David Stern to Adam Silver or Bud Selig to Rob Manfred.
The biggest question is if owners look inward or go outside 345 Park Ave. If it’s inside, one person comes up in every conversation I have: chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp, who is well-regarded for his deep intellect, presence and speaking ability. Rolapp has significant support among ownership but he’s also known as a tough negotiator, which has likely ruffled some feathers. Other internal names mentioned are Chief Operating Officer Maryann Turcke, who is relatively new but getting good marks, and Chris Halpin, who is lauded for his skills as chief strategy and growth officer. Any internal candidate will need to display a delicate balance between showing interest in the job without actively campaigning for it.
The outside name I’ve heard more than once, in all seriousness, is Condoleezza Rice. She knows football and how to manage outsized egos and she would bring needed diversity to the top level of sports. But she’s a risk for owners, who could face major repercussions if they resist her. Another name worth considering could be longtime NFL executive and our Champion profiled in this issue, Kevin Warren. Finally, some expect owners to look to Silicon Valley, and there is a school of thought the job should be split, with a top executive focused on a long-term strategic vision and a CEO who runs the business.
The NFL had a nice year. But these are complicated and difficult decisions that the league will face in the future.
PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 3/1/19
Media Roundup: Highlights from OL Interviews
By Lindsey Young
Tackles, guards and centers are scheduled to hit the field at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday for timing and testing drills at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine.
Thursday, however, they started out with the bench press station and spoke with media members during podium sessions.
Ohio State center Michael Jordan – who told reporters he’s “terrible at basketball” – transitioned from guard to center at the beginning of the 2018 season and reached out to a former teammate for advice.
Vikings center Pat Elflein, who also made the move from guard to center while with the Buckeyes, spoke with Jordan as he prepares for the NFL Draft.
“I reached out to Pat and [Bengals center] Billy Price. Those guys were kind of like my mentors,” Jordan said. “I remember when I was a freshman, it was spring ball, I’d just graduated high school early. They threw me in at left guard, and I’m asking Pat every play, ‘What’s the play? What’s the play?’ But I definitely reached out to him about playing center [when I moved from guard at the start of the 2018 season], and he helped me out.”
Jordan credited Elflein with helping him improve on the game’s mental aspect.
“I think anything you do in football, or anything in life, it’s all mental. You can do anything you put your head to, but you’ve got to do it over and over and over to get those reps,” Jordan said.
Jordan was ranked by NFL Media’s Bucky Brooks as the fifth-best interior lineman in this year’s class of draft-eligible athletes. The Athletic’s Dan Brugler tabbed Jordan at No. 6 among guards/centers.
Here are some highlights from media sessions with offensive line prospects, including from a name likely familiar to Golden Gophers fans:
G Garrett Bradbury, N.C. State
Pre-combine draft rankings (interior linemen): Brooks 1, Brugler 2
On mentality as an offensive lineman: “I’m just a competitor. I like to get a little nasty sometimes. I just like to compete. I like to win. I like to run the football, protect the quarterback. So when we’re doing that, we’re having a blast on the sidelines, having a blast on the field.”
T Jawaan Taylor, Florida
Pre-combine draft rankings (tackles): Brooks 1, Brugler 4
On toughest opponent he’s faced in college: “This year was definitely Josh Allen of Kentucky. He’s a great player. And he brings a lot of things to the game.”
T Cody Ford, Oklahoma
Pre-combine draft rankings (tackles): Brooks 4, Brugler 2
On whether potential of sliding to guard: “It’s been pretty much, ‘Where can we play you at right away?’ It’s been an inside or outside [discussion]. They keep asking me — every team so far has asked me where I feel comfortable, and they’re like, ‘Well, what if we move you inside?’ So that’s pretty much just the talk I keep hearing.
“For me, the toughest transition with that might be just getting in a stance every play. You know, playing at Oklahoma I’m in a two-point every play, especially on third downs. Sometimes you may be in a three-point, but at Oklahoma we’re always in two. So I think the stance for me would be the biggest transition from [tackle to guard].”
Combine: Media Roundup View photos from the media sessions at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
T Jonah Williams, Alabama
Pre-combine draft rankings (tackles): Brooks 2, Brugler 1
On if he projects as a G or T in the NFL: “I’ll play wherever a team wants me to play. I was the best offensive tackle in college football, so I know I can play at the next level. But I’m a competitor. I want to be on the field. I’ll play wherever a team wants me to play.”
On self-scouting his skill set: “I think my greatest strength is athleticism, preparation and technique. Those are kind of the cornerstones of what I base my game off of. I think I’m an extremely athletic player. I try to out-prepare everyone. I want to watch more film than everyone on the defense combined. I want to know what each player does before they do it. I want to know what their best moves are and what percentage they win on those moves, how I can combat those moves. If I don’t know how, I’ll reach out to resources. I’ve had great coaches that I’ve encountered in college and some current NFL players, guys I’m trying to emulate.
“I’ll study Joe Thomas, see how he handles a type of rush. Weakness? I would say the double-edge sword of that is I over-analyze things sometimes, kind of over-think things, play a little hesitantly. So that’s something I’ve really been working on this past season – make your reads, read the defensive coverages, safety movement, defensive alignment, weight placement, and as soon as the ball snaps cut it loose and try to take someone’s head off.”
OL Dalton Risner, Kansas State
Pre-combine draft rankings: Not ranked by Brooks, Brugler 3 (among interior linemen)
On moving from center to tackle: “We had a guy named Cody White here [at Kansas State] who went to the Bears. He graduated at left tackle. We had a right tackle graduate. A couple of junior college guys didn’t work out like we planned, and [Coach] just said, ‘Hey, you’re right tackle.’ I didn’t know it was going to happen, but I was OK with it, whatever the team needed. I found a home there. Now, I look back inside, and I kind of like tackle.”
On why he likes offensive line: “… [There’s] no greater feeling in football than taking a man from point A to point B against his will, and not only against his will, but drive him to the dirt. That’s something I love about offensive line. No other position gets to do that every single play, or at least gets the opportunity to do that. When you’ve got a grown man that’s doing the same thing you are and he wants to get the quarterback and you take him the opposite way, that’s a great feeling. That’s why I love this game as an offensive lineman. I have a lot of passion for it, for sure.”
T Donnell Greene, Minnesota
Pre-combine draft rankings: Not ranked by Brugler or Brooks
On his connections to Vikings: “A little bit. I knew [cornerback] Craig James, who they picked up late. I’m good friends with him and [cornerback] Jalen Myrick. I actually met Craig at Minnesota; he came back to visit one time, and we just hit it off. My roommate was [Gophers running back] Rodney Smith, and they were good friends.”
On advice from James/Myrick: “The main thing they said was pretty much, once I'm here, Jalen said, ‘Just lock in. It's going to get busy; for like four or five days, you won’t be able to sleep much.’ I'm not able to pretty much do any of the field events because of my surgery. I'm just soaking it all in, and I'm ready. I'm looking forward to it.” PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 3/1/19
Media Roundup: Highlights from RB Combine Media Sessions
By Eric Smith
INDIANAPOLIS — The first group of players met the media Thursday afternoon at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine, as running backs faced the bright lights and questions from every which way.
More than two dozen running backs fielded questions about their past, what they envision for their future and what they’re hoping to show Friday in on-field drills.
Here are some highlights from the 28 running backs at the combine:
Josh Jacobs, Alabama
Pre-combine draft rankings: NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks (1), The Athletic’s Dane Brugler (1)
On his strengths : “Catching the ball, blocking, running the ball, being on special teams — there’s a lot of things I can do.”
On who he models his game after: “I kind of stole my game from a little bit of everyone, honestly. Think back to Barry Sanders, LaDainian Tomlinson, Reggie Bush — I try to take bits and pieces from everybody.”
Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic
Pre-combine draft rankings: Brooks (2), Brugler (2)
On the Combine process: “This has been fun. I’ve just been embracing it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I’m taking advantage. It’s been going by fast. So I’m just trying to take it all in.”
On his nickname, Motor: “So my nickname came from my father. It was passed down. So once I started playing ball, I kind of carried it on. It stuck with me. I’m fast and powerful, so it stuck with me.”
Damien Harris, Alabama
Pre-combine draft rankings: Brooks (3), Brugler (3)
On his light workload in college: “I mean, it can be looked at either way. I just like the narrative to be that I’m fresh, I’m healthy, I made it through college with very few limitations, no real major injuries, and I just had a healthy career. That’s what I’m trying to tell teams. A lot of people already know that. That’s kind of the narrative out there right now.”
On running behind All-American lineman Jonah Williams: “Security blanket, whether it’s in the run game, and our quarterbacks always felt safe behind him. Jonah is a prolific player. I think he’s the best tackle in the country. He showed that for three years at Alabama, came in and started as a true freshman, and he’s just a different breed of player. You don’t see a lot of guys have that kind of success so early on in their career, especially at a place like Alabama. Jonah always was a great player for us, he’s great in the run game, great in pass protection, obviously. He’s just a real complete player.”
David Montgomery, Iowa State
Pre-combine draft rankings: Brooks (4), Brugler (4)
On going to the NFL: “It will mean a lot, just being able to give kids back home hope to understand that it's possible. You've just got to have the right mindset, and you can't live to the standards that everybody creates for you. You've got to create your own. I was able to create my own and still creating my own, trying to live out my dream and give kids back home [in Cincinnati] hope. Definitely, it's big and it means a lot.”
On being hard to tackle: “That's a good question. I'm not usually tackling myself. I just go out there and run the ball. That's what I do. It's my occupation, and I enjoy doing it.”
Bryce Love, Stanford
Pre-combine draft rankings: Brooks (5), Brugler (unranked)
On what he brings to the field: “Just being a playmaker. And then beyond that, I'd say my mentality. I really just want to be the best at it — one of the best to ever do it. In my mind, I know I'm far from that, but just the mindset of being able to work to that point and work to get there. I have that, and I'm willing to do it.”
Darrell Henderson, Memphis
Pre-combine draft rankings: Brooks (unranked), Brugler (5)
On what he wants to prove in Indianapolis: “I want to show them that I’m capable of doing whatever they ask me to do, and I’m just ready to show everybody that coming from Memphis don't mean nothing.” PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 3/1/19
Best of Zimmer’s Combine Media Blitz
By Craig Peters
Hello, media darlin’.
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer participated in media rounds on Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine.
In addition to a podium session in which he discussed his deliberations on hiring a kicking specialist, and an “almost romantic” scene in the offensive meeting rooms, Zimmer participated in an extended interview with KFAN’s Paul Allen, Paul Charchian and Ben Leber during an episode of 9 to Noon and an extended session with Twin Cities media members.
There were plenty of pearls passed out by Zimmer, who is under contract through 2020 via the team picking up an option year.
“First of all, I mean, I love this football team,” Zimmer said before quipping. “I’ve given them almost two eyes, now.
“The organization, the owners, you know – working with this group – the fans have been outstanding. I never wanted to go anywhere,” he continued. “I’ll be here for 10 more years, I don’t care. I love this situation that we’re in. I never wanted to go anywhere; it was just one of those things. But I love it here, and I hope I can stay here for eight more years. Whatever. Until they kick me out, I guess.”
Combine: Media Roundup View photos from the media sessions at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Here are nine other topics that Zimmer addressed Thursday:
Vikings
1. What will the Vikings approach be with Anthony Barr and Sheldon Richardson eligible for free agency?
Barr was the first player selected by the Vikings in 2014, the first one with Zimmer as the head coach. The Vikings were able to exercise a fifth-year option on Barr’s rookie deal because he was a first-round pick. Now, he could choose to re-sign or test the market.
Richardson is coming off his first year in Purple and sixth in the NFL. He could choose to re-sign or test the market again.
Technically, the Vikings could place the franchise tag on either player, but that’s been an uncommon methodology under General Manager Rick Spielman.
“Anthony was my No. 1 pick as a head coach, right? I love him as far as the things he does for our organization and the football team,” Zimmer said. “It’s really going to depend on where the numbers are. And really the same thing with Sheldon … I thought Sheldon came in and had a good year. But the way it is with the cap, we have to budget where we’re going. If Barr gets paid $18 million, we probably ain’t going to have him. But if it’s a reasonable deal? I think Anthony would love to be here, too.”
2. Is there a decision to be made on Everson Griffen?
Griffen needed to step away from football for several weeks of the 2018 season to focus on personal matters. He returned to the lineup and is under contract.
“I don’t think so. I let Rick [Spielman] and Rob [Brzezinski] handle all that stuff. We just talk about and rank our players where they are. And we’ve talked about those circumstances but I don’t think that will be a situation.”
Zimmer said he thinks it took a little bit of time for Griffen to find a groove after missing five weeks.
“You can still see the explosiveness and the power and playing the technique, but maybe it took him a little while. He played good. There’s Everson when he’s playing the best ever, and just a little bit less. They’re all like that. I think Barr played really good after he came back [from a hamstring injury]. It just kind of depends on the guy.”
3. Do you have an idea of when Mike Hughes will be fully ready to go?
The Vikings tabbed Hughes with the 30th overall pick of 2018, and the cornerback recorded a pick-six in the regular- season opener. Hughes was off to an impressive start before tearing his ACL in Week 6 (Oct. 14).
“Yeah, I’m not sure. I mean, I have an idea. Most ACLs, you know, it may be a little longer. I don’t know. But he’s doing great; he really is. So we’ll just have to [see]. It’s really hard to tell until you see him run and all that, how much longer they’ve got to go.”
4. On Dalvin Cook’s season
The injury to Hughes marked the second year in a row in which the Vikings top pick suffered a torn ACL. Cook was a second-round selection in 2017 (the Vikings didn’t have a first-round selection). He bounced back from the ACL injury in time to start the regular season but suffered a hamstring injury at Green Bay in Week 2, causing him to miss a significant chunk of time.
“I think he was frustrated because of the hamstring. One of the things, I just had to sit in a meeting the other day, the second-most time lost for any injury is hamstrings. For some reason, that injury takes five or six weeks. Obviously, the ACL is number one. That’s the next-longest missed time. When a runner, especially these track guys, which Dalvin basically is, these guys, for them to get right, it just takes a long time, typically, so I think he had a better [performance] in the second half of the year, obviously. He struggled some early.”
As a follow-up question, Zimmer was asked about the number of hamstring injuries suffered by Vikings players last season. He said, “We had 14 hamstrings this year, and the average in the NFL is 14.5. We’re going to have to look at those things. Is it shoes? Is it field conditions? Is it not warmed up? Not hydrated enough? There’s so many things. The NFL is doing a study on it now.”
5. On QB depth behind Kirk Cousins
Cousins is entering the second year of a three-year contract. Trevor Siemian is scheduled to become a free agent, and Kyle Sloter is under contract.
“We’re going to look for another quarterback. Again, a lot of it is going to come down to salary cap issues and who we can afford. We know who we kind of want back and want. We have to monitor the market and see where all of this goes.
“If we can find the right veteran, that position is so unique in the fact that you have to, you’re also there to help the guys, not just the best player, and it has to be in your system. I do think we’ll be looking for a rookie, as well, so we’ll just have to see how this goes.”
6. On Terence Newman not coming back for a second year as an assistant
Newman spent the offseason program and training camp as a player and shifted to an assistant role when the Vikings made their final roster reductions. Zimmer commented on Newman’s decision for the first time.
“He told me he really enjoyed it but said it was a grind, going from playing right into coaching. He just felt like he needed a break.
Combine/This Draft Class
7. On the 1-on-1 interviews with prospects at the combine
Teams are allowed to set up dozens of 15-minute formal interviews to drill deeper on some of the more than 330 prospects at the combine.
“We’ve had two nights of them. Tonight is going to be a big night. We have a ton of them tonight and a ton of them tomorrow. It’s good, you get a chance to meet them, get a little bit of the personality, ask them some questions. You can kind of semi-tell how intelligent he is. With some of the guys, it’s easier, obviously. It’s part of the process and a good part, as well.”
8. On if he sees a lot of gritty guys in this class of offensive linemen
The Vikings are looking at all positions, but Zimmer admitted that he’s reviewed the offensive linemen in depth. He was asked about what the Vikings want to see in the prospects and said everybody wants “tough, gritty guys.”
“It’s the finish that they’re all looking for, not necessarily stick their chest out and punch a guy. This is a good class. I’ve watched way too many offensive linemen so far this offseason. There’s been a lot of good ones, guys that are smart, tough, athletic. There’s some different flavors in there. Some are road-grater types, gap schemes is what we call them, and some are more zone schemes. You just find the one that you feel like fits you.”
9. On the depth at defensive line
If a deal can’t be reached with Richardson, the Vikings might turn elsewhere in free agency, the draft or both to bolster the defensive line, particularly at the 3-technique. It was a point of emphasis last offseason to add the dynamic threat of Richardson to the pass-rush mix.
“This is a good group, a good group of defensive linemen, as well. There’s going to be a lot of them taken in the first round, probably, but it is a deep group. Hopefully we can find some of those guys, too.” PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 3/1/19
Zimmer Says Offensive Meetings ‘Almost Romantic for Me’
By Lindsey Young
Head Coach Mike Zimmer is excited about what the Vikings are cooking up on offense.
In addition to his turn at the podium in Indianapolis during the NFL Scouting Combine, Zimmer also held a session with beat reporters Thursday and joined KFAN’s Paul Allen on 9 to Noon. In all three settings, he spoke highly of Minnesota’s offensive coaching staff, which has a new look heading into 2019.
The Vikings removed the “interim” label from Offensive Coordinator Kevin Stefanski’s title and also brought in Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Advisor Gary Kubiak, offensive line coach/run game coordinator Rick Dennison, tight ends coach Brian Pariani and quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak. Drew Petzing made the switch from assistant quarterbacks coach to wide receivers coach, and two offensive quality control coaches were hired in Christian Jones and AC Patterson.
“It has been outstanding, unbelievable,” Zimmer told Allen during the radio show. “I’ve been so impressed with the way Kevin Stefanski has been running the room, the comments that Gary makes about a lot of the things that went on with the system and the way that they’ve done things with that offense.”
Shortly after his interview with Allen, the often-straight-faced coach stood in front of the NFL Combine backdrop and joked with reporters about his love for the communication in offensive meetings.
“The way that Gary talks about, you know, it’s almost romantic for me that I can sit there – there’s a sound bite for ya – that I can sit there and hear about Bill Walsh and that offense and how it evolved [with former 49ers assistant/Denver and Washington Head Coach] Mike Shanahan and so on,” Zimmer said. “For me as a football guy, all those things are just outstanding. How this came about, how that came about, how his play worked in this particular situation, and the way they’re putting this all together.”
Added Zimmer: “I couldn’t be any happier with the way that situation’s been going.”
Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman told media members Wednesday that adding Kubiak and Co. worked well because Stefanksi has no ego and was, in fact, the “biggest flag-waver” for bringing in a coach of Kubiak’s stature.
Zimmer echoed those thoughts and said the same of Kubiak – “Gary has zero ego” – joining the staff as an assistant after years as an offensive coordinator or head coach and four total Super Bowl championships.
“I want to bring in the best guys I possibly can. Part of the staff thing is about camaraderie, being able to communicate together, being on the same page,” Zimmer explained. “[Gary] is the most down-to-earth guy, and all of the guys that are in there are like that.
“Even the communication with Rick Dennison talking about protection, talking about techniques with the offensive line, game plans on the running game,” Zimmer continued. “This has been as good as I could ever imagine at this point.”
Zimmer emphasized that Stefanski was “all on board” with adding Kubiak and didn’t feel intimidated by the more- experienced coach.
“I’ve had to compete against Gary many times, and he’s always been outstanding. I don’t think I’ve ever beaten him, really,” Zimmer said. “Kevin felt like it was important to help … and not just work with anybody.”
Zimmer believes the Vikings have combined the best ingredients in Minnesota’s offensive coaching room; the next step will be finding the right roster combinations and seeing if it all pays off where it matters most.
At the end of the day, it’s all about finding the perfect recipe for success on the field.
“What we’re doing now, we’re going through the plays, right? We’re going through the playbook … Kevin sits here, Gary sits [on one side of him], and I sit [on the other side of him], and the rest of the guys are down there,” Zimmer explained. “They talk about the play and how it’s run, how it’s formatted, how the different things go. Kevin will start it off, and Gary will throw in his things about how it’s kind of evolved, how they’re using it, how they might have that be a killed play if they use a certain defense.
“Then they talk about when they are getting ready to game plan and how they [will integrate that] play,” Zimmer he continued. “There’s good communication between everybody.”
Any concern about too many cooks in the kitchen?
It might have been Zimmer’s easiest question of the morning: “Nah.” PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 3/1/19
Mike Zimmer Thinking About Hiring Kicking Specialist Coach
By Eric Smith
INDIANAPOLIS — Perhaps one of the biggest storylines that has followed Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer in his five seasons in Minnesota is the struggles his team has had at the kicker position.
But it appears Zimmer is set on trying to eliminate the roller-coaster ride at that position, as he revealed Thursday at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine that he is entertaining the idea of hiring a “true kickers coach” going forward.
“I’ve thought about that an awful lot with the kicking situation we’ve had for the five years that I’ve been there,” said Zimmer, who couldn’t help but laugh when asked about the inconsistencies he’s dealt with that that position. “I think part of it is that we allow them, especially a young guy, to make some mistakes, make sure they understand that we’re behind them.
“But I also have really been thinking hard about trying to get someone – you know, the golfers have their swing coach, everybody’s got coaches now to do these things – so I’ve been thinking really, really hard about trying to find a true kickers coach, where that’s all he really does,” Zimmer added.
In the five seasons Zimmer has been at the helm, the combination of Blair Walsh, Kai Forbath, Daniel Carlson and Dan Bailey have combined to make 141 of 175 regular-season field goals, good for a success rate of 80.6 percent.
Walsh, of course, missed a 27-yard field goal against the Seahawks in the Wild Card Round of the NFC Playoffs in January of 2016. And Carlson missed a trio of kicks in Week 2 of the 2018 season in Green Bay as the Vikings and Packers played to a 29-29 tie.
That doesn’t even get into the 17 missed extra points Zimmer has endured since the NFL moved the kick to a 33- yard try at the start of the 2015 season.
Zimmer wondered aloud on Thursday how those missed kicks have impacted potential deep playoff runs for the Vikings.
“As you know, we’ve struggled finding the kicker and consistency at that position, especially,” Zimmer said. “I go back and think about the three kicks in Green Bay and Blair Walsh missed a 27-yarder and how much that affected the organization.
“If we get in the playoffs [this past season], who knows? If we win that first playoff game [in January of 2016 against] Seattle, who knows?” Zimmer added. “So those are the kinds of things that enter my mind as we’re trying to get to the next level.”
Zimmer said Thursday that he’s in no hurry to add the position, which will likely be a former kicker who knows the technique, and will only do so if he “can find the right guy.” He also added that new Special Teams Coordinator Marwan Maalouf is on board with the idea of a position-specific coach.
Zimmer also noted he chatted with Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh, who made his name as an excellent special teams coordinator, about the importance of special teams in the NFL. (Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker has made 237 of 263 career field goals, and ranks first in league history with a success rate of 90.1 percent).
One area that came up in Zimmer’s conversation with Harbaugh was how the entire operation — from the long snapper to the holder to the kicker — has to work smoothly in order for the kicker to have success.
Zimmer said he underestimated that aspect of special teams but will make it a focus going forward.
“I’m learning a lot more about it. I was talking to John today about how important the holder is,” Zimmer said. “That part, about the consistency with the snapper and the holder and the kicker.
“Quite honestly, I’m not opposed to having Adam Thielen or a backup quarterback or Harrison [Smith] or anybody do it. A lot of these guys have done it in high school and some of them have done it in college,” Zimmer added. “That part is important for the kicker as well. If you have a holder who is not real good, he messes up the kicker, too. That’s a part I took for granted a little bit, maybe. I guess it’s harder than I thought.”
It remains to be seen if Zimmer will in fact hire a kickers-only coach, but it was a buzzworthy topic Thursday in Indianapolis.
And if Minnesota can get some measure of successful consistency from that position going forward, it could only help Zimmer get the Vikings to where he believes they can go.
“I go back and think about, and I’m not trying to lay all of this on the kicker, but we talk about scoring points and we’ve played pretty good defense over the five years,” Zimmer said. “That guy wins games for you with the type of games we were playing.
“That kicker is important,” Zimmer added. “If you get the right one … he can help you.”
PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 3/1/19
Lunchbreak: Outlining Vikings Areas of Need This Offseason
By Eric Smith
The offseason is about to heat up, as the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine is in full swing and the free-agency period is slated for mid-March.
The 2019 NFL Draft is two months away, meaning there will be plenty of buzz and news going forward.
What positions will the Vikings address going forward?
Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune recently wrote that while the offensive line could be the top priority, there are other areas that could need attention, too.
Krammer wrote:
Before the Vikings’ own departures are settled, I’d say backup running back, defensive tackle, linebacker and receiver would near the top of my list. Given [Dalvin] Cook’s early injury history, his backup may become a priority. After the season, Latavius Murray said he wants to start somewhere in 2019, but the free agent will have to go elsewhere to do so. Mike Boone and Roc Thomas flashed some as rookies, but new talent could be coming.
Vikings brass will meet with representatives of linebacker Anthony Barr and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson this week in Indianapolis. Even if they re-sign Barr or Richardson (or somehow both?), depth could still be addressed. Changes could also be made at kicker, punter and punt returner with Dan Bailey, Matt Wile and Marcus Sherels on expiring contracts and a new coordinator in Marwan Maalouf.
Teams can enter contract negotiations with player agents from March 11-13, while free agency officially begins at 3 p.m. (CT) on March 13.
Sessler: Vikings set for years to come at QB spot
Rick Spielman had high praise for Kirk Cousins at the Combine on Wednesday, as the Vikings General Manager said Minnesota’s 8-7-1 record shouldn’t all be placed on the Vikings quarterback’s shoulders.
Marc Sessler of NFL.com recently took a look at each quarterback situation around the league, and categorized the Vikings in a group of 15 teams that are “set for years to come” at that spot.
Sessler wrote:
Act One for Kirk Cousins in Minnesota was hardly a hit. The $84 million quarterback spent too much of last season on the run behind a super-shaky offensive line. The infrastructure around him was far from pristine, but Cousins came up small in key defeats down the stretch to New England and Seattle alongside a pair of ugly losses to the Bears. Struggling at times to mesh with his wideouts, Cousins is under pressure to lead this talented but underperforming attack back to the playoffs. I'd expect a better showing in 2019.
Cousins threw for 4,298 yards with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his first season in Purple.
PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 3/1/19
Breer, Rapoport Weigh-in on Vikings Draft Predictions from Combine
By Eric Smith
The Vikings currently are slated to have the 18th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, and opinions vary on which position the team will target first.
While a number of experts and media analysts have pegged Minnesota to select an offensive lineman in their mock drafts, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reminded that the Vikings also could take the “best player available” approach.
Rapoport spoke with former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber at the NFL Scouting Combine Wednesday and explained his thought process:
“The interesting thing is … let’s say the Vikings need an offensive lineman, sure. The actual evaluation has to match up with the draft slot,” Rapoport said. “If the best grade you have on a left tackle is a second-round grade, you’re not going to take that guy at 18. You’re going to take whoever is the best evaluation for that spot and then say, ‘OK, we can take a tackle in the second round or the third round.’
“There’s a lot of options, and to me, the Vikings are the way they are because they’ve drafted extremely well,” Rapoport added. “They haven’t done that by reaching on guys.”
Leber made the rounds with Vikings.com in Indianapolis, catching up with a number of NFL media personalities and picking their brains about the upcoming draft.
Albert Breer of The Monday Morning Quarterback said he would “never rule out” Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer snagging a defensive player in the first round, depending on how the roster situation shakes out through free agency.
Breer also said the draft’s makeup could lead to capitalizing on a position other than offensive line early and then “still getting a good offensive lineman in the second or third round.”
“I think there’s as deep a class as there’s been at [offensive line] for the past few years,” Breer said. “A lot of teams need them, so not only is there going to be opportunity in the first round, [but in the] second round and third round, there are a lot of guards and centers that, from what I understand – I’m not a scout, but from the people I talk to – it certainly sounds like there’s going to be a lot of guys who you’re going to be able to plug in right away, and they’re going to play in the league a long time.”
Quarterback-turned-analyst Brady Quinn also weighed in on the Vikings draft possibilities.
Quinn pointed out the strength of this year’s defensive line class and called it “top heavy but deep” and “rich with a lot of talent.” He made a case for selecting an interior lineman or edge rusher if a top name falls to No. 18 and is “just too good to pass up.”
“[And] Mike Zimmer’s got a background as being a secondary guy; maybe all of a sudden you get one of those cornerbacks you’re looking at,” Quinn said.
“You never know; that kind of stuff happens. So that would be the one thought in the back of my mind,” he continued. “Outside of that, though, I think if you’re looking at offensive linemen, I would think tackles, maybe?”
Quinn highlighted Washington State tackle Andre Dillard as his pick for the Vikings.
“That would be the guy I’d try to target,” Quinn told Leber.
Amid acknowledging that the NFL Draft is always unpredictable and it’s nearly impossible to foresee the way dominoes will fall, Chris Simms and ESPN’s Field Yates each retained their offensive line projection for Minnesota.
Yates believes Minnesota’s focus will be on bolstering its offensive line as the Vikings work to rebound from an 8-7-1 campaign in 2018.
“I think specifically, in terms of areas of improvement … finding a way for the offensive line to be fortified and to play better overall,” said Yates, who later added, “the biggest need is offensive line.”
Added Simms: “I do think offensive line, not only for the run game, but I think to protect your biggest asset, which is [quarterback] Kirk Cousins, makes a lot of sense.” PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 3/1/19
Documentary Film Provides Generational Bridge for Gene Washington & Daughter
By Craig Peters
EAGAN, Minn. — What began as an exploration by Maya Washington of her father Gene Washington’s football career has become an intergenerational bridge spanning more than 50 years.
Through the Banks of the Red Cedar is a documentary film created by Maya that chronicles Gene’s journey from growing up in the Segregated South to being one of the early stars of integrated major college football at Michigan State to becoming a first-round selection of the Vikings in 1967.
The film was screened on Wednesday at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center for more than 100 area high school students who have or are participating in the 306: African-American History course that is provided through a partnership with EVERFI and the Vikings. It also was screened for Vikings Legends and staff members Wednesday afternoon.
Maya Washington ✔ @imayawashington Thanks for the love, Y'all!
Film Fatales @FilmFatalesOrg Maya Washington's latest work "Through the Banks of the Red Cedar" screens at the College Football Hall of Fame Museum in ATL on Feb 6th on the 27th at the Minnesota Vikings Organization. #FatalesFriday #FilmFatales #BlackHistoryMonth @imayawashington
View image on Twitter 17 6:44 PM - Feb 8, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy See Maya Washington's other Tweets “It’s just such a blessing,” Maya said. “I’ve been calling it sort of a millennial bridge, and now, with the high school group, it’s a Gen Z bridge, because if we’re not telling these intergenerational stories, it’s really hard for young people to understand sort of the challenges we have when it comes to diversity and inclusion and equal opportunity in the U.S. if you don’t have an understanding of how things were.
“I’m grateful that through our film, we’re sort of able to make what happened 50 years ago relevant to a modern audience,” she continued. “Hopefully students see themselves as young athletes or as young people who might have parents or grandparents who have experienced similar things to my dad, to sort of inspire them to want to learn more about history and feel confident as scholars of the past to use what my dad’s generation did as sort of an example of how we can work together to sort of make society better now.”
A connection with Bubba Smith helped Washington make the trek from La Porte, Texas, near Houston to Michigan State.
The men were part of a large group of African-American players recruited by former Spartans Head Coach Duffy Daugherty.
Smith wanted to play at Texas, but black players were not allowed on the Longhorns team at that time. Once he made the decision to head north, he put in a word for Washington, who was granted an opportunity “sight unseen.”
Eye-opening moments ensued.
“Duffy trusted that recommendation,” Washington explained. “Leaving Texas, in terms of what we faced from growing up in that situation, when I got to Michigan State, it’s like you’re in one particular situation and dropped in a completely different situation and have two white roommates. I meet Duffy Daugherty, and the first thing he tells me is that I want you to call me Duffy and all of the assistant coaches by their first name.
“So I’m coming from the Segregated South, and everything is “Mister,” so it took me a while to get used to that,” he continued.
'Through the Banks of the Red Cedar' Screening A screening of the documentary film "Through the Banks of the Red Cedar" at TCO Performance Center.
Washington appreciated the investments that his teachers made in him when he attended schools in Texas and how they prepared him to do well in college. He valued the emphasis on education at Michigan State and how it helped him succeed after football.
Gene was joined by his former Spartans and Vikings teammate, Clinton Jones, who flew in from the Los Angeles area to participate in the event.
Jones recalled asking Daugherty for nothing more than an opportunity to play. He parlayed that to becoming the second overall pick of the 1967 NFL Draft, a spot behind Smith and six ahead of the Vikings tabbing Washington.
“The adversity and all of that stuff, the only thing that mattered to me was winning, and I wanted to be a part of it and contribute as much as I could,” Jones said. “It’s hard to explain what we had. We had something that other people wanted [at Michigan State and with the Vikings].
“Even though [we lost] the Super Bowls and stuff like that, we had something very deep, a human element that’s kind of hard to explain and we still have it today,” Jones added. “It grew over the years. It wasn’t just a passing phenomenon. Our legacy is contributing to the illness that exists today. We are showing actual proof of how human beings should do. This culture of football shows how we can take diversity and unite, appreciate it and change poison into medicine.”
The 1967 NFL Draft was the first one after Hall of Fame Head Coach Bud Grant’s hire. He joined the first two picks selected in his tenure for a question-and-answer session hosted by former punter Greg Coleman that followed the screening for staff and Vikings Legends.
Grant passed along the following recollection:
“It was a time of transition, really. I think it helped a little bit, because of my background. I was raised in northern Wisconsin. My father was born on an Indian reservation, and we had a lot of Indian friends. I never thought about black, white, red. That really didn’t enter my mind. In fact, I was relating [Wednesday] to a conversation when we drafted Gene, Clinton and Alan [Page], we had three first-round picks that year. The draft came up and these guys were all on the board. We had Clint and Gene and now another pick, and Alan Page was up. It was expressed at that time by people in the room, ‘Well, that would be three black players in the first round. Nobody’s ever done that before.’ I said, ‘Well, what’s the problem?’ They said, ‘We’re breaking new ground here. I wasn’t hired here to get involved in that kind of thing. I said, ‘Either we draft Alan Page, or I’ll take a walk.’ That was the end of the conversation.
Washington, who still makes his home in the Twin Cities, said he has enjoyed seeing the diversity increases that have been made by the Vikings.
“In looking at the Vikings now and how it used to be when we’re all playing together, we hear the word diversity a lot now,” Gene said. “Back when we were playing, I don’t think we heard it at all. I am so impressed when I think about the Vikings administrative staff, the coaches and the whole organization. I get the sense after being up here more than 50 years that they have really taken a step from a diversity standpoint. … In this day and time, we hear the word diversity and the Vikings are in sync with all of that.
“Nobody in my immediate family had the chance to go on to college. I had that opportunity through sports and scholarships, and I am so, so proud that my three daughters have all gone on to college and done very well. That means the world, and [my wife] Claudith has her graduate degree, as well. That means more to me as we look back on where I came from, to recognize that my family had the opportunity, from an education standpoint, and as a father, I can look back and I have grandkids that will have the same opportunity to advance themselves through education.”
The importance of education is a message that Washington continues to pass along to younger generations.
Generally private, he can see that participating in the film, which has been featured at multiple festivals, can reinforce that message.
It’s also brought him closer to Maya by giving them what she described as a “common language” that they didn’t have before the film.
“If you just distill it to I’m an artist, he’s an athlete and other things, but in terms of who we are at heart, he has an athlete’s heart, and I have an artist’s heart,” she said. “Through this process, because it was so difficult to raise funds and film all over the country and navigate multiple major athletic programs, he saw me working really hard and grew an appreciation for my art, and I uncovered how hard he and his teammates had worked and developed a better appreciation for the game of football, for track, for his experiences as an athlete, so now we have this common language where we are communicating more.
“We’re talking on the phone a few times a week and it’s more than just about the weather. Previously, it was like, ‘How are you?’ ‘I’m good.’ ‘Well, how’s the weather,’ if we’re in a different city, but it’s even worse when we’re in the same city,” Maya quipped. “ ‘Well, over here in Plymouth, it’s this way,’ and ‘In Edina, it’s that way,’ so I think we just have this connection that was always there but just a freedom and space to sort of express our appreciation for each other.”