Click here for our 2009 Analysis on the Minnesota Vikings - Published July 2009

2009 Fantasy Recap – Minnesota Vikings        

The Vikings – In 2009, the torment continued for Vikings fans, as they were one bad pass away from the Super Bowl.  It was one of the most impressive seasons in franchise history and it taught us a few things about this team.  Brett Favre, hate him or love him, can still zing bullets and thread needles in the NFL.   He looked 30, not 40 out there, and had one of his best seasons statistically.  He led the league in passer rating (107.2), throwing the least amount of INTs (7) in a season, and had the highest completion percentage (68.4) in a season. 

If Dwayne Bowe is the NFL wide receiver rep for the Butterfingers candy bar, then AP has it covered for RBs.  He put the pill on the ground 7 times, losing 6 of them to turnovers.  Vikings brass doesn’t seem too concerned about it as they let Chester Taylor go this past off-season to division foe Chicago, no less.   

On the other side of the ball Minnesota was strong leading the league in sacks with 48.  It helps when you have insanity personified (Jared Allen) lining up at DE.   Finally, are Brad Childress and Tony Kornhole-eiser   related?  Or do they just go to the same hair stylist?

2009 Passing Offense  

2009 Rushing Offense  

2010 Offensive Philosophy & Fantasy Outlook

2010 should expect more of the same for the Vicodings.  Days of our Favres is playing out before our eyes once again, although the plot line is a bit different and riddled w/ less suspense.  Whereas last year, there was much more skepticism as to IF he would return.  Now, it’s just a matter of when.  Although, and in prime Brett Favre manner, I suppose he could always decide NOT to come back and turn yet another NFL city against him. 

Odds are high that he makes a comeback (fantasy football housewives are dependent on it this summer), but if he doesn’t, here’s the way we see it:

Without Favre:  AP stays the same, but the receivers and Shiancoe take a pretty big hit.  Bernard Berrian barely finished top 20 in 2008 w/ Gus Frerotte and Tavaris Jackson under center – but Shiancoe and Sidney Rice weren’t even a consideration. 

With Favre:  Just take a gander  at the stats and expect more of the same.  The Brad Childress coached and Darrell Bevell coordinated team starts a 2009 top ten fantasy points player at each position (Favre-6, AP-2, Rice-8, Shiancoe-6).  Bevell heavily favored the pass over the run (see above), so it is clear that the Vikings are more concerned with preserving AP’s All-Pro bones than they are Favre’s 40+ year old bones.  The Vikes did lose Chester Taylor, but he is easily replaceable.  Rookie Toby Gerhart will assume RB2 responsibilities for the Vikings, and he brings more of a bruiser/blocking back dimension than the finesse of Chester Taylor’s game.  So the potential for goal-line hoovering remains, but perhaps AP can notch a few more 3^rd receptions?  ***Visanthe Shiancoe and Sidney Rice stand the most to gain by a Favre return.  Favre loves the TEs around the red zone and it is easy to tell by Shiancoe’s team leading 11 rec. TDs.  And Rice and Favre were basically love at first site.  From the very first practice, Favre identified Rice as his meal ticket to another legendary season.   That will continue.  

QB

Brett Favre – Favre will announce his dramatic return to the game here in early August, just enough time to regain the momentum that made him, Rice, and Harvin fantasy bronze last season. Man, QBs are just deep heading into the year. I was worried to death last season that Favre would be sat when leads were extended, or that they'd hand the ball off a lot, but I miscalculated that. It's AP the team is worried about preserving, not Favre. Favre is done after this year, and Childress could care less about the health of Favre's body. They will chuck it whenever they need to again.  And Favre was throwing LASERS in '09. He finished 6th among QBs in a basic format, but he was sacked a lot (34) but only tossed 7 INTs to lead the league. He was one bone-headed play away from taking the Vikes to the Super bowl. Crazy.

Verdict:  Brett Favre has proven that age is truly just a number.  Nobody should have age worries after last season. This man is a definite starter and top fantasy back with the talent he has in Minny.

RB

Adrian Peterson - He is the bonafide gold standard for fantasy RBs as he enters his 4th year in the NFL. Three seasons in the league, and three top 3 finishes (basic format). What's more, he is one of only a remaining few every down RBs. Injury concerns? 2 missed games in three seasons is not what I would call a concern. With Favre under center, AP should bang out yet another top 3 finish in 2010, and in our mind should be taken ahead of the over-hyped CJ28. We will be debating AP and MJD all summer long, so stay tuned.

Verdict:  #1 back this season over CJ28 and MJD.  C’mon.  Unless injured, AP is going to be the same monster he has been the last few years, he is going to have some fumbles but he will still produce top 3 fantasy running back numbers.  Plus it’s going to be too hard on CJ’s body to put up another 2000 yd season.

Toby Gerhart - He was a workhorse for the Stanford Cardinal, and it will be interesting to see how his band of ball translates to the NFL. The Pac-10 is one of the more competitive D-1s in college football, so I remain wide-eyed at his 5.5 YPC average and 27 TDs (not a misprint, 27) during his Sr season. You'd be foolish not to handcuff this guy to AP on draft night. The Vikings still boast one of the top 5 olines in the league.

WR

Sidney Rice - Sidney Rice is no longer a sleeper :-( - true story, I drafted him in the 17th round last season... and then DROPPED HIM before week 2 for Laurent Robinson. Robinson proceeded to break a leg - literally, and we all know what happened to Rice. No one was willing to give me credit for drafting Rice, either. I don't blame them. Just book this cat for top 10 WR numbers no matter what as long as Favre is around. He had an insane TD% ratio (relative to his number of recepts) prior to Favre signing w/ the Vikes, so it's fair to assume that he will flourish for many years to come (assuming Tarvaris Jackson is not his QB).

Verdict:  Rice is a great starter to have and we have him ranked in the top 10 receivers this year.  He is the clear favorite of Favre and it was proved by his 1,312 yards ranking fourth in the entire NFL.

Percy Harvin – It's tough to envision a scenario whereby Harvin's contributions to your fantasy team can increase by that much as long as B-twice aka B-Cool aka Bernard Berrian and his 6 year, $43 million contract are still around.  Rice is Favre's favorite target, and let's not forget what that three-legged monster Visanthe Shiancoe was doing  in the red-zone all of 2009. I'm cool on Harvin. I know he's an incredible talent, but w/o the targets, he's barely a fantasy WR3.

Verdict:  Good bench player, he has a lot of skill and potential but he still has to waste behind Berrian.  He is not reliable; he can have games where he explodes and is feeling it,  and games with 1 or 2 points. Also, Shiancoe is still hawking TDs from receivers.  He’s a plug and play only, but if you are relying on him as a starter, expect a lot of doughnuts.

TE

Visanthe Shiancoe –Shiancoe has become a red zone nightmare for teams, especially since the Brett Fah-vray came to Minneapolis. Favre has always loved his tight ends in the red-zone - especially near the goal-line. Shiancoe is a stud, and I'm in no way referring to the snap of him and his trouser-python in the locker-room a couple of years ago. He was getting it done w/o Favre in 2008, finishing 5th among TEs with Gus Frerotte and Tavaris Jackson chucking him the pill. All 11 of his TDs came in the red-zone in 2009. He isn’t a big yards TE (averaging only 36 ypg the last 2 seasons) but he has become a touchdown machine tying for 4th in the league in receiving TDs. 

Verdict:  Definite starter, Visanthe has proven himself in fantasy leagues (and in the locker room) even without Brett Favre (he was the 5^th best TE in 08).  Nothing points to this guy’s touchdown productions going down in the future.  You know what they say about defending guys with three legs.

2010 Offensive Line Analysis

Minnesota Vikings 2010 Oline analysis – provided by UltimateFFstrategy.com

Minnesota Vikings 2010 NFL Draft Picks by Round

Minnesota Vikings 2010 Off-season Movement