15 Reasons Brad Childress Is Not A Football Personnel Genius

Yesterday, I discussed Brad Childress,
so I need not address those players here. Let’s look at the personnel that Childress is responsible for bringing to the purple and
gold through free agency or the waiver wire.

Chili’s Guys

  • Guard . Fantastic acquisition, even though he wasn’t all that last year.
  • Running Back . Not very fast but a tough runner who was worth the investment. Great acquisition.
  • Kicker . Last year he had a hell of a time getting kickoffs to the one yard line or beyond but he’s fixed that this year with a vengeance. Great pickup, even though we have to listen to him talk about golf ad nauseum.
  • Safety . He was more of an import from Mike Tomlin‘s Tampa Bay days, but Childress gets credit for him. He’s been a hard hitter and has generally played well. Good acquisition.
  • Fullback .
    He only started seven games last year due to injury, so that was a bit
    of a waste, but he’s a damn good run blocker and has laid some people
    out. Good pickup.
  • Wide Receiver . I was absolutely skeptical but I’m happy to say he’s proved me wrong. Wade is a good possession receiver who can make yards after the catch but he’s not the number one he was acquired to be. Still, good acquisition.
  • Wide Receiver .
    He’s been good when he’s gotten the ball in his hands, but he doesn’t
    get a lot of touches. By our standards for Wide Receiver, good pickup.
  • Tight End . Was brought in to be a receiving tight end who could stretch the field on seam routes. When he’s gotten down field for apparent big gains, his quarterbacks have failed to get him the ball (). Remains to be seen.
  • Fullback .
    This guy’s got some quickness for a fullback. I’ve liked what I’ve seen
    but I’ve seen too little to really judge. Decent pickup.
  • Defensive End . Not bad. He hasn’t really been able to show what he can do, but hasn’t been disastrous, either.
  • Safety . Eh. He was more defensive coordinator Leslie Fraizer‘s pick, than Childress’. Hasn’t played much so it’s tough to tell.
  • Defensive Tackle . Eh. Hasn’t played enough to truly judge.
  • Linebacker . Was brought in to be a special teams ace. His most memorable play was getting juked out by a punter. I see in on more plays than Ciurciu.
  • Wide receiver : Eh.
  • Wide receiver : Sure handed possession receiver who was just that but nothing special. We traded the speedy, six foot four to the Eagles to get him, though. McMullen is no longer on our roster but Baskett is still making plays for the Eagles.
  • Definite Chili guy Defensive tackle : Eh.
  • Kick Returner . Though he made the Pro Bowl for us last year, he had to be cut because of his off-field problems, so at the end of the day, he’s go to be counted as a bust, though he wasn’t a very expensive bust. It should be noted, too, though, that Childress was depending on him to be our number one receiver this year even though Robinson had proved in the past that you shouldn’t depend on him. Result: We had to scramble to find receivers.
  • Guard from Philadelphia; the Vikes could have gone after the Eagles’ , one of the better guards in the league. But, no, we got Hicks who was average at best and lost his starting job.
  • Cornerback . Whitaker was given a spot on the roster even though he was outplayed by the quick .Last
    year, Whitaker distinguished himself as an eminently exploitable
    nickleback. He’s still on the team but plays only as a special teamer.
    Keeping Edwards would have been a vast improvement.
  • Tackle . Who knows? Has he even played?
  • Tight End . Again, who knows?

So what’s the verdict? Childress has brought in three rock stars in Hutchinson, Taylor, and Longwell; three solid contributors in Smith, Wade, and Richardson. There are six guys–Ferguson, Shiancoe,  Tahi, Mitchell, Doss, and Evans–who, ehhhhhh, who may or may not prove to be contributors. Three guys–Ciurciu, Johnson, and McMullen–are nothing special. Four guys are busts: Robinson, Kolodziej, Hicks (who was brought in to start and is not), and Whitaker; and two guys–Chase Johnson and Mills–haven’t really had a chance to prove themselves.

Out of the 21 free agent/waiver wire players Childress picked up, six contribute consistently and meaningfully. Five of those–Hutchinson, Taylor, Longwell, Smith, and Richardson are integral parts of the team. That leaves 15 of Childress’ players who haven’t contributed significantly during the coach’s two-year rule.

We don’t know if our pathetic passing game is a result of a substandard receiving corps, substandard quarterbacking, or both.

Still, six of 21 ain’t that great.

2007 Minnesota Vikings Season Preview

The thing about this season is that the just have to get a little better than last year to win a lot more games. Consider the games the Vikings lost last year:

  • In September, the Vikings lost to the Bears, 16-19
  • In October, the Vikings lost to the Bills, 17-12
  • and to the Patriots, 7-31
  • In November, the Vikings lost to the 49ers, 9-3
  • to the Packers, 17-23
  • and to the Dolphins, 24-20
  • In December, the Vikings lost to the Bears again, 23-13
  • to the Jets, 13-26
  • again to the Packers, 9-7
  • and to the Rams, 21-41

The two games against the Packers and Bears each were winnable. The margins of victory for each of those four games were 3 points, 6 points, 10 points, and 2 points. The Vikings lost to the Bills by 5 points; to the 49ers by 6 points; and to the Dolphins by four point.

Instead of 6 and 10, they could have easily been 10 and 6 and division winners.

With the addition of , , and , I think the defense has gotten much stronger and much harder to pass against than last season.

But the defense, of course, wasn’t the problem last year. The offense was.

We improved on offense significantly with the addition of . I am officially a converted fan of , who has proven very adept at making yards after the catch. is a great addition if he can stay healthy. is a nice big target who has shown he’s got good hands, is not afraid to catch the ball in a crowd, is very athletic and has excellent body control. And if we can get to catch a few long bombs, we’ll at least have the semblance of a deep threat.

The offensive line returns with one year together playing the zone blocking scheme, so they’ve got to improve simply because they are more familiar with one another and with zone blocking.

The big question is . He looks very poised and by all accounts is a smart kid, a quick study, and a quick decision maker. The main thing for Jackson is to avoid mistakes, which is to say turnovers, while he learns the ropes.

The most glaring weakness of this team is the coverage units, which are absolutely horrible. I’m not too confident that they’ll improve that much.

Looking at the schedule, I think it’s reasonable to think that the Vikings could go 9-7 or even 10-6 this year. I’m giving the Vikings both games against the , even with . That team has to prove to me they can win, cause they’ve never done it before. I’d split the series as I would the series, though I think the Vikings could sweep them as well.

We should beat the Vickless to open the season. We play the , the , and the , all of which should be wins.

So that’s eight wins.

The are beatable with at QB. The are beatable. They’ve got a rookie coach and we don’t yet know whether is the real thing. The and the look as if they will be good, but they’re sorta at that stage where it’s too early to tell. Even the could be beatable because you never know if will be healthy.

Thee only guaranteed loss is to the .

Robert Ferguson Video

The Vikings signed former Green Bay Packers receiver to a one-year deal that could be worth up to $1.3 million, according to the .

The seven year veteran stands 6’1" and weighs 219 lbs. From what I remember of him, he’s a tough receiver unafraid of going across the middle but he’s taken some heavy punishment as a result. He’s been injured much of his career; last year he played only four games, catching five tosses for 31 yards and a touchdown.

His best year was 2003, his second, during which he had 38 receptions for 520 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 13.7 yards per reception that year. He’s never scored more than four touchdowns in a season.

We can only hope he can stay healthy. From what I’ve seen, he’s got good hands, and, as I said, he’s tough so why not give him a try? We’ve already got a slot receiver, but you know what they say about beggars. At the very least, he’s another veteran presence among a very young receiving corps.

The only Robert Ferguson video I could find was at his profile on the NFL.com site. .