Erin Henderson
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

One area of the NFL draft weekend that, in my opinion, still doesn't receive enough coverage is the signing of undrafted free agents. Lots of important players have been added after the draft ended. Some current NFL players who weren't drafted:
Tony Romo
Antonio Gates
FWP
Joshua Cribbs
Jake Delhomme
James Harrison
Atari, I can't stop a pass to save my life but I hit hard so Sulli loves me, Bigby

One of the greatest Viking players in my lifetime, John Randle, went undrafted back in 1990, when the draft was still 12 rounds long. Some current Vikings who weren't drafted include Heath Farwell, who the Vikings signed after the 2005 draft, Chris Kluwe, who was signed and cut by the Seahawks before signing with the Vikings and Anthony Herrera who signed on with the Vikings after the 2004 draft.

Here is this years class of Vikings UDFAs:

S Husain Abdullah, Washington State
DE Martail Burnett, Utah
DT Leger Douzable, Central Florida
S Marcus Griffin, Texas
LB Erin Henderson, Maryland
WR Nate Jones, Texas
CB Travis Key, Michigan State
LB Jeremy Leman, Illinois
OC Tim Mattran, Stanford
OT Drew Radovich, U.S.C.
WR Darius Reynaud, West Virginia
CB Brandon Sumrall, S. Mississippi
CB Marcus Walker, Oklahoma
QB Kyle Wright, Miami (Fla.)
RB Albert Young, Iowa
LB Mike Sherels, Minnesota
OG Pedro Sosa, Rutgers
OL Brandon Joyce, Illinois State
FB Tom Busch, Iowa (try out)

NFL Draft Countdown put out a list of their top 50 undrafted free agents immediately after the draft is over, here are how some of the new Vikings ranked on that list:

1. Erin Henderson, OLB, Maryland
6. Drew Radovich, OG, USC
22. Pedro Sosa, OT, Rutgers
23. Darius Reynaud, WR, West Virginia
27. Martail Burnett, DE, Utah
28. Jeremy Leman, ILB, Illinois
38. Marcus Griffin, S, Texas
40. Kyle Wright, QB, Miami (FL)

That’s seems like a pretty good set of additional rookies. If you put any stock in NFLDC's ability to rank/scout prospects, that is probably better than having 6 8th round picks (were the draft to be longer).

The Vikings may have added some more depth at the OL with the additions of Radovich and Sosa. Radovich was a solid starting guard for USC for the last few seasons and Sosa has been Rutgers' starting left tackle for the last three seasons.

The signing I am really intrigued by though, is of EJ Henderson's little brother Erin.
Erin went to Maryland as a QB and was redshirted as a freshman. That season he was switched to LB. In his redshirt freshman season he tore his ACL during fall practice and missed the entire season. In the very next season, 2006, he stepped into the Terps starting lineup and was eventually named a second-team all ACC linebacker. In 2007 he improved on that performance racking up 133 tackles in only 12 games (he missed one due to injury) which lead to his being named first-team all-ACC and one of 10 Butkis award semi-finalists.

He decided to forgo his final season at Maryland and declared himself eligible for the draft.

So, why didn't he get drafted?

If I had to guess, which I do, I'd say it was mostly a combination of two factors, his injury history and his uninspiring timed speed (4.7 40 at the combine).

NFL Draft countdown had him ranked 8th among eligible OLBs (2nd/3rd round talent) and nfldraftscout.com had him ranked 5th (69th overall).


Here is his scouting report from NFLDC:

Strengths:
Has good size and bulk...Real aggressive and plays with a nasty demeanor..Great instincts and awareness...Has decent range and does a nice job in pursuit...A big hitter and reliable tackler...Very good change of direction skills...Can hold his own in zone coverage...Versatile...Hard worker...Excellent intangibles...Nice bloodlines.

Weaknesses:
Has battled a number of injuries in college and durability is a huge concern...Plays too tall...Has trouble taking on and shedding blockers...Does not have elite speed or athleticism and looks stiff...Has to get stronger..Lacks fluid hips and has trouble matching up in coverage...Is not overly stout at the point...Upside may be limited.


Sounds pretty good to me. Henderson II definitely still has work to do to even make the roster, but I think he represents a great example of how to cheaply add quality depth… and under looked but important aspect of building a winning team. And who knows? Maybe he'll be starting next to his brother in a year or two?

Simple, Scottish, Indie Rock:





See, "weird" isn't one of my qualifications for "good."

Posted bySL__72 at 9:58 PM 7 comments  

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Jared Allen, We Got'em
Thursday, April 24, 2008

I wrote this last night but for some reason didn't ever post it...

Edwards Williams Williams Allen
Leber Henderson Greenway
Winfield Sharper Williams Griffin

The Vikings should be very very good on defense next season. Here are the Vikings defensive line ratings (from FO of coarse) the last two seasons:
2007: 2nd best at stopping the run, 28th best pass rush
2006: best at stopping the run, 31st best pass rush

The thing is, before the addition of Allen the Vikings probably already had a better pair of (healthy) pass rushing ends going into 2008 than they've had the past few seasons. Adding an elite pass rusher who is also very strong against the run (something Edwards and Robison might struggle with) is huge, even more so because they were so lacking in depth at DE before this trade.

Allen is worth the draft picks. The one thing I am certain that the Vikings are excellent at is managing the cap, so I'm not really worried about the contract either. This is definitely a win-now gamble, but it looks like a good one. The Vikings key pieces on both sides of the ball (with the possible exceptions of TJack and Rice) are all at or past their prime. Taking a win now approach is exactly what the Vikings need to be doing. Before this trade I honestly thought the Vikings were favorites to win the division, now they may have separated themselves as one of the better teams in the NFC. Sure, that doesn't mean they are on the same level as the top AFC teams, but as we saw last year, you don't have to beat them to get to the Super Bowl and anything can happen in one game.

The Vikings biggest concern now should be whether or not McKinnie will be missing any playing time due to his little Florida "incident."

Also, congrats to the Cowboys for making a great low risk high reward trade this week. Jones' skills as a return man are certainly worth a 4th round pick... not to mention that he is probably a top5 CB. The BS ESPN spouts about locker room cancers etc. doesn't mean much when it comes to game time. The Cowboys know that. They won 3 Super Bowls in the 90's despite being a complete mess off the field.

Posted bySL__72 at 12:41 PM 0 comments  

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Jared Allen
Thursday, April 17, 2008

For those currently not following the latest in NFL news rumors:

The Vikings are reportedly in negotiations with the KC Chiefs to acquire Jared Allen. ESPN is reporting that the Vikings are considering sending their 1st and 2nd round draft picks in the 2009 draft to KC for his rights. Rotowire is reporting this year's first rounder and next year's 2nd rounder. I'm not sure which I'd prefer, but they both sound like decent deals.

Jared Allen is 6-6, 270. Last season, in 14 games, Allen recorded 15.5 sacks and 65 total tackles. Next season he will be only 26. He has supposedly completely quit drinking.

It seems like Allen might be moving very soon, either here or to Tampa. Edwards/Williams/Williams/Allen would be pretty much sick, hopefully they can work this out.

I forgot to mention. Allen is supposedly going to be here tomorrow, likely to discuss the particulars of a contract if this trade were to go down.

Posted bySL__72 at 4:45 PM 5 comments  

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Twins and Rays and Wild

Everett is having arm trouble. I was a big fan of signing Everett in the offseason, but that was because he has been the best defensive shortstop in the game since he made the bigs, by far. If he can't play defense, he can't play, its as simple as that. In fact, even if he was fully healthy and defending like he has over the past few years, I wouldn't mind seeing Tolbert starting over him at short (especially vs. right handed pitchers) when Slowey or Baker is pitching as they are both extreme fly ball pitchers... which means the defensive value of the shortstop is lessened.

After blowing two leads in a row, the Twins bullpen pitched three scoreless innings tonight. Of coarse Kubel had a good game. I love the PT Kubel has been getting lately, but I'm worried about what will happen when Cuddy returns... which doesn't sound imminent. Hopefully he still gets plenty of PAs.

The Twins play their final home game against the Rays for the season tomorrow. I like some things about the unbalanced schedule, but I wish I could have at least one chance to watch them play.

5-0 last night was ugly. What makes it worse was this article published before the game:
http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_8927475
Oh, and read the comments, they are as funny as the article itself.

In honor of the concert I'm going to this Friday:

Posted bySL__72 at 12:17 AM 5 comments  

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Notes from a loss and a huge win
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Tough loss for the Twins tonight. Blackburn actually had a decent outing which makes it even worse. Its especially rough to see Neshek get roughed up. Check out this pitch though, I think I remember him talking about this one during spring training:


While I'm on the topic of Neshek, he's made some good posts lately. One on when the best times to get his autograph at a game are, which included this gem:
"I heard they are selling my t-shirts at the dome, if you pick one up be sure to stop down and have me sign it."
and another on the best techniques for requesting a player's autograph through the mail.

Yahoo also published a decent article about him a couple of days ago.

I literally started laughing out loud (at work) when Punto was called on to pinch hit in the 9th with 2 outs, 2 on and down by two. One of those sad laughs where you really should be crying but its so pathetic that you have to laugh. I might have died laughing had he actually taken one out (to opposite field) but sadly he only has warning track power. A Buscher/Jones would have been nice to have in that situation. I also wonder why Gardy picked Punto over Tolbert as the pinch hitter...?

I also don't like Span batting 2 while Kubel is way down at 6. TBH I'd probably bat Apan first and move Gomez to 9 if I were filling out tonights lineup though...

Other interesting things that happened around the league tonight:

Bot 7th: Tampa Bay
- C. Crawford homered to deep right, J. Bartlett scored
- B.J. Upton homered to deep center, C. Pena scored
- E. Longoria homered to deep left

Joe Borowski: .2ip, 4h, 3r, 1HR, L, BS
Randy Johnson: 5ip, 0er (3r), 7k
Evan Longoria: 2/3, BB, 2B, HR

Longoria's extends his career long "never gone hitless in the MLB" streak to 3 games...

Great win for the Wild tonight. 3rd consecutive OT game, third consecutive 3-2 game and it took a fluke bounce to finish it off, but I'll take it. Since it was in Colorado I actually got to watch the whole third period (plus bonus hockey!)

Posted bySL__72 at 12:16 AM 0 comments  

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Early Impressions
Thursday, April 10, 2008

Since tonight was Top Chef night (and thus there was wine being consumed at my house) I'm just doing the short version.

Gomez: Speed is as advertised. Hitting is as raw as expected also.
Blackburn: Better then expected. Didn't expect him to miss bats as well as he has so far. 11k in 12 innings is like twice what he was doing in the minors last season.
Livan: Not convinced. 85mph fastball, 67mph curve, hes going to get rocked many times this year.
Harris: So far impressed with his defense. I have hope he can be a competent 2B.
Delmon: Tonight he finally got his first hit to LF. Swing too long? I hope not.
Mauer: Get some lift on the ball
Monroe: Every bit as good at hitting as I expected
Span: Not necessarily a fan of his call up but 've been impressed with his plate discipline so far (mostly in spring training that is). I'd play him in left and Delmon in right if they are both starting.
Tolbert: Matty T! Leading the team in SLG! And OBP! I wonder if his .500 BA has something to do with that...? Anyway, looks like the Twins may have found their guy to replace Punto after his contract ends this season. Even a decent hitter.
Punto: 3rd on the team in BA! Whatever, Tolbert's OPS is over 1.000
Lamb: :(
Cuddy: I don't like that you play RF. I don't like your contract. You are our right handed batter! Get healthy!
Everett: 2 errors already?
Redmond: Only 1 game so far? PECOTA projections vs. LHP:
Redmond: 736OPS
Monroe: 760OPS
Mauer: 703OPS

When should Mauer get his rest? Hrm...

$3.8m to gain 24 points of OPS at DH over your BACKUP CATCHER! Awesome... awesome.

Oh yeah, and Kubel?

BOOOOM!

Yup.

Live Daft Punk...


Posted bySL__72 at 12:46 AM 1 comments  

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Game 2
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Well that was ugly. Game 2 decidedly worse than game 1. Except that I was sitting in the front row by the away on deck circle for most of it

Some thoughts:

Young doesn't look as big as I thought he would.
Lamb isn't really a fat white guy. More like a normal sized white guy with a fat face. .
Vlad is huge.

Mauer is huge. I never really realized it before but he is actually bigger then Morneau. I think they need to get Mauer to spend some more time in the weight room.
I thought Tolbert looked pretty fast down the line in his PH ground out.

Gomez is super fast LDO. If you click on the "Anaheim Angels all the way" link over on the left you will see that Chone Smith clocked Gomez at 3.1 seconds to first on his bunt single on opening night... which is pretty ridiculous. He did it using DVR and averaging timings I think too, which should cut down on error.

The Twins had their best vs. RHP lineup going yesterday (I think, Harris vs. Tolbert might be close) and basically got dominated by Jon Garland...

Our bullpen after Neshek, Guerrier, Reyes and Nathan could be shaky.

Crain looked OK, his fastball was sitting around 95mph so it looks like he has regained all of his velocity. He threw one right down the middle that Chone hit his double on and then threw an ugly wild pitch to start out Matthews AB, but ended up getting him on a good, hard (91mph) slider.

Funny that Everett made an error and drove in the team's only run.

Two major league debuts yesterday I think. Matt Tolbert pinch hitting and Brian Bass' relief appearance.

Hopefully Gardy was just giving Monroe a chance because it was opening day and Kubel DHing vs. RHP is a trend that will continue.

Tonight Blackburn will be getting his first MLB start going up against Joe Saunders, the first lefty the team will face this year.

I'm guessing Punto will start at 3rd for Lamb and Monroe will be DH. Or maybe Tolbert will get his first career start? He'd probably be a better option offensively than Punto or Lamb vs. a LHP. Sadly the Twins are going to probably have an offensive black hole vs. lefties at 3rd no matter what.

Here is how I'd do it tonight I think:

Gomez CF
Redmond C
Cuddyer DH
Morneau 1B
Young LF
Monroe RF
Harris 2B
Tolbert 3B
Everett SS

(Or Cuddy RF and Monroe DH. Its probably is close to a tossup in RF with Monroe having better range and Cuddy having a better arm and more experience playing RF in the dome)

Posted bySL__72 at 11:07 AM 0 comments  

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Quick update
Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Leaving work early to go to the game! Looks like Kubel is starting tonight at DH!

Posted bySL__72 at 6:43 PM 0 comments  

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