In 2011 Cedric Griffin, Husain Abdullah, Asher Allen major parts of the Vikings secondary. Griffin left via free agency and signed with the Redskins. Asher Allen retired at the age of 24 and Abdullh also has left.
The secondary struggled seemingly much of last year and then lose 3 of the guys from this squad leaves even more questions. I for one am excited after studying the roster and see what this team has brought in.
I will start with the safety position. Jamarca Sanford in his 4th year with the team was a starter last year. He is a hitter. It is nice to have some ground work back there.
Eric Frampton is a safety but has been primarily used on special teams. This will be his 7th NFL season. In the last 5 seasons Frampton has led special teams in tackles with 85 in only 71 games. He is a proven tackler which could help back there.
The team also drafted Harrison Smith late in the first round out of Notre Dame. I love what I have read about him. He is big at 6'2" and physical. He had 7 interceptions in his college career. He was thought of as a quarterback in the defensive backfield and getting everyone lined up. He is a take charge guy. I am anxious to see how he can fit this in as a rookie.
The team also drafted Robert Blanton also coming from Notre Dame. He was a cornerback but Coach Frazier is working in getting him into safety mode. I found a word that desribed Blanton and that word is savvy. The same article mentions savvy like a Winfield, Champ Bailey and Ike Taylor type player. This is great company to even be mentioned with. He is also a hitter. To read comnments like this is exciting but I will be more excited with this exhibited in Mankato and the rest of the season.
Mistral Raymond, 2011 draft choice is also in the mix. I like what I saw out him last season and with a year under his belt should be a help. I read a fact I did not know about him. Mistral was the first Vikings player ever drafted from South Florida University. This school did not start a football program until 1997.
The cornerbacks starts with Antoine Winfield in his 14th NFL season and 9th with the Vikings. He has seen it all and would sure be nice to get a Super Bowl trophy for him. The man is amazing standing 5'8" and how he can take big guys down is unbelievable. He is not afraid to get low on an oncomimg run away train and hit him low and watch the giant go tumbling down.
The competition after that is wide open. Chris Cook I would think might be the favorite to land a spot. The off season turmoil he went through will be interesting to watch how he recovers. He is talented along with being tall is an advantage in coveing the likes of the "Megatron" Calvin Johnson from the Lions. One note on Cook is he was the highest drafted defensive back by the Vikings since 1994 when Dewayne Washington was taken in the first round.
The NFC North has got to have the best receivers the team will face all year. The Packers with Greg Jennings,Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver. The Detroit Lions with Nate Burleson and Calvin Johnson. The Chicago Bears having Devin Hester, Johnny Knox and in the offseason bringing in Brandon Marshall. What a bunch of receivers the Vikings must face along with the rest of their schedule.
To move on Zack Bowman, 5th NFL season 4 of which were with Chicago. He scored his first NFL TD against the Vikings so maybe he can return the favor and take one to the house against his old team.
Chris Carr, 8th NFL season played for Oakland,Tennessee and last Baltimore from which he came here. He does have a 100 yard interception for a TD in his career.
Marcus Sherels, 3rd season was used quite often in the punt return game. The local kid from the University of Minnesota and played his high school ball at Rochester John Marshall. How can you not pull for a kid to live a dream growing up in Minnesota and play for the Vikings.
Brandon Burton, 2011 draft choice gets another crack at it. It is wide open if Burton can have a good camp who knows what the future holds for him.
Josh Robinson, 2012 draft choice is my most intriguing player to watch. He had the fastest time in the 40 at the combine in his position finishing with 4.29 The speed is exciting. I read in another blog Coach Frazier thinking high enough of him that he would not rule him out as a starter. Once again talk is fun but I can not wait to see him perform. In college he went up against AJ Green when he was at Georgia University and held him to 77 yards. AJ had a monster rookie season in Cincinnati so this stat says a litle something about maybe the Vikings have found someone and only time will tell.
This is going to be awesome to watch the combo of youth and veterans working on forming the 2012 secondary along with some depth the team can count on
Next up- recent Vikings 1st round picks some panning out and others not quite.
Thanks for reading
Purplestick
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