The kickoff is near as Vikings fans get ready to fill the Mall of America Field. It seems like an eternity since the last game on January 1st at home against the Chicago Bears.
I went through 2 fantasy drafts on Tuesday September 4th and what I found in common in both is the Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew and the Vikes Adrian Peterson did not go as high as in the past.
This is a game coming up with two of the premier running backs in the league. Jones-Drew just ended a 38 day holdout before just recently showing up to the team. Jacksonville has named Rashad Jennings their starter however I would not be surprised to see Jones-Drew get more carries.
The Vikings Adrian Peterson all Vikings fans know his story about his incredible comeback thus far. There is much speculation in the media how much AP will play. The only way we are going to find out is by watching the game and see for ourselves.
It will so fun to see how the Vikings defense can do against the Jaguars running game. The team had been making better strides in preseason and now that it counts can they keep up the getting tougher against the run? Noon on Sunday we all witness first hand this youthful Vikings team with hungry home fans supporting the team wanting a victory badly.
The two teams have not had the best couple of seasons and with that comes high draft picks. In 2011 Jacksonville took Quarterback Blaine Gabbert out of Missouri with the 10th pick. Minnesota two pick later took Christian Ponder. The stats although in the past season were very similar with Gabbert throwing 12 TD’s and 11 interceptions while our own Ponder had 13 TD’s and 13 interceptions.
It is year 2 for both and with that the hope at least for Ponder is he can adjust and learn from last season. I am a believer after going to Mankato and watching first hand.
In 2012 Minnesota took Matt Kalil with the fourth pick out of USC and and at pick 5 the Jaguars selected out of Oklahoma State wide receiver, Justin Blackmon. This was a name I heard much about with the speculation who the Vikings would take Kalil, Blackmon, or defensive back Morris Claiborne from LSU.
Kalil vs Blackmon, who will have a better game Sunday will be a fun aspect of the game to watch. The beast Kalil will have pressure to protect Ponder’s blind side and Blackmon will try and help a Jaguar offense get started.
It is strange the first game of the year features 4 draft picks so close in draft order number. It will be two rebuilding youthful teams fighting it out on Sunday. I know the Vikings will not disappoint.
Thanks for reading
Purplestick
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