The biggest thing the Minnesota Vikings need to do, after getting a new stadium deal done of course, is to get their players back on the field. They have to hope this lockout gets over quick so they can start training and evaluating their first round draft pick QB Christian Ponder. As it stands right now, he is the only QB on the Minnesota roster, so this team has some work ahead of it. They have some large free agency concerns, and we can effectively say this is a team in rebuilding mode.
So they need to find a gray beard to come in and mentor Ponder, and a capable veteran who can serve as his backup. It is a system teams like the New York jets have employed and it works pretty well. After that, they will need to work on resigning Sidney Rice, or finding a suitable replacement via free agency. I would also like to see them add a RB to help both Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart. The rest of the skill positions and offense seem to be fairly set.
Even though they did draft two D lineman in the 2011 NFL draft, they have big time free agency concerns here, and age is starting to become a factor there as well. I would expect them to look to the free agent market to bring in a D line veteran or two. They did draft a linebacker in the sixth round, but again age, holes, upgrades, and free agency is a concern here as well. Cleary this is a team that must begin rebuilding the defense.
They also have a few free agency concerns in the defensive secondary, and let us not forget Kicker Ryan Longwell is also a free agent. I seriously hope that the Vikings front office staff is getting plenty of rest because once the NFL is back to business they will be very busy indeed.
Related Links:
- Minnesota Vikings news and notes
- Joshua Lobdell.com