2007 Minnesota Vikings Preview

2007 Minnesota Vikings preview from MadduxSports.com. As well as previews Maddux offers NFL football picks against the NFL point spread each week during the season.

Lopsided on Both Sides of the Ball
By Adam Barone

Things ought to be interesting this season in Minnesota, where the Vikings have put together what is quite possibly the most unusual roster in the entire NFL. They were lucky enough to have Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson fall to them at the #7 overall pick, and will pair him with incumbent RB Chester Taylor. Peterson is clearly the better back of the two, but his injured collarbone and Taylor's ability to gain tough yardage will give the Vikes good reason to have them split carries. Peterson is a big back and is extremely fast with an ability to make big plays and should be Minnesota's franchise player within very little time, assuming he doesn't have trouble with his collarbone.

At quarterback the Vikings will almost certainly have a problem. The weakest overall signal calling position in the league more than likely resides in Minnesota going into the season. For whatever reason, they have given the starting job to second year man Tarvaris Jackson and don't feel that they need a veteran backup, leaving that chore to Brooks Bollinger. Neither has experience as a starter, and neither is good. It's that simple. Hopefully the Vikings can find a way to win without ever passing. Jackson got into four games in 2006 and threw 2 TD's and 4 INT's. Fortunately for Jackson and Bollinger, the receiving corps is pretty horrible as well. At least that way they'll have someone else to blame. Bobby Wade, Billy McMullen, Troy Williamson and a list of even bigger no names will be the wideouts and Jim Kleinsasser the tight end. Kleinsasser may possess an innate ability to slam into people hard enough to kill them, but does not possess any speed at all and probably won't improve much on his 7 receptions from '06.

Preventing at least a few Minnesotans from hanging themselves from their ceiling fans, the defensive line is actually quite good. The Vikings ranked 8th overall defensively in 2006, first against the run. Kevin and Pat Williams (no relation) are both humongous and make it difficult for runners to get around them and the two offensive linemen or one lineman and a fullback who are usually blocking each of them. Also, by taking up extra blockers, the Williamses will help linebackers E.J. Henderson, former Hawkeye Chad Greenway and Ben Leber to have a clear path to the ball carrier.

Minnesota has managed to find a way to have two opposite extremes on both sides of the ball however, with a solid run game and probable atrocious passing game, along with ranking #1 against the run and dead last in the NFL against the pass. At least this way Vikings fans will know exactly what to expect when they either attend or watch games in the upcoming season. The Vikings will never pass, and their opponents will pass every play. Not surprisingly, this will make the Vikings bad. They'll be able to stop the run, but their opponents will only turn to the run enough so that the Vikings have to respect it, and then the Vikings will get the opportunity to watch the ball fly over their heads.

2007 Minnesota Vikings Predictions

The only chance the Vikings have is to pray that Tarvaris Jackson isn't as horrible as he probably is. Even if Adrian Peterson is phenomenal, the Vikings will never see any love from a right-minded sports handicapping guru unless they're getting a handful of points. Betting on the Vikings will only make sense against teams with a very poor run defense and few big play receivers if they are getting a sizeable number of points. It's highly unlikely that Minnesota will be able to establish any sort of consistency on either side of the ball and keep themselves out of the NFC North basement.

If you enjoyed reading our Minnesota Vikings preview read up on the rest of the NFC North opponents like the Lions, Packers, and Bears team outlooks from Maddux Sports.

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