Five NFL Questions

The Eagan household consisting of Fuzz, Q and Dogg are in the running right now to write the Vikings entry for "USAtoday.com's Blog Squad." Here is an entry from last Friday. We should have posted it last week, but we forgot. If we end up getting the gig, we'll obviously link it to our site here for all of you to view....

Below are five random NFL questions with some emphasis on the Vikings. The three distinguished writers of SuperbowlHomeboy answer each riveting question.

Question #1: Are you gentleman looking forward to tonight’s first preseason game vs. the St. Louis Rams? Any Predictions?



Dogg:
Vikes win in a landslide. We are the type of team that has too many average players that when it comes down to the 4th quarter, we might be playing guys who start for us week 1. The Rams will be playing their freshman team by then. Vikes 44 Rams 10

Fuzz:
Preseason games are worthless to me. They don't mean one thing. The starters usually play two to three series' and then they get benched. Then us rubes have to sit through a bunch of no-names that will be cut in 10 days and pretend we care. The logical move would be to change the channel, but it's football. It's impossible to change it. So, I'm looking forward to the first quarter and that's about it...

Q:
I mean, every football fan looks forward to the first preseason game because football is finally back. It's going to be nice just to see the Purple (and those gawd awful jerseys) on TV. That said, it's the first preseason game and as much as our first team needs to be playing, I just don't see it. Childress and Co. are going to pretend this is a real team and play the starters for a series, two at the most, and then we'll see backups the rest
of the way.

You want a prediction? That by tomorrow morning most of Viking Nation will be calling for Brooks Bollinger to be the starter after he leads multiple scoring drives and T Jack looks like a lost puppy.


Question #2: Preseason football, feel the excitement! Anyways, Brad Childress aka Chilly called all of our plays last year. Only 10 head coaches in the NFL last year called the majority of their offensive plays for their teams. Do you agree with head coaches taking on this huge responsibility? Or should coaches defer to their offensive coordinators like Darrell Bevell for the Vikings?

Q:
Multi-layered question here. I've heard reports that he's going let Bevell call some of the plays during the preseason. Huge mistake. Either he calls the plays or Bevell does. You can't have multiple coaches calling plays throughout the course of a game/season. Different styles, different thoughts, different game plans, etc.

That said, I think the coordinator should always call the plays. He is responsible for the offense. It's in his title. He's closer to the offensive players. Knows strengths and weakness of his players better. Plus, it's his only responsibility. I think you can focus more when it's your sole responsibility to game plan for each Sunday. Head coaches are supposed to be responsible for the entire team and when you're calling plays, that's all you're thinking of. You lose focus on the defense and special teams because you're always trying to figure out your next offensive approach. Let the coordinator do his job.

Fuzz:
I disagree with you Q. I think if the head coach is good enough he has all the right in the world to call the plays. Most of these head coaches are former offensive coordinators anyways. They’re well qualified. Plus, a lot of these coaches have had great success. Gruden, Holmgren and Shanahan have all called plays and their teams have won the Superbowl. Also, guys like Sean Payton of the Saints and Andy Reid of the Eagles have had good playoff success. I think it depends on the coach. If a coach can’t handle the responsibility of overseeing his team and calling the plays, he should be smart enough to hand them off to his O-coordinator. In the Vikings case, I don’t think Chilly can take on both roles so I believe he should pass it on to Bevell.

Dogg:
One guy should call all the plays, period. Whether that’s the head coach or an offensive coordinator doesn’t really matter to me. But if it is in fact the head coach, his duties elsewhere should be reduced. An offensive mind needs the entire week to analyze film of the defense and watch his offense to see what’s going to work on a week-to-week basis. Pick a guy but it better be at least 90% of his job then otherwise your offense will never have a sniff.

Maybe if Andy Reid didn’t call the plays, they would’ve won a SB by now.



Question #3: Q is right, the reports are saying Bevell will be having a tryout period during the pre-season calling some of the plays. Let’s hope he calls 28’s number. That would be our brand new cereal prize, Adrian Peterson. In a sit down interview on Vikings.com he had this to say about his expectations for this year:

“I'm the type of person, I set my bar high. I am not right now just going to throw out any numbers, but I can sit here and tell you I would like to get rookie of the year and MVP. That is just how I set my bar.”

What do you guys think of those comments? Is he too cocky? Or is he right? What do you think are his realistic expectations?

Q:
I hate when people make a big deal out of quotes like this. What's he supposed to say? "Well, I'm just a rookie and I'm not that good so don't expect much." Give me a break. He's confident in his skills and thinks he can succeed. That's exactly what I want to hear.

As for realistic expectations, that's going to completely depend on play calling. How many carries to him and Taylor share? How often is Taylor split out wide? Things like that are going to determine his overall value this year. For now, let's call it 700 rushing yards and 5 TDs.

Fuzz:
Personally, I have a man crush on AP right now. I love him. I love the swagger and cockiness he puts off. He knows he’s good and he just wants people to know that. What’s the big deal is right? However, saying the words MVP might be a little nutso. He’s either on something or onto something with comments like that. Rookie of the year is definitely in reach with our offensive line being one of the better ones in the league. I’m a little more optimistic then my comrade Q. Let’s put him at 1100 total yds and 8 TD’s.

Dogg:
These comments don’t bother me anymore because every NFL rookie that gets taken in the first 4 rounds says that these days. I don’t care what they say but if you do in fact say something like that, you better step on the field immediately and have an impact week 1. You put yourself into a pickle when you say things like that but some rise up to the occasion and are out to prove something and others are just not thinking. Lets hope A.P. is one of those guys who’s out to prove something this year.


Question #4: Along with Adrian Peterson, this years draft had another year of solid offensive stars. For all the fantasy rubes out there gearing up for their fantasy drafts in the coming weeks, what rookies do you think are going to make the biggest splash in fantasy football land this year? Surprises? Busts? Etc…


Which rookie will catch lighting in a bottle like Colston?

Fuzz:
Since I think Adrian Peterson is going to win Rookie of the year with those stats, that’s the first guy on the list. Besides him, keep an eye on these two WR’s: Robert Meachem and Anthony Gonzalez. Meachem is with the Saints and Gonzalez is with the Colts. The Saints and Colts were both in the top five in the NFL in points scored per game last year. So, Meachem and Gonzalez are apart of big time offenses that put points on the board. With Horn gone from New Orleans, Meachem is going to great probably the best opportunity out of any rookie WR to perform well. He’s currently 2nd on the depth chart behind second year guy Colston. He’s going to see plenty of throws his way. With Gonzalez, the obvious comparison is comparing him with Stokley. Manning loves to throw touchdowns and he loves throwing to guys in the slot. Gonzalez might not get the yards or receptions, but he could see a high number of TD’s.

Q:
First of all, I'm calling shenanigans on Fuzz for this question because we play in the same fantasy football league and our draft is tonight. Since I'm the two time defending champion, he's obviously looking to get some free fantasy advice out of me in this not-so-sneaky way. That said...

I love Dwayne Bowe in Kansas City. I know that either Huard or Croyle are going to be the quarterback and that's less than desirable. However, they still will have the specimen that is LJ running the ball and the QB is going to have to throw to someone other than Gonzo and 68-year-old Eddie Kennison, so Bowe could be the man. I too am a Meachem fan. Another guy to watch out for is Chris Henry in Tennessee. As far as I know, they have LenDale White penciled in as the starter. I think that sentence alone is enough to convince you that Henry could get a decent number of carries. Every year a rookie RB comes seemingly out of nowhere to post good numbers, and Henry is my pick to be that guy.

Dogg:
I hate rookies and can never trust them for an entire first season. It’s guys like Colston and Boldin who turn in the monster rookie campaigns. I think it’s nearly impossible to predict any rookies having good years. I would say Calvin Johnson but I thought the same thing for Mike Williams in Detroit. Right now, if I was a fantasy football participant, I would take Michael Bush out of Louisville.

There you go Fuzz. Now stop trying to get my sleeper picks for tonight.

Question #5: Ok, last question. Our favorite NFL felon Pacman Jones just signed to wrestle for the TNA league. He’ll probably just go by Pacman, but if you were about to join a wrestling league, what ring name would you go by?



Q:
Um, wow. Not the hard-hitting, in-depth, NFL-type question I was expecting. I think I'd go with one of the following:
1. "The Bulldog" (not British) because I'm short, stocky, tough to take
down, and tenacious.
2. "Soldier" because, like Kellen Winslow Jr., "I'm a (expletive) soldier!"
3. "The Man" for obvious reasons...

Dogg:
1. “Tank”: Because that is my nickname and it's the name of a fellow Minnesota
Viking.
2. ”Tow Truck”: I can do it all.
3. “Nails”: Len Dykstra would be the best wrestler of all time.

Fuzz:
“Juice”

Out....