indyvike
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Post by indyvike on May 6, 2024 22:26:25 GMT -6
Maybe a super underrated free agent by the national pundits for the Vikings is Jihad Ward. Iβve been watching his film and heβs very solid. I donβt want to use great, but heβs a very good football player. He can stand up as an edge defender, and he can put a hand in the dirt as an DT. I think heβs gonna be the third down defensive tackle and play the run or pass, I thought he really did a nice job against the run as well, with his hand in the dirt or standing up. He is gonna be my defense line surprise of the year!
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taz24
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Post by taz24 on May 7, 2024 6:48:51 GMT -6
Martindale loved him. He should be a good fit for Flores and give him more flexibility.
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mgb8
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Post by mgb8 on May 7, 2024 7:46:31 GMT -6
Maybe a super underrated free agent by the national pundits for the Vikings is Jihad Ward. Iβve been watching his film and heβs very solid. I donβt want to use great, but heβs a very good football player. He can stand up as an edge defender, and he can put a hand in the dirt as an DT. I think heβs gonna be the third down defensive tackle and play the run or pass, I thought he really did a nice job against the run as well, with his hand in the dirt or standing up. He is gonna be my defense line surprise of the year! Hope so! And while he is listed as an OLB on Vikings.com, I hope the intention is to primarily use him as a DE (at 285 lbs) and/or βbig edgeβ against heavy sets (and, like you said, an interior rusher in passing downs). The Vikes need someone besides Phillips to really step up on the DL, whether at the βDEβ spot (generally 5T) or the non-NT DT spot (generally 3T). do you have links you could share on what you have been watching? Addendum: I just watched a couple on YouTube, older but in one there was a criticism of his get-off, but in another, that was mostly ravens highlights of him, you could see that he actually does better getting off the snap with his hand down. He often hast an extra half second pause when standing up. Looks like a quality player, though. High effort/motor, good mobility, strong, good hands in terms of disengaging.
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JR44
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Post by JR44 on May 7, 2024 8:22:48 GMT -6
Amazingly, we didn't draft one player for the DL which along with CB is our weakest position group so hopefully he can play DE.
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Post by odinswrath on May 7, 2024 8:35:11 GMT -6
I think Ward will play the role Marcus Davenport was supposed to play last year.
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garp
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Post by garp on May 7, 2024 8:38:14 GMT -6
Agree, he is a horse. Plays with a passion and an edge that we need.
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shawn3458
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Post by shawn3458 on May 7, 2024 9:14:07 GMT -6
7 teams in 9 years. Underwhelming stat lines.
Yeah, Iβm not expecting much. The guy may look like Tarzan, but he plays like a JAG.
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RF54
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Post by RF54 on May 7, 2024 9:49:59 GMT -6
Amazingly, we didn't draft one player for the DL which along with CB is our weakest position group so hopefully he can play DE. Rodriguez?
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tavike
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Post by tavike on May 7, 2024 11:02:23 GMT -6
Amazingly, we didn't draft one player for the DL which along with CB is our weakest position group so hopefully he can play DE. I think iol is weaker than the CB room. At least they went out and got a CB as a free agent and in the draft. They did nothing for the IOL.
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mgb8
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Post by mgb8 on May 7, 2024 12:14:35 GMT -6
7 teams in 9 years. Underwhelming stat lines. Yeah, Iβm not expecting much. The guy may look like Tarzan, but he plays like a JAG. I donβt think thatβs fair. Yeah, he will be 30 so heβs not a long term piece. But last 2 years in NY he has been decent, and really he started to show in Baltimore, then Jacksonville. He got 40% of the snaps in Baltimore in games where he appeared on D. 40% in Jax the following year across 17 games (on a bad D). 60% on the giants the last 2 years, on good but not great Ds. look, no guarantee he even makes the roster, but he has some talent and is as good a candidate to step up as Tillery or Jonah Williams - more production than those two last year with similar ish snap countsβ¦
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mjollnir
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Post by mjollnir on May 7, 2024 12:19:04 GMT -6
Amazingly, we didn't draft one player for the DL which along with CB is our weakest position group so hopefully he can play DE. I think iol is weaker than the CB room. At least they went out and got a CB as a free agent and in the draft. They did nothing for the IOL. While not the sexy high round picks they did Draft Jurgens and Rouse. Signed Dan Freeney and signed a crapton of UDFA's Matt Cindric, Jeremy Flax, Doug Nester and Spencer Rolland. They may be camp body's but who knows. I am not that down on the offensive line as it is usually getting the right mix and everyone on the same page. (I think Brandel will be more even with respect to Pass and Run Blocking)
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ponifan
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Post by ponifan on May 7, 2024 12:30:47 GMT -6
Amazingly, we didn't draft one player for the DL which along with CB is our weakest position group so hopefully he can play DE. Rodriguez?
Yeah, Rodriguez could surprise, but we are talking NAIA level for the most part in college. Watching some of the game tape on the guy, I noticed he doesn't always use his hands...he didn't have to because he was so much bigger than the OGs he went up against. He just pushed them aside with his body momentum. We'll see what he can do against other UDFAs during pre-season, but I think he is PS at best this year.
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shawn3458
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Post by shawn3458 on May 7, 2024 12:44:03 GMT -6
7 teams in 9 years. Underwhelming stat lines. Yeah, Iβm not expecting much. The guy may look like Tarzan, but he plays like a JAG. Β I donβt think thatβs fair. Β Yeah, he will be 30 so heβs not a long term piece. But last 2 years in NY he has been decent, and really he started to show in Baltimore, then Jacksonville. Β He got 40% of the snaps in Baltimore in games where he appeared on D. 40% in Jax the following year across 17 games (on a bad D). 60% on the giants the last 2 years, on good but not great Ds. Β look, no guarantee he even makes the roster, but he has some talent and is as good a candidate to step up as Tillery or Jonah Williams - more production than those two last year with similar ish snap countsβ¦ HelI, I hope he ends up being a Tom Johnson type surprise. Iβm not holding my breath though.
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tavike
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Post by tavike on May 8, 2024 11:23:23 GMT -6
I donβt think thatβs fair. Yeah, he will be 30 so heβs not a long term piece. But last 2 years in NY he has been decent, and really he started to show in Baltimore, then Jacksonville. He got 40% of the snaps in Baltimore in games where he appeared on D. 40% in Jax the following year across 17 games (on a bad D). 60% on the giants the last 2 years, on good but not great Ds. look, no guarantee he even makes the roster, but he has some talent and is as good a candidate to step up as Tillery or Jonah Williams - more production than those two last year with similar ish snap countsβ¦ HelI, I hope he ends up being a Tom Johnson type surprise. Iβm not holding my breath though. Well, his pff grade was pitiful. If you put weight into that sort of thing
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shawn3458
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Post by shawn3458 on May 8, 2024 13:17:24 GMT -6
HelI, I hope he ends up being a Tom Johnson type surprise. Iβm not holding my breath though. Well, his pff grade was pitiful.Β If you put weight into that sort of thing Maybe he is like Anthony Barr was with Zimmer. He just does all the little, unquantifiable things that make an entire defense work. The things you have to have a deep inside knowledge of the system to even begin to have the slightest understanding.
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