Both the Vikings and the Packers released their final injury reports for Monday night's game yesterday, and things look a lot better for the Vikings on the injury front than they do for Green Bay, in my opinion.

Let's start with Green Bay's injuries first.

And now for the Beloved Purple:

As you can see, the Vikings will have almost their entire complement of players heading into Monday night's game, while the Packers are going to have some injury issues.

Take a look at all of the injuries that Green Bay has on the defensive side of the ball, particularly along the defensive line.  Ryan Pickett isn't on their injury list, but he's also been limited in his participation during the pre-season.  The injury report might say that he's recovered. . .and the Vikings would be well served to test that.

If I was Brad Childress, I'd take my Tarvaris Jackson. . .provided he has his full mobility. . .and get him to the edge on rollouts, sprintouts, and so forth.  Make Green Bay's big uglies run around a little bit.  Between the injuries and the lack of depth on the interior of the Green Bay d-line, it would help the Vikings later on in the game, in my opinion.  Get Peterson and Taylor out on the edges, too, on tosses and swing passes.  Hopefully we'll see that early and often on Monday night.

More on the game as the weekend wears on, folks. . .I'm going to go back to tracking Hurricane Ike.  Yes, ANOTHER freaking hurricane.  Hurricane season has to stop eventually, doesn't it?

Alright. . .it's nice to take a second to not run from tropical storms and hurricanes and all sorts of other weather-related goodness and get back to what we do best around here. . .talking about the Beloved Purple.  Let's take a good look around at what's going on in Viking land this evening.

 The Vikings have released their first injury report for Monday's game against Green Bay.  It only has four players listed on it as of right now:

QB Tarvaris Jackson (knee)
HB Maurice Hicks (foot)
WR Robert Ferguson (ankle)
S Madieu Williams (neck)

Of those four, I believe that Williams is the only one that is set to miss Monday night's opener.  Jackson has repeatedly said that he's going to play, and I've not seen anything that indicates otherwise as of yet.  Ferguson was on the field for individual drills on Tuesday (according to Access Vikings).  I haven't heard anything else about Hicks' injury, but this is the first I've heard about it, which leads me to believe that it isn't terribly serious.

Green Bay's injury list is significantly longer at this point, as they've listed the following players with injuries:

S Atari Bigby (ankle)
T Chad Clifton (knees/chest)
DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (knee)
RB Ryan Grant (hamstring)
LB A.J. Hawk (chest)
WR James Jones (knee)
S Charlie Peprah (hamstring)
G Josh Sitton (knee)
DE Jeremy Thompson (groin)
C Scott Wells (back)
LB Tracy White (ankle)

Players don't need to be listed as out, doubtful, questionable, or probable until the final injury reports come out on Friday.  I'll attempt to dig up more about the extent of those injuries throughout the evening and into tomorrow.

Over at SI.com, Dr. Z continues the warm, fuzzy Purple love by putting Minnesota at #4 in his first Power Rankings of the season, behind only New England, San Diego, and Dallas.

I'll tell you what. . .I'm not used to all of this pre-season warm fuzziness by any means, but I think that it's something I COULD get used to.  I don't like the fact that Dr. Z has decided that we made a "big push" for Brett Favre in the off-season. . .you know, considering that we didn't make ANY push for Brett Favre. . .but we'll take what we can get at this point, I think.

Apparently the love is, indeed, spreading over at SI, as out of nine writers polled, eight of them have chosen the Vikings to win the NFC North.  Three of them. . .Dr. Z, Peter King, and someone called Dominic Bonvissuto. . .have chosen the Vikings to get all the way to the NFC title game, only to fall one step short of the Super Bowl.  King and Bonvissuto have them losing to Dallas, while Dr. Z has Philadelphia ending Minnesota's season.

 If you want some entertainment, I went onto a BetUS Radio Podcast along with Brandon, the head blogger over at Acme Packing Company.  It was a lot of fun, as Brandon is a rare breed. . .a Packer fan that's not completely detestible.  Anyway, it's entertaining, and it leads into an interview with K.C. Joyner, who I happen to be a big fan of, so go ahead and check it out.

That's all for tonight, folks. . .we'll get some more taken care of tomorrow night.  For now, I'm going back to channel surfing a few different things and keeping an eye on the Atlantic.  Hurricane Ike is already a Category 3 storm. . .and we all know that if anyone or anything is capable of kicking someone's ass, it's something named Ike.  Heck, it's a good thing that there isn't a Hurricane Tina anywhere to be found out there anyplace.

With that, I'll take my leave for the evening.  Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday night, and we'll see you back here tomorrow. . .hopefully with details for this year's Daily Norseman Pick 'Em Pool.

Okay, back into the swing of the roster projection here.  Thus far we've filled 9 roster spots out of our 53.  Here's who's in so far:

QB Tarvaris Jackson
QB Gus Frerotte
QB John David Booty
HB Adrian Peterson
HB Chester Taylor
HB Maurice Hicks
FB Thomas Tapeh
FB Naufahu Tahi
FB Jeff Dugan

And yes, I did debate whether to put Dugan in the FB category or the TE category.  I finally placed him with the FBs because I think that's more or less what his role is.  Unless my memory is bad, I seem to remember him lining up in the backfield more frequently than as an in-line blocker, but it's entirely possible that I'm wrong there.

Now we get to a position that might actually have some intrigue involved with it, the Minnesota wide receivers.  We'll start with the wide receivers.  Here's a quick little riddle for everybody.  What do Troy Williamson, Koren Robinson, Travis Taylor, Billy McMullen, Bethel Johnson, and Marcus Robinson have in common?

Give up?  I'll accept one of two answers:

1)  They were the wide receivers that the Vikings had when Brad Childress took the reins before the 2006 season.
2)  None of them are drawing a paycheck from the Minnesota Vikings any more.

In fact, here's everyone that IS currently getting paychecks from the Beloved Purple at the WR position:

Now, the intrigue isn't so much at the top of the depth chart in this case as it is at the bottom.  But, naturally, we'll start out at the top.

Obviously, the Vikings didn't bring Bernard Berrian in at the money they gave him so that he could "compete for playing time."  Berrian is going to be a big part of establishing the legitimacy of the Minnesota passing game in 2008.  When one takes into consideration what he was surrounded by in Chicago, it's pretty amazing that Berrian was able to compile the sort of numbers that he did in 2007 (71 catches, 951 yards, 5 TDs).  Now, if teams decide they're going to try to stuff 8 or 9 guys into the proverbial "box" to attempt to slow down Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, it's going to be Berrian's job to make them pay for it.  Hopefully Tarvaris Jackson has been working on the accuracy of his deep passes, because I've got a sneaky suspicion that #87 is going to be open a lot in 2008.

The next name on the depth chart should be equally obvious.  That name is Sidney Rice, the official receiver of The Daily Norseman.  Rice led the Vikings in touchdown receptions in 2007 with. . .ummm, 4.  Yeah, not spectacular, but also not bad for a guy that just reached the legal drinking age a week before the season opener.  Watching Rice on the field (when he's healthy), it's very hard to not be impressed with his physical skills.  He's got outstanding size and leaping ability, as well as nice, soft hands.  The Minnesota passing game suffered significantly when Rice wasn't on the field in 2007, and I certainly hope that he can stay healthy in 2008 so he can show us what he's truly capable of.

The third and final lock for a roster spot from this group is Bobby Wade.  You have to love the effort that Wade put forward in 2007 when he led the Beloved Purple in both receptions and receiving yards, but he was also the definition of a #3 WR masquerading as a #1 option.  Now, with Berrian and Rice set up on the outsides, he can play the role he's best suited to. . .that being a slot/underneath option with the ability to create yardage after the catch.  As the Vikings' returning receiver from last year, you can bet that he already has a decent rapport with Tarvaris Jackson, as was evident in his two TD catches in the season finale against Denver.  That will only make him a bigger asset to the offense in 2008.

This is the point where things get a little murky.  This is going to depend on whether or not Brad Childress decides that he's going to keep 5 or 6 wide receivers on the roster this season.

In my little world where I have the final say, the next receiver on the depth chart is Aundrae Allison.  I love Allison for his return abilities as much as I love his potential as a receiver, but I think that he should get an increased look on offense based on what he showed last year.  He's got some serious speed, as we saw in his contributions to the return game in 2007, but he's also got decent hands and some shiftiness, too.  He's listed at 200 pounds, which makes him about 10 pounds heavier than I thought he was, and he might end up being a bigger version of Bobby Wade.  I like the guy's potential, though.

Next up would probably have to be the old graybeard, Robert Ferguson.  Anyone that's followed the site knows that I really wasn't a big proponent of the Ferguson signing when it took place, and I'm still not sure how great a receiver he is. . .but, boy howdy, the guy can block downfield better than darn near anybody in the league, and that's HUGE in this offense.  He was second on the Vikings last season in receptions (32, one more than Sidney Rice, who missed numerous games with injuries), but I hope we won't have to rely quite as heavily on his pass-catching skills in 2007.  His blocking skills and his ability to be a sort of mentor to a relatively young receiving corps should be enough to get him a roster spot.

For now, I think I'm going to keep six receivers on board. . .though I reserve the right to "cut" one later if I feel a roster spot is better used elsewhere.  (These are the decisions I have to make, people.)  Fighting for that #6 spot in our scenario here is a collection of rookies, undrafted free agents, and practice squad players.  When Mr. Cheer or Die was at the Vikings' mini-camp last week, he seemed to be very impressed by the pure speed of Jaymar Johnson, one of Minnesota's sixth-round selections in the 2008 Draft.  From the highlights I've seen of him, I can't argue with him about Johnson's speed, but it does come with the tradeoff of being very thinly built, at least as far as I can tell.  He's got an adjustment to make to the speed of the NFL game, but he's a pretty intriguing prospect.

Quick, who was the leading receiver for the University of Texas in 2007?  If you said Limas Sweed, you are. . .completely and totally wrong.  It was, in fact, Nate Jones, who the Vikings signed as an undrafted free agent shortly after the conclusion of the 2008 Draft.  After Sweed went down with an injury, Jones stepped up and led the Longhorns in both receptions (70) and receiving yards (795) while tying for the team lead in TD receptions (5).  He's got decent size, but he has his work cut out for him if he's going to fight for a spot on this roster.

As will another high-profile UDFA. . .or as high-profile as UDFAs can get, anyway. . .Darius Reynaud out of West Virginia.  Reynaud was considered by many sources to be the best receiver not to be selected in the 2008 Draft.  He's a short, quick receiver with some pretty good return abilities.

As for the rest of the people listed. . .I don't see any of them really having an impact or having much of a chance to make the roster.  I know that I, along with frequent commenter UncleBillyBonz, have been on the Martin Nance bandwagon for a while, but that ship has either sailed or is never going to get out of port. . .I'm not sure which.  (I'm Air Force, not Navy.)  Justin Surrency has spent a couple of years on the practice squad, and Brent Little and Daniel Davis are pretty much just there to play the fourth quarter of the first pre-season game before getting cut.

I think that, in the end, the Vikings are going to end up being just intrigued enough with the pure speed of Jaymar Johnson that they'll keep him around on the final roster.  Which would leave the wide receiver depth chart looking like this:

Starters:  Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice
Backups:  Bobby Wade, Aundrae Allison, Robert Ferguson, Jaymar Johnson
Practice Squad Candidates:  Nate Jones, Darius Reynaud
Buh-Bye:  Brent Little, Daniel Davis, Justin Surrency, Martin Nance

What do you think, everybody?  Do any of you out there have any more info on guys like Nate Jones or Darius Reynaud or anyone else that I've missed or that you think could sway the decision process one way or another?  I thought about including the tight ends here, too, but after further review I think they deserve their own post.

We'll get to that post tomorrow. . .until then, enjoy the rest of your Thursday night, everybody!

With Organized Team Activites officially underway, the battles for position have officially started.  The Vikings don't have a lot of intrigue as far as who the starters are going to be in many cases, but the battle for roster spots should prove to be fairly interesting at a few positions.  We'll start by taking a look at the quarterback position.

Quarterback

This is one of those positions where there's not a lot of intrigue taking place.  We know that Tarvaris Jackson is the starter, that Gus Frerotte is the primary backup, and that John David Booty is going to be the third-string.

Honestly, there's no reason for Jackson to not be productive in 2008.  He's got the best rushing attack in the NFC, if not the entire NFL, at his disposal.  He's got a neat new toy to play with in the passing game in Bernard Berrian.  He's got a budding superstar on the other side in Sidney Rice.  But most importantly, he's got a full year of experience in this offense, as does pretty much everyone around him.  Think about it. . .with the exception of Stone Hands Williamson, every receiver that took the field for the Vikings in 2007 was brand new to the offense.  Bobby Wade, Sidney Rice, Aundrae Allison, Robert Ferguson. . .all either rookies or guys brought in from other teams.  Now they've all been in the system for a year and are familiar with each other, and I can't possibly see that being anything but a help to their productivity.

Gus Frerotte. . .say what you will about the guy headbutting concrete walls and stuff like that, but when I filled out the table above, I couldn't believe it when I read that he's been in the NFL for 15 years.  He's the embodiment of a journeyman quarterback, having played for roughly half the teams in the NFL over those 15 years. . .or, at least, it seems that way. . .but that's part of the reason he's here.  He's going to help mentor the two youngsters on the Vikings' roster and help them become better quarterbacks.  Also, he won't whine about his station on the team, unlike some other backup-caliber quarterbacks in recent Vikings history.  *cough*BradJohnson*cough*

John David Booty was an outstanding choice for the Vikings in the 5th round of this year's draft.  He's accurate, he's got a quick release, and he was very productive at Southern Cal.  While it's fairly insane to suggest that he's going to push for playing time in 2008, he's clearly the best long-term developmental type that the Vikings have.

As any of you that have read this site for a while know, I'm not a huge Brooks Bollinger fan.  With Jackson, Frerotte, and Booty in the fold, I just don't see anything earth-shattering that Bollinger can bring to the table for the Vikings at this point, and this team would be crazy to keep four quarterbacks, so I'm pretty sure that he's not long for the roster.  Whether he just gets outright cut or the Vikings manage to deal him for a low round draft choice somewhere down the line is something to watch for, but I'd be very surprised if he has any trade value.

Kyle Wright. . .well, unless the Vikings want to try to get him onto the practice squad, I don't think he's got much of a future in Minnesota.  He was highly recruited in high school, and managed to parlay that into, really, a whole lot of nothing down at the U.  I don't see a whole lot to get excited about with him.

So, to review:

Starter:  Tarvaris Jackson
Backup:  Obi-Wan Frerotte
Long-Term Project:  John David Booty
Trade Bait:  Brooks Bollinger
Practice Squad (if he's lucky):  Kyle Wright

So there's three spots on the roster. . .only 50 more to project!  Tomorrow we'll come back with the running backs, which should be incredibly tough to sort out as well (he said sarcastically).

I hope that everyone's long weekend has started off well, and we'll see you back here as the weekend progresses!