NCAA – Page 89 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Zim Looks for New WR to Play Now

Posted on April 24, 2020April 24, 2020 by David Shama

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer made known his expectations for first round draft choice Justin Jefferson last night on KFAN Radio. “He’ll be able to come in and should be able to play right away.”

The Vikings selected the former LSU wide receiver at No. 22 in last night’s NFL Draft. Zimmer praised Jefferson’s ability to play inside and outside in an offense. He also mentioned Jefferson’s work ethic in practice, competitive nature and intelligence.

Jefferson has a reputation for making difficult catches and the Vikings considered him one of the best wide receivers in the draft. “Quite honestly, we tried to move up and were hoping that he would be there,” Zimmer said.

Minnesota acquired another first rounder in TCU cornerback Jeff Gladney at No. 31. Zimmer told KFAN the 5-foot-10 Gladney needs improvement with his playing technique but expressed enthusiasm about his new defensive player.

“He’s very quick. Good accelerator, has a lot of speed,” Zimmer said. “He’s a little on the shorter side. (But) of some of the other guys (in the draft) he had longer arms and longer wing span. But he’s a very competitive kid… .”

Will Jefferson and Gladney ultimately be judged as productive players for the franchise? General manager Rick Spielman is in his ninth season with the Vikings and led last night’s opening round decisions. Looking at his eight previous drafts, Spielman hit the success button more often than not, but a few misses standout now when the Vikings have needs at cornerback and wide receiver.

Cornerback Trae Waynes and wide receiver Laquon Treadwell were first round selections in 2015 and 2016. Neither is with the team and they didn’t even come close to being impact contributors for Minnesota. Spielman drafted cornerback Mike Hughes No. 1 in 2018 and while opportunity waits in 2020, Hughes has struggled with injuries and has made only five career starts at a position of ongoing need.

Those three players haven’t benefitted Minnesota much, but five others have from earlier drafts. That includes last year when the Vikings made Garrett Bradbury the highest drafted center in franchise history at No. 18 in the first round. He was a starter in his rookie year and while evaluators say he has lots to improve on, he’s a first round success story right now.

The Vikings didn’t have a No. 1 pick in 2017 but let’s count running back Dalvin Cook to Spielman’s credit. At No. 41 in the second round he was the first player chosen by the Vikings that year, and he is the team’s best weapon on offense.

Spielman had two first rounders in 2014, linebacker Anthony Barr and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. At No. 9 in the first round of the draft, Barr was the second highest linebacker the franchise ever drafted and has been a Pro Bowler. Bridgewater was on track to become the club’s starting quarterback for years until a devastating knee injury in 2016 eventually caused the Vikings to move on.

Spielman maneuvered for three first rounders in 2013 in this order: defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, cornerback Xavier Rhodes and receiver-kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson. All three gave the Vikings help, with Rhodes becoming (at times) a shutdown cornerback playing one of the most important positions in the NFL.

The Vikings didn’t hit a homerun with their No. 4 pick in 2012, selecting offensive tackle Matt Kalil, but no one will deny Spielman a gold star for choosing safety Harrison Smith with the No. 29 selection of the first round. Smith is still a starter and has consistently been rated among the NFL’s better defensive players. In 2017 Pro Football Focus ranked him the third best player in the league.

From 2012-2015 Kalil started 64 consecutive games for Minnesota but is no longer with the team, and he never fulfilled the expectations of a No. 4 overall pick.

Worth Noting

With NFL teams done with the draft after Saturday, they will focus even more on college free agents and veteran NFL free agents. It could be a telling week for 32-year-old Everson Griffen who was once an All-Pro defensive end and opted for free agent status last month. Probably a long shot the Vikings will re-sign him.

Former Gopher All-American safety Antoine Winfield Jr. will likely be chosen in the second round of tonight’s continuing NFL Draft. Dan O’Brien, now head football coach at St. Thomas Academy, was a Gophers assistant coach when Minnesota recruited him. Winfield was only a three-star recruit out of high school in Texas but O’Brien said the Gopher coaches knew after the first couple of practices the freshman was going to be an impact player.

“He just had fantastic instincts,” O’Brien said. “It seemed like he would read the quarterback as good as any kid we had, even though he was just a freshman. He was one of those players that just was always in the right spot.”

With 13 verbal commits, including four four-star players, the 2021 Gophers football recruiting class is second in the Big Ten and No. 5 nationally in the latest 247Sports rankings.

Condolences to family and friends of former Gopher and Viking star lineman Milt Sunde from Bloomington, who died this week. Sunde, the Gopher team captain, played his last college game on the surprise date of Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1963. The game against Wisconsin at old Memorial Stadium had been moved from the original playing date of November 24 following the November 22 assassination of President John Kennedy. The Vikings drafted Sunde in the 20th round of the 1964 NFL Draft but he had a surprisingly successful career playing for 11 seasons for his hometown team.

Kerwin Walton, the four-star wing from Hopkins, is expected to announce his college choice Saturday. It’s believed his finalists are Arizona, Creighton, Minnesota and North Carolina. After following Walton’s recruiting, the guess here is Arizona will be the choice because of the Wildcats profile as a college heavyweight and the positive experience Zeke Nnjai, a former Hopkins teammate, had this season with the Pac-12 program.

This week NBAdraft.net projected Nnaji, a power forward, being selected at No. 22 in the first round. Gopher center Daniel Oturu is projected at No. 10, with Apple Valley point guard alum Tre Jones a second round pick at No. 41.

The NCAA has pushed its vote back to June regarding a new policy allowing a one-time immediate eligibility for athletes transferring from one school to another. Even if the policy is approved, it seems likely not to be implemented until the 2021-2022 school year given the late timing and upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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More Kirk Cousins Trade Speculation

Posted on April 14, 2020April 14, 2020 by David Shama

Welcome to a Tuesday notes column with information to know on the Vikings, Gophers, Twins, Kevin Garnett and more.

Trade rumors have been associated with 31-year-old Kirk Cousins during his NFL career dating back to his years with the Washington Redskins. The most recent conjecture comes from website 12.Up that speculated yesterday on the benefits of the Houston Texans sending potential franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson to Minnesota in exchange for Cousins and draft choices.

The Vikings are salary cap challenged and have two first round picks in next week’s NFL Draft. Cousins received a two-year contract extension in March that reportedly not only pays him $66 million but waives the no-trade clause in his previous deal. Watson, 24, is being paid about $14 million total on a four-year rookie contract and is not eligible for a new deal until next year.

While Watson is a valued young QB, 12.Up describes Texans general manager Bill O’Brien as unpredictable and capable of trading the 2017 first round draft choice. Last month many observers found it inexplicable the Vikings were willing to extend Cousins when his contract had a year to go and his performance has been inconsistent. But could there have been a potential trade in the front office’s planning?

Tarvaris Jackson, who died in a car crash Sunday, is part of a legacy group of Viking African-American quarterbacks that began with Warren Moon in 1994. Jackson, a 2006 second round draft choice, played five seasons with Minnesota and started 20 games. Other African-American starting quarterbacks with the Vikings have included Randall Cunningham, Daunte Culpepper, Teddy Bridgewater and Donovan McNabb.

In next week’s NFL Draft, the Vikings don’t need a repeat of how things worked out in 2016. The only player remaining on the roster of seven selections from that draft is linebacker Kentrell Brothers. Among those who didn’t make an impact from the 2016 draft is the team’s overall No. 1 pick, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell.

The Gophers’ 2021 recruiting class has moved up to No. 18 in the latest 247Sports national rankings after the recent verbal commitment of four-star cornerback Steven Ortiz Jr. from Goodyear, Arizona. Minnesota beat out prominent programs for Ortiz, including Penn State, Oregon and Washington, according to an online story last Thursday from the Arizona Republic.

“I love the energy of the coaching staff,” Ortiz said in the article. “It’s a program on the rise.”

As of today the current bid via VSA Auctions for Kirby Puckett’s game six worn 1991 World Series jersey was $37,925. The bid on a 1987 World Series Puckett jersey was $12,650.

The auction was mentioned to Gregg Wong, the former Pioneer Press sportswriter who reported on the Twins and Puckett for years. Wong said Puckett is his “favorite athlete” he ever covered and he had many opportunities to ask for memorabilia but never did.

Wong, now a Twins gameday official scorer, received news yesterday from Major League Baseball. Official scorers will no longer be independent contractors but instead will be hourly paid employees.

The Twins, valued at $1.3 billion, rank No. 19 in Forbes.com’s annual valuation of MLB franchises posted last week. The Twins had an eight percent increase in valuation. The Yankees rank No. 1 with a valuation of $5 billion.

Twins Hall of Famer Rod Carew (Triumph Books) has an autobiography coming out May 12 about his struggles and successes including his heart transplant. “One Tough Out: Fighting Off Life’s Curveballs” will be promoted by the Twins, and club president Dave St. Peter describes the book as “a great read.”

The 74-year-old former seven-time American League batting champion is beloved by Minnesota baseball fans. “I think he can be a little bit misunderstood,” St. Peter said. “He’s not an outgoing, affable guy. He’s generally quite quiet. …He can be taken as moody, or something of that nature. The Rod Carew I know is very caring, very focused on how he can help other people. He’s very much in love with our game and the Twins’ organization. “

During the work stoppage of Major League Baseball Twins players and those in the farm system receive daily communications from franchise representatives like managers, coaches and trainers to check on their well being.

St. Peter on whether the coronavirus pandemic will allow MLB games to be played this summer: “I don’t know. I am hopeful.”

If there is a 2020 MLB season, players will have their salaries paid on a pro-rated basis.

Expectations are building already among Connecticut women’s basketball fans who are hoping Paige Bueckers from Hopkins can help the Huskies end a national championship drought dating back four years. Bueckers, the Gatorade National Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year, is so special Hopkins boys’ basketball coach Kenny Novak considers her the only girl that could have started for him. “She is the complete package,” Royals girls’ coach Brian Cosgriff said of his point guard.

Kevin Garnett, the former Timberwolves superstar headed for induction later this year into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, has for years wanted to own an NBA franchise and now is making his interest public to have a team in Seattle. Garnett might pull it off but he couldn’t have made too many friends among NBA powerbrokers with his recent rant against classy Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor.

Veteran hockey authority and sports journalist John Gilbert talking in an email about the 2020 Hobey Baker Award winner honoring the top player in college hockey: “Scott Perunovich (Hibbing native) has been the best reason to watch a hockey game at any level in Minnesota for the three years he’s played defense for the UMD Bulldogs. He made All America all three of his years before signing two weeks ago with the St. Louis Blues. The Hobey Baker Award is a fitting climax to his college career, because he not only was the best player in the NCHC and the country, but he also was the leading scorer in the NCHC—rare for a defenseman—and he could control the tempo of any game. …”

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Another Diggs in Vikings’ Future?

Posted on April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 by David Shama

Two weeks out from the NFL Draft it appears likely the Vikings will use at least one of their two first-round selections on a cornerback.

The present cornerback roster is alarmingly thin in quality and depth. Head coach Mike Zimmer, long a defensive guru, will want to make cornerbacks a priority in the college draft, along with mandatory needs at wide receiver and in the offensive line.

There might be seven quality cornerbacks available among the top 35 or 40 prospects. The Vikings, with first round selections at No. 22 and 25, could use one of their picks on Trevon Diggs from Alabama, and the brother of former Minnesota wide receiver Stefon Diggs now with the Buffalo Bills.

Trevon, a former receiver, is expected to be an NFL starter in his first or second season, according to NFL.com/prospects. At 6-foot-1, 205-pounds, Diggs is a physical cover man with the instincts of a receiver. Vikings decision makers shouldn’t allow past history with Stefon’s attitude to stop their drafting of Trevon.

Another corner likely available when the Vikings use their first round choices is TCU’s Jeff Gladney. He doesn’t match Diggs’ size at 5-10, 191 pounds, but he is athletic and feisty on the field. Gladney was known for his ball-hawking skills at TCU, and Zimmer is fond of physical defenders like his All-Pro safety Harrison Smith.

It’s probably a long shot the Vikings will use both of their first round picks on corners but Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman have flexibility in the draft with 12 selections over the seven rounds. The franchise could put off drafting a wide receiver or offensive lineman until beyond the first round.

With a need to replace Stefon Diggs at wide receiver, the Vikings are fortunate the 2020 draft is rich in WR talent. In a S.I.com story last week listing the draft’s top 100 prospects, 16 of them are wide receivers (No. 100 is Golden Gophers WR Tyler Johnson). The Vikings will almost certainly find a high potential WR in the first two rounds of the draft. An out of the spotlight pick that could interest Minnesota in the middle or late rounds is Michigan’s Donovan Peoples-Jones.

Spielman has a reputation for swinging trades to improve his draft position. Gambling that he could meet team needs at corner and WR beyond the first round, what if he traded his No. 22 and 25 selections to move high enough to choose offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs? The Iowa star is among the most coveted linemen in the 2020 draft and the Vikings could use a newcomer contributing the way 2019 first-round center Garrett Bradbury performed as a rookie.

Zimmer likes to emphasize the running game and has one of the NFL’s best ball carriers in Dalvin Cook. The offensive line, a concern for years, remains a project, and that’s not good news for Cook or quarterback Kirk Cousins who often doesn’t respond effectively to pressure from pass rushers.

New U Season Tickets Total Impresses

Although the promotion of University of Minnesota football has been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic, the athletic department has already sold 2,067 new season tickets for the 2020 home schedule. That total is close to the 2,519 new season tickets for 2019 the U reported in September of last year after the home schedule was underway.

Included in the 2,067 new season tickets sold to the public (non-student tickets) are 278 tickets that were sold for $249 each. Those inexpensive season tickets were announced in late November last year, and prompted by the fan excitement of the Gophers’ impressive season.

Minnesota earned an 11-2 final record including a surprise Outback Bowl win over SEC power Auburn. The Gophers finished with a final A.P. ranking of No. 10 in the nation. That was the highest ranking for the program at season’s end since 1962.

As of May 13 last year the athletic department had sold only 858 new public season tickets. On May 1, 2018, the total of new season tickets was 817.

Season ticket sales to the public have been a challenge for several years, including modest totals of 21,691 last year and 21,663 in 2018. This week the U reported to Sports Headliners a total of 12,199 total season tickets sold so far. At this time of year renewals of tickets can be slow, and the pandemic could derail 2020 sales and even wipe out the season, but the Gophers potentially might surpass the 2019 total—fueled by last year’s success on the field and the promise of the 2020 team, that while needing to replace much of the defense, will have an exciting offense led by quarterback Tanner Morgan and wide receiver Rashod Bateman. Minnesota has won 15 of its last 19 games and the public is buying into fourth-season head coach P.J. Fleck.

Minnesota closed the season with sellouts in its final two home games as part of a fall that saw more fans coming to TCF Bank Stadium. Dennis Dodd of Cbssports.com reported last month the Gophers’ 2019 attendance increased by 21.9 percent and 8,275 fans per game—the largest overall increase of any NCAA program in the top 50 in total attendance.

Minnesota’s seven-game home schedule includes a nonconference visit by BYU and Big Ten powers Iowa and Michigan. Down the road, and a motivation to buy season tickets, is the 2021 opener against perennial national championship contender Ohio State.

The Buckeyes last visited Minneapolis in 2014.

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