Thread: Vikings' James hopes to breakout in 2006

[size=18px]Vikings' James hopes to breakout in 2006[/size]

By Eric Krupka on May 15, 2006 12:22 AM

In an attempt to bolster their pass rush, the Minnesota Vikings elected to use their second first-round pick (No. 18 overall) in 2005's NFL Draft on defensive end Erasmus James from the University of Wisconsin.

James was a highly-touted pass rushing prospect, considered one of the elite in all of college football. In 36 career games with the Wisconsin Badgers, he was constantly wreaking havoc against the opposition's quarterback. He tallied 124 tackles, 18 sacks, 25 ½ tackles for loss, 28 quarterback pressures, forced seven fumbles, recovered two, and deflected six passes.

A contract holdout set James back in his rookie year, and as a result he only played sparingly last season. He did, however, show an assortment of pass-rushing moves in his playing time toward the end of last season. He recorded his first sack in a Week 8 matchup with the Carolina Panthers . Then in his first action on Monday Night Football in Week 11, he sacked future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre when he blew past Packers offensive tackle Mark Tauscher. Against the Steelers in Week 15 he recorded his first two-sack game of his young career.

James has all the tools to parlay the strong ending of his rookie campaign into a big-time sophomore year. He has tremendous speed, long arms, uses his hands well to shed blockers, possesses great fundamental technique with his approach to tackling, and has great leg drive. Couple those assets with the aforementioned keen ability to rush the passer with a myriad of tremendous moves and you can easily see why James might be poised for a breakout season.

It will be new defensive line coach Karl Dunbar's job to mold James into a Dwight Freeney or Jevon Kearse-type lineman, whose impact will be felt by the opposition week in and week out. The 6'4", 266-pound lineman draws comparisons to the All-Pro's, Freeney and Kearse, because his body and playing style are eerily similar. The Colts' standout, Freeney, is 6'1" and 268 pounds, while Kearse is nearly identical to James at 6'4" and 265 pounds. Dunbar will work with the youngster throughout training camp to refine his pass-rushing moves.

If the young lineman continues to improve, opposing offensive linemen and quarterbacks would be prudent to watch out.

Quarterbacks beware, Erasmus James is on the prowl, and he'll be hunting you in 2006.

For more Erasmus James insights visit RealFootball365.com

-Eric Krupka can be reached at [email protected]

Vikings' James hopes to breakout in 2006

I think we just got a little taste of what James will be doing for us this year, last year.......

I see him being a solid force at the DE postition. But as with all the players, I hope he stays healthy and focused all season...

I think i gotta make a new D-line sig..

i'm really gonna enjoy who we got on both sides of the ball.. but hope the devistation comes from the D!!!!

DiGiTaL

3 of our 4 starting defensive lineman have been first round draft picks, which means we should have high expectations for our defensive line.

Kevin Williams has already proven he's one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL and has been to the pro bowl.

Kenechi Udeze was great at USC and is expected to be a very good defensive end in the NFL.

Erasmus James was also good in college and seems to have all the tools to be good in the NFL. But he's from Wisconsin, and most NFL players from Wisconsin don't turn out that well. ( I'm a little superstitious)

But when it comes to the defensive line, we have a lot to look foward to.

i hope hes good this year

I am excited to see what some of the young guys on our team can do with some coaching. Tice and Staff just put the guys out there and complained when they weren't pro bowlers. Just because they were good in college doesn't mean that they no longer needed coaching. I believe that we will see a vast improvement on the younger players once they actually have coaches coaching them.

Breakout in the NFC North...
Breakout it's the Viking way to go...
Breakout in the NFC North...
Breakout it's the Viking way to go...
Breakout in the NFC North...
Breakout it's the Viking way to go...
Breakout in the NFC North...
Breakout it's the Viking way to go...
(repeat all season long)

Did anyone else have that weird feeling come over them when reading that article? I am so pumped for next season to start.. I can't wait for these guys to go out there and put a hurting on the other teams.. Erasmus James is going to be a Beast.. I can't wait to see him lay some QB's out..

Keep opponent points low, and pound on everybody.

"PurplePride80" wrote:

3 of our 4 starting defensive lineman have been first round draft picks, which means we should have high expectations for our defensive line.

Kevin Williams has already proven he's one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL and has been to the pro bowl.

Kenechi Udeze was great at USC and is expected to be a very good defensive end in the NFL.

Erasmus James was also good in college and seems to have all the tools to be good in the NFL. But he's from Wisconsin, and most NFL players from Wisconsin don't turn out that well. ( I'm a little superstitious)

But when it comes to the defensive line, we have a lot to look foward to.

I have been the pessimist today, so I will give it a try again.

Our whole team has high expectations then. It kind of reminds me of last year. We had all this NEW talent on the team.

We also have 3 of 4 WRs that were first round picks, for the most part, they are pretty quiet. K-Rob being the only one that has made waves. It doesn't matter where you are picked in the draft, it is how you play in the NFL, granted it is time for the TT and T-Will to step it up.

As far as our line, it has been inconsistant due to injury. As far as Udeze, to me the jury is still out on him, he has a lot to prove. He needs to stay healthy. He needs to prove he belongs on an NFL team. One decent season seems to me a bit of a disappointment.

As far as K-Will, he needs to find his form of 2 seasons ago. Last year was a let down on and off the field.

Phat Pat, is old, and will be putting in his last years right here, gotta love the old guy!

I love James, I saw a lot of promise last season.

The coaches must have an optimistic outlook on the D Line because it is the one area, they didn't worry about this offseason.

All I am saying, it is hard to no what we got when we put it all on the field this season. It will be interesting to see.