Vikings Turn Backfield Over To Newcomer Taylor

**singersp** · 08-02-2006, 03:25 AM

Vikings Turn Backfield Over To Newcomer Taylor

**Vikes_King** · 08-02-2006, 03:29 AM

hoping big things - not much to that article really though, and not much we really havnt said 20 times about taylor already ^_^

but god im hoping he lives up to the hype

**thetrenches68OL** · 08-02-2006, 03:31 AM

im not sure what to make of taylor really

**mystykoekaki** · 08-02-2006, 03:33 AM

"thetrenches68OL" wrote:

im not sure what to make of taylor really

A beast perhaps?

**twill** · 08-02-2006, 03:52 AM

"mystykoekaki" wrote:

"thetrenches68OL" wrote:

im not sure what to make of taylor really

A beast perhaps?

the way i play with him in madden he is a fast truck that just knocks out everything in his way. i hope he turns out to be a fast jamal lewis but be able to create large gains on dump offs. something jamal lewis can never do

**damien927** · 08-02-2006, 04:18 AM

man I hope it works out with him.....we need a friggin' running game.

**Benet** · 08-02-2006, 11:16 AM

Here's to Chester doing what Priest Holmes did before him; go from Baltimore back-up to All-Pro for his next team!

**VikesfaninWis** · 08-02-2006, 12:04 PM

We need an every down back so badly.. We haven't had one since Robert Smith retired.. Hopefully Taylor lives up to the hype, and just runs over the league from week 1..

**singersp** · 08-02-2006, 12:57 PM

Posted on Wed, Aug. 02, 2006

[size=18px]Vikings turn backfield over to newcomer Taylor[/size]

NFL:The Minnesota Vikings have made Baltimore Ravens reserve Chester Taylor their featured back.

BY DAVE CAMPBELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MANKATO, Minn. - The last second-string running back to leave Baltimore for a starting job was Priest Holmes, who became a perennial Pro Bowl pick and touchdown machine upon arrival in Kansas City.

Chester Taylor was the latest Ravens reserve to look around. He landed in Minnesota, where the Vikings made him their featured back with a four-year contract worth up to $14.1 million.

Now comes the interesting part. How will the powerful yet unproven Taylor do in his first opportunity as a full-timer?

"It's really exciting. I'm really anxious. I can't wait for the season to start," said Taylor, a former University of Toledo star taken in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL draft.

His best year was 2004, when he started four games and rushed 160 times for 714 yards, a 4.5 average, and two scores. Last season, he caught a career-best 41 passes for 292 yards. But Jamal Lewis was always in the way, and Taylor was never given the chance to carry the ball on an every-down basis.

The Vikings were willing to hand him that.

"We're going to feature a lot of different guys," coach Brad Childress said, "but yeah, we brought him in here and signed him as a starter."

There was some concern about his conditioning this spring, but Taylor showed up to training camp in shape and so far has been running all over the place during practice -- taking handoff after handoff and hauling in plenty of passes out of the backfield.

The offense Childress brought from Philadelphia, where he was the offensive coordinator, is predicated on spreading the ball around with shorter throws. So the backs better have good hands.

"When he was in Baltimore, when a running back would catch the ball, he'd be the guy. They'd take Jamal out on third downs ... and Chester was the guy who'd go out and make things happen," said receiver Travis Taylor, who was also a teammate with the Ravens for two years.

With a youthful face and a 5-foot-11 frame with 213 pounds, according to his listing on team publications, Taylor plays a lot tougher than he looks.

"He's a physical guy. A compact guy. He's got good eyes," Childress said.

Taylor, the receiver, went even further. "He's short, but he's built like a rock," he said.

Chester Taylor has averaged more than 97 yards in the four NFL games he's had with 20 or more carries, including back-to-back 100-yard games in December 2004 when Lewis had a sprained ankle.

"Being behind Jamal for four years, I had to have a lot of patience trying to wait on getting that start. I had a couple chances in Baltimore, and now with my number called I'm willing to step up right now," said Taylor, who was the runner-up to Marshall's Byron Leftwich, now the quarterback for Jacksonville, for the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year award in 2001.

An enhanced offensive line will be a big help for Taylor -- especially on the left side with improving behemoth Bryant McKinnie at tackle, newly acquired All-Pro Steve Hutchinson at guard, and Matt Birk, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, returning at center after a season on injured reserve.

Behind Taylor on the depth chart is Mewelde Moore, who enters his third year after two injury-filled and inconsistent seasons. For a month during his rookie season, Moore moved into the starting role and shined for several games. While he should play prominently into Minnesota's offensive plans, though, he hasn't been durable enough for the Vikings to consider him as an every-down back.

"I know what I'm capable of doing," Moore said. "I know what I've done and where I'm going on as far as how I'm capable of applying myself in this offense. I'm just working, man."

Vikings turn backfield over to newcomer Taylor