Thread: Without Rice, the Vikings need a new plan at WR

Originally Posted by "jmcdon00" #1098133

I think Ray should be a higher priority than Rice. Every year it seems there are several pro bowl caliber WR that switch teams, DE seems harder to fill via free agency or trade, IMHO. I think Rice could be replaced with Ocho cinco, TO, Braylon edwards, plexico burress, randy moss, or some other malcontent via trade.

I do think though that Ray and Rice will be granted free agency simply because they have a vote in collective bargaining. In the end I think the players will settle for more now, but less for the next generation of players. A rookie cap is almost certain due to the rookies not have a vote in the new CBA.

Available WR's:
Vincint Jackson
Santonio Holmes
Braylon Edwards
Malcolm Floyd
Steve Smith(NYG)
TO
Randy Moss
Santana Moss
James Jones
Steve Breaston
Donte Stallworth
TJ Housh
Danny Amendola
Mark Clayton
Mike Sims-Walker


DE is significantly weaker.

Now, a bunch of those guys will get re-signed, but not all.

Originally Posted by "i_bleed_purple" #1098134

Originally Posted by "jmcdon00" #1098133

I think Ray should be a higher priority than Rice. Every year it seems there are several pro bowl caliber WR that switch teams, DE seems harder to fill via free agency or trade, IMHO. I think Rice could be replaced with Ocho cinco, TO, Braylon edwards, plexico burress, randy moss, or some other malcontent via trade.

I do think though that Ray and Rice will be granted free agency simply because they have a vote in collective bargaining. In the end I think the players will settle for more now, but less for the next generation of players. A rookie cap is almost certain due to the rookies not have a vote in the new CBA.

Available WR's:
Vincint Jackson - unknown
Santonio Holmes - will resign
Braylon Edwards - terrible
Malcolm Floyd - would like
Steve Smith(NYG) - would love
TO - no thanks
Randy Moss - obviously not
Santana Moss - hell no
James Jones - who cares
Steve Breaston - might not fit us, likely resign
Donte Stallworth - no
TJ Housh - hells to the no
Danny Amendola - lol.
Mark Clayton - terrible
Mike Sims-Walker - interesting


DE is significantly weaker.

Now, a bunch of those guys will get re-signed, but not all.

Available WR's:
Vincint Jackson - unknown
Santonio Holmes - will resign
Braylon Edwards - terrible
Malcolm Floyd - would like
Steve Smith(NYG) - would love
TO - no thanks
Randy Moss - obviously not
Santana Moss - hell no
James Jones - who cares
Steve Breaston - might not fit us, likely resign
Donte Stallworth - no
TJ Housh - hells to the no
Danny Amendola - lol.
Mark Clayton - terrible
Mike Sims-Walker - interesting

Rice is better than all of them but Steve Smith.

Originally Posted by "gregair13" #1098137

Originally Posted by "i_bleed_purple" #1098134

Originally Posted by "jmcdon00" #1098133

I think Ray should be a higher priority than Rice. Every year it seems there are several pro bowl caliber WR that switch teams, DE seems harder to fill via free agency or trade, IMHO. I think Rice could be replaced with Ocho cinco, TO, Braylon edwards, plexico burress, randy moss, or some other malcontent via trade.

I do think though that Ray and Rice will be granted free agency simply because they have a vote in collective bargaining. In the end I think the players will settle for more now, but less for the next generation of players. A rookie cap is almost certain due to the rookies not have a vote in the new CBA.

Available WR's:
Vincint Jackson - unknown
Santonio Holmes - will resign
Braylon Edwards - terrible
Malcolm Floyd - would like
Steve Smith(NYG) - would love
TO - no thanks
Randy Moss - obviously not
Santana Moss - hell no
James Jones - who cares
Steve Breaston - might not fit us, likely resign
Donte Stallworth - no
TJ Housh - hells to the no
Danny Amendola - lol.
Mark Clayton - terrible
Mike Sims-Walker - interesting


DE is significantly weaker.

Now, a bunch of those guys will get re-signed, but not all.

Available WR's:
Vincint Jackson - unknown
Santonio Holmes - will resign
Braylon Edwards - terrible
Malcolm Floyd - would like
Steve Smith(NYG) - would love
TO - no thanks
Randy Moss - obviously not
Santana Moss - hell no
James Jones - who cares
Steve Breaston - might not fit us, likely resign
Donte Stallworth - no
TJ Housh - hells to the no
Danny Amendola - lol.
Mark Clayton - terrible
Mike Sims-Walker - interesting

Rice is better than all of them but Steve Smith.

Ooooooook.

I would take ANY of those players. No, they're not all better than Rice, some are. However, if we really needed a receiver, two of those players would make our passing attack instantly better.

Imagine Harvin, Smith and James Jones in the slot? that's a pretty damn decent lineup. I think Edwards would also be an excellent addition. He's definitely got the skills, a poor mans TO with out the attitude.

Originally Posted by "Caine" #1098114

I'm not a big believer in Rice. He's too slow to be the field stretcher, and he's only really had one good season. Sure, he has good hands, but not Cris Carter good.

Fact is, I think he's replaceable.

I agree that Berrian isn't worth keeping.

Hell, let's speed this up and say that the only guy I really like is Harvin. I hoped for more from Camarillo, but didn't see it last season. After those two, the rest can be flushed.

IMO, we should get Moss and any other viable FA vets we can possibly land. Ponder, or whomever will be QB'ing this team, won't stand a chance if we don't give them some weapons.

Too bad we have so many other needs...

Caine

I definitely agree that he doesn't stretch the field. Is he replaceable? Hell yeah. But when you watch him play its not his speed that makes him such a deep threat, its his ball skills and jumping ability (remember the Bills game when Tavaris threw it into double coverage and he caught it?). He has been a guy who doesn't necessarily need a great QB in the sense that he can make very difficult plays on the ball.

Then we have the Bernard Berrian's who stretch the field sure, but just lack the ball skills to finish the play (sometimes even effort Miami game; the pick that he made no attempt to make a play on or bat down).

So while I completely agree he is replaceable, we have to bring him back for the sake of helping speed up the maturation process for Ponder. Sidney Rice is replaceable, but with our current situation it would be a bad scenario if he left us. If you watch the plays Sidney Rice makes on the field, you can't say your not a believer. He makes plays on balls that most WRs would consider uncatchable. Don't forget how much he can open it up for Percy Harvin! If we let him go, I don't think we'll be bringing in any other elite vets or Sidney Rice caliber players to help Ponder and that's going to hurt us in the long run.

I'm not the kind of guy who typically pulls out highlight videos but you look at the plays he made and your saying he's a one year one wonder?! Its not like he was open on most plays, he made a lot of tough catches in traffic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXe5QOWcBX8

Originally Posted by "b_sandhar_29" #1098141

Originally Posted by "Caine" #1098114

I'm not a big believer in Rice. He's too slow to be the field stretcher, and he's only really had one good season. Sure, he has good hands, but not Cris Carter good.

Fact is, I think he's replaceable.

I agree that Berrian isn't worth keeping.

Hell, let's speed this up and say that the only guy I really like is Harvin. I hoped for more from Camarillo, but didn't see it last season. After those two, the rest can be flushed.

IMO, we should get Moss and any other viable FA vets we can possibly land. Ponder, or whomever will be QB'ing this team, won't stand a chance if we don't give them some weapons.

Too bad we have so many other needs...

Caine

I definitely agree that he doesn't stretch the field. Is he replaceable? Hell yeah. But when you watch him play its not his speed that makes him such a deep threat, its his ball skills and jumping ability (remember the Bills game when Tavaris threw it into double coverage and he caught it?). He has been a guy who doesn't necessarily need a great QB in the sense that he can make very difficult plays on the ball.

Then we have the Bernard Berrian's who stretch the field sure, but just lack the ball skills to finish the play (sometimes even effort Miami game; the pick that he made no attempt to make a play on or bat down).

So while I completely agree he is replaceable, we have to bring him back for the sake of helping speed up the maturation process for Ponder. Sidney Rice is replaceable, but with our current situation it would be a bad scenario if he left us. If you watch the plays Sidney Rice makes on the field, you can't say your not a believer. He makes plays on balls that most WRs would consider uncatchable. Don't forget how much he can open it up for Percy Harvin! If we let him go, I don't think we'll be bringing in any other elite vets or Sidney Rice caliber players to help Ponder and that's going to hurt us in the long run.

I'm not the kind of guy who typically pulls out highlight videos but you look at the plays he made and your saying he's a one year one wonder?! Its not like he was open on most plays, he made a lot of tough catches in traffic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXe5QOWcBX8

Great video, and I love the type of reciever Rice is, his upside is off the charts.
The downside is he's been in the league 4 years and had one good season and 3 bad seasons.
I think Vincent Jackson or Braylon Edwards both have similar upside, but with a little more history of doing it year after year.

VID00006.MP4

Maybewe should look into signing this guy. He has one Troy WIlliamson moment but the rest looked pretty good.