May Camp from Mr. Cheer or Die

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2001 Mini-Camp Report Brian Maas - Send E-mail Article posted @ 9:00 pm CST

Specialists (Coached by Gary Zauner): Mitch Berger and Gary Anderson were in camp and kicking. Long snapper Mitch Palmer was also present along with Mike Solwold, a free agent rookie from Wisconsin. Gary Anderson put about 25 balls through the middle of the uprights. Mitch Berger's punts went up and five seconds later came down about a half-mile away. The only new kickers in camp were John Matich, a free agent rookie from Boston College, and Brian Morton, a free agent rookie from Duke. Mitch Berger will once again have place kick holding responsibilities in addition to being the punter and handling kick-offs.

Defensive Backs (Coached by Willie Shaw): There were a total of 11 defensive backs at mini-camp, the third most of any group, including three rookies. Back in the 1999 mini-camp there were 14 defensive backs and five rookies. Could this group possibly become a veteran squad to be relied upon? In the 2000 mini-camp former defensive back coach Richard Solomon basically just screamed and no one seemed to listen, much less respect, what he was saying. There was definitely a different feel to the practice led by new defensive back coach Willie Shaw. One might call it more professional. One might say it had the feel of an expert in the area of defending the pass. One could say the players were being shown things they hadn't seen before and were learning new tricks of the trade. Coach Shaw's most used line of the day was, "Don't just stand there! Go for the ball! Don't let it come to you! Go for the damn ball!" All the defensive backs, including veterans Robert Griffith and Orlando Thomas, huddled around Shaw as he showed them various coverage sets on a clipboard. You could tell the players were impressed.

Eric Kelly of the "I'm the greatest athlete in the world" mold prior to mini-camp said nary said a word during the morning session. I see this every single year. The rookie who thinks he is an All-World player is humbled the moment he sees that the defensive lineman are as quick and nimble as he. My last image of Kelly was of him leaving the field after being held back for punt receiving duty, eyes closed tightly, gasping for air, too tired to even remove his helmet as he headed for the locker room. During drills, Kelly was often out of place, which is to be expected of a rookie in his first NFL camp. Coach Shaw often stopped drills to make Kelly aware of where he needed to be.

Orlando Thomas looked healthy, if not quicker than I've seen in years. He covered Jake Reed tight on a pass play and when Reed made a circus catch, Thomas yelled out, "Oooohhhhh! Black Beauty is back!" When Reed didn't bother with a reply, Thomas yelled, "Oh, the brother is too good to talk back?" which just left Reed smiling.

Robert Tate and Kenny Wright were playing first team with Kelly backing up Tate and Wasswa Serwanga backing up Wright. Robert Griffith was also in attendance and was mainly a jovial fellow, nothing like the bitter defensive back he was after the NFC Championship loss.

While Wright and Serwanga looked seasoned, I would still like the team to bring in a veteran cornerback to play the first unit left position. Then we would have some depth on either cornerback position. Last season, lack of depth behind an average first unit was a concern all season long.

Linebackers (Outside linebackers coached by Chuck Knox Jr. Inside linebackers coached by Richard Solomon): To be honest, I did not observe much of the linebackers. The best play from this group came when Lemanski Hall almost picked off a Todd Bouman pass intended for Jim Kleinsasser. Ed McDaniel was in camp but looked small. That might be due to him standing next to 6'3", 262 lb. Gabe Northern who might have us forgetting Dwyane Rudd quicker than the 24-hour flu.

Northern is the big bruising linebacker we've been hoping for at the spot vacated by Rudd. If he is willing to listen and learn from McDaniel, he will be a factor in the coming season. And best of all, he didn't thump his chest after each play.

Defensive Linemen (Coached by Brian Baker): In previous mini-camps you could hear one voice from anywhere on the three practice fields. During those camps you would hear, "Push yourself, you dummy! Get your big ass moving, you wuss!" from a fellow defensive lineman wearing number 93. It was a very quiet group this year. No John Randle bellowing out some insane comment. No Randle encouraging his fellow lineman at the top of his lungs. But I was very impressed with new defensive line coach Brian Baker. He is a teacher who seems tireless in his efforts to make sure the line knows their role.

Willie Howard was not as big as I thought he would be, but he does have the nimble feet that Dennis Green so loves in his linemen. I was impressed with the size and conditioning of fourth round draft choice Shawn Worthen. At 6' and 306 pounds, he could eventually become the run stuffer we are looking for at nose tackle.

I was greatly impressed with Fernando Smith. To borrow from a tired cliché, Smith has the eye of the tiger this year. He just seems to be angry at the world and was tearing through each drill in an effort not only to please Coach Baker but as if to convince himself that he is a legitimate starting defensive lineman for the Vikings. After practice was over, Smith worked on his stance with Korey Stringer. Stringer also shared some moves to make on an offensive lineman when he is in pass protection and moving back to protect the pass pocket.

The only player I was disappointed with was free agent Lance Johnstone who for whatever reason did not seem to be participating in drills at 100 percent speed. At 6'4" and 250 lbs, he was certainly the smallest defensive lineman in the group. I'm hopeful that he was just getting used to a new system and will be more dominant once the team opens up camp in Mankato.

As an FYI, Michael Boireau was dressed and in camp but was limited in the drills he was allowed to participate in. Boireau is suffering from an eye ailment that may prematurely end his career.

Offensive Linemen (Coached by Mike Tice): In perhaps the second strongest Viking unit, the likes of Brad Badger, Chris Liwienski, David Dixon, Korey Stringer, and a noticeably bulked up Matt Birk should immediately put to rest any concerns you have on the offensive line. Korey Stringer has taken over the role as team clown from John Randle. He had the entire offensive line and Coach Tice in stitches most of the morning. Stringer was also wearing a brace on his left knee.

Matt Birk was with Daunte Culpepper in another area so Cory Withrow was in at center during drills. David Dixon, Brad Badger and Chris Liwienski seem to be the first string group to go along with Stringer and Birk.

Birk's weight is now up to 316 lbs., a 10-pound increase over last season. I saw no signs that he would be moved from center to another position along the offensive line.

Tight ends (Coached by John Tice): Bryon Chamberlain looked like he had been running drills with the Vikings for six years. He didn't miss a thing and greatly impressed Coach Tice. John Davis and Andrew Jordan received equal playing time with Chamberlain during first team drills. Looks like the starting tight end position is open for grabs with Chamberlain getting the initial nod right now.

Wide Receivers (Coached by Charlie Baggett): With Number 80 not at camp, the job of "leader" went to Randy Moss. I give him a leadership-passing grade of C. During warm-ups and stretching drills Moss began by doing three very half-hearted jumping jacks then decided he would rather just talk with coaches while making fun of some observers in attendance. However, during passing drills he did make sure that the rookies were lined up in the correct formation, something he learned from Number 80. Moss made one difficult catch but really was not involved in too many of the drills.

It was nice to see Jake Reed back in number 86. Jake seems as fast and smooth as ever and genuinely seems to enjoy being back with the team. Rookies Kenny Clark and Joey Kent joined fourth-year player Nate Jacquet as wide receivers that impressed.

Chris Walsh was missed. Let's hope the team can still sign him. Injured with a sore hamstring, Troy Walters spent the morning on a stationary bike.

Number 80 was missed and his will be a big void to fill in the 2002-2003 season. He has definitely been the hardest worker on the team, setting examples by running hard on each passing drill and catching everything thrown to him, something that was not evident by all the receivers at practice. With his retirement, the lack of encouragement, sometimes chastisement, such as when Number 80 could be heard yelling at Randy Moss to "Stay alert!" and "Hustle back!" will be a concern. Will Moss become as focused once Number 80 leaves the game? Time will tell but I did not see it in Moss at this mini-camp session.

Running Backs (Coached by Carl Hargrave): Based on what I saw in mini-camp, my vote for the starting running back at the moment would go to Doug Chapman. Between Chapman, Moe Williams and rookie Michael Bennett, it was Chapman who seemed to have all the tools necessary to succeed this coming season. Speed, size, strength and field presence all seemed to be there.

Bennett's speed is the real deal. I would also label him as being very quick off the snap, perhaps the quickest I've seen since Number 44 lined up in the backfield 25 years ago. He didn't drop a single pass that came his way, which was nice to see after catching only four passes all last year for Wisconsin.

Chapman was sporting larger triceps, even more so than last year when he added quite a bit of upper body mass. And he hasn't lost a step, many times breaking into the defensive backfield. Again, these weren't full contact drills but he still has the ability to break it any time he touches the ball.

Unlike years past I have no concerns with depth at fullback. Kleinsasser looked to be in great shape, as did Harold Morrow. Kleinsasser's stats now stand at 6'3" and 279 lbs. It will be a crime if Kleinsasser does not make the Pro Bowl over Tampa's Mike Alstott this coming season.

Quarterbacks (Coached by Alex Wood): If it is possible for him to be even more confident than he was a year ago when he was selected as the starting quarterback to the Pro Bowl, Daunte Culpepper looked as if he was practicing in his favorite pair of jeans in front of friends and family. Listed now at 266 lbs, he seems even larger than he was last year when he started the season at 255 lbs. He also seemed to have improved on his fake handoffs, often catching the defense off guard, to which one could hear Defensive Coordinator Emmitt Thomas yelling, "It's a pass, you dummies!"

Todd Bouman was sporting a longer hairstyle but the rocket arm remains. He'll be a good backup for the Vikings this year, a great improvement over Bubby Brister from last year.

Billy Cockerham showed signs of being a young Randall Cunningham when he often left the pocket and headed down field on several passing plays.

If I had to vote on whom the single-most focused players on the team are presently, I wouldn't hesitate in selecting Culpepper and Fernando Smith. Go to sleep at night knowing that we have two of the hardest working guys in the NFL today.

-- Randy (rf54@aol.com), May 13, 2001

Answers

Nice Article.

-- Iz (izmorrow@yahoo.com), May 14, 2001.

It's a pleasure to hear that the Vikings are coming together so well this early! Due to family illness I missed the tail end of last season and still haven't played the Vikes/Giants game tape - yuck! I will greatly miss Robert Smith.

Jan

-- Jan Zumbo (dvt99@aol.com), May 14, 2001.


Jan, if you value your sanity, don't bother looking at the tape for that game from hell! If it doesn't send you in for immediate electric shock therapy, it will definitely put you into a coma.

-- Deb (debcross2000@earthlink.net), May 14, 2001.

GREAT article. THANKS!!!!!

-- Tom (BMatheus@aol.com), May 16, 2001.

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