Vikings Game 2

As game two of the Vikings preseason is mere minutes from being under way it's time to take the next step in the process of whittling the roster down to the 63. Check this out to see how I approached game one.

The two predominant things that I will be watching for tonight are:
A) Trae Waynes' performance
B) Cordarrelle Patterson

Undoubtedly there will be many other things worth noting so check back through out the game as great or terrible things happen with the Purple.

Let me know what you think of the game as it goes along as well!

Vikings Game 1

With training camp in the rear view mirror it's time to start honing in on who will be a part of the 53 man roster and who will be on the practice squad.

For those who may not know the rules of the PS, here is a brief overview:

"Each NFL team may keep up to ten members on its "practice squad" in addition to the 53-member main roster. They consist mostly of rookies who were cut in training camps and borderline NFL-caliber players. Both rookies and young veterans are eligible for the practice squad. However, a player cannot participate on the practice squad for more than three seasons; he is eligible for a third season only if the team has at least 53 players on its active/inactive list for the duration of that player's employment, or have no prior accrued seasons in the NFL (an accrued season is six or more games on the active roster); or if he has accrued a year of NFL experience on a club's 53-man active roster. If the player was on the active list for fewer than 9 games during their "only Accrued Season(s)", he maintains his eligibility for the practice squad. Games in which a player is listed as the third-string quarterback (a designation that has been abolished as of 2011) do not count as being on the active list."

The roster at the end of last season was as follows:

Quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater Taylor Heinicke Shaun Hill Running backs Adrian Peterson Jerick McKinnon Matt Asiata Zach Line Wide receivers Stefon Diggs Charles Johnson Cordarrelle Patterson Adam Thielen Mike Wallace Jarius Wright Tight ends MyCole Pruitt Kyle Rudolph From Wiki

Offensive line Joe Berger T. J. Clemmings Nick Easton Brandon Fusco Mike Harris Matt Kalil Zac Kerin Austin Shepherd Jeremiah Sirles  Defensive tackles B. J. Dubs Kenrick Ellis Sharrif Floyd Tom Johnson Linval Joseph Defensive ends Everson Griffen Danielle Hunter Zach Moore Brian Robison Justin Trattou

Linebackers Anthony Barr Chad Greenway Eric Kendricks Edmond Robinson Jason Trusnik Brandon Watts Safeties Robert Blanton Anthony Harris Andrew Sendejo Harrison Smith Cornerbacks Captain Munnerlyn Terence Newman Xavier Rhodes Josh Robinson Marcus Sherels Trae Waynes Special teams Jeff Locke P Kevin McDermott LS Blair Walsh K

Injured Reserve Carter Bykowski OT Audie Cole MLB Scott Crichton DE Rhett Ellison TE Antone Exum FS Phil Loadholt OT Casey Matthews MLB  Jabari Price CB Shamar Stephen DT John Sullivan C Practice squad Isame Faciane G Isaac Fruechte WR Toby Johnson DT Dominique Jones TE Johnny Lowdermilk SS Terrance Plummer MLB Blake Renaud FB Alex Singleton OLB Dominique Williams RB David Yankey G

I think the final roster is a starting point when trying to determine how the latest iteration of the squad will break down but estimate there will be at least 8 new members of the 52 come September 5. So check back after the game to see who I think stuck out and who fell flat.

Then after the preseason is wrapped, I'll compile my final prediction of who I think makes it and who gets the axe.

Bison Round up

The A topic when it comes to NDSU football players in the NFL is Carson Wentz. His debut game is on NFL network tonight but that's not part of my cable package so the eye test is missing, but in the preseason it can be deceiving so I'm not too worried about not being able to see how he looks. The reaction on Twitter is mixed, as expected so I'm going to go with fact - he's made his debut. Anything else is opinion and presumption.
Word out of Philly is that he has a lot to learn and work on. Which is pretty much the most unoriginal statement to make about a rookie but cannot be overlooked just because he was taken #2 overall. I, like everyone, am just going to give it some time before making any sort of judgement about his success or failure in the NFL.

What about all the other's taking Dakota Pride into the nations favorite sport?

Late Summer Swoon

I'm playing catch up again as the last few weeks have gotten away from. As is always the case, there have been many sports developments to recap. In no particular order, but in rapid fashion I'll hit on the main stories that have broken recently.

I didn't make it to Mankato for Vikings training camp so I don't have anything to say about that but will be breaking the team down come Friday night.

The Twins have continued their recent hot streak, if my math is right they've gone 21 - 14 since July 1. As much as I want the team to succeed, with the hole that they're in I just don't think that having late success like that is in the best interest of the team and organization. I hope they get as splashy as the Wolves and Wild have when they hired they're new leaders. Even that won't solve it though because of the legitimate lack of major league talent in the organization. The whole thing has to be gutted and practically started from scratch. There are some players worth keeping around but removing as much as possible seems to be the only solution.

I hate to say that because I don't like stumping for people to lose their jobs. That is the dirty business of professional sports, unfortunately.

Moving on from that, while there are few local anglesm as far as I've heard, I would be remiss to not mention the Olympics. The Basketball teams, Swimmers and the lady Gymnasts have been the predominant stories but there are so many other stories to report.

• I watched a fencing match where from the brink of elimination the American favorite fought back to win. He got down 13 - 7 and 14 - 10 (whatever reason fencing only goes to 15 points) yet was able to make a spectacular comeback to push through and he got the Silver medal after a couple more matches.
• One of the only local stories that I've heard of was actually historical. The bronze medal winner in the 100 backstroke, David Plummer became the oldest first time Olympic medalist. He's from Oklahoma and is a NY swimmer but went to the university of Minnesota and now works as a swim coach in Wayzata, MN.

And that's just so far, I'm sure there will be other nuggets deserving of coverage before the games end.

Now onto one of the biggest story out of Fargo