Scouting Report
3 -
Minnesota Vikings
Dennis Green and Co. are primed for their sixth
playoff appearance in seven years, but only
if a suspect secondary is up to the challenge
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Fuller and the Vikes slid to 29th in the league against the pass in '97, down 20 places from the year before. (Jonathan Daniel/Allsport)
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Near dusk
with church bells chiming on the last day of July, players and
coaches walked down the tree-lined streets of Mankato,
Minn., toward a cozy stadium packed with 8,000 fans. It was
the largest crowd ever to witness the Vikings' annual
intrasquad training-camp
scrimmage, and among those in attendance was new owner Red
McCombs, who watched the team for which he paid
$206 million not from the
press box or the stands, but sitting atop a water cooler on
the sideline. Just before the
local Burger King manager sang a Manilowesque national
anthem, the team was led onto the
field by strong safety Robert
Griffith.
That was appropriate, for if the Vikings have any
expectations of making a serious playoff run in '98, they
must first improve their pass defense. If you thought the
organization's most embarrassing acts since the start of
last season were occurring off
the field—what with coach Dennis Green penning an
autobiography that included his plans to sue two owners to
get a piece of the team and author Tom Clancy's
own fictional bid to
buy
the franchise—well,
you
didn't pay much
attention to what the secondary was up
to.
In 1997 the Vikings defense ranked 29th in the league in
passing yards allowed; 28th in touchdown passes allowed,
opponents' completion percentage and yards per pass
attempt; tied for 25th in
interceptions; and 25th in stopping the
opposition on third down. "We know we were
the weak unit on this team last year," says second-year
backup free safety Torrian Gray. "The only way for us
to shed that label
is to play out of it. We'll all just have to have
thick skin until we prove
otherwise."
Things got worse shortly after the season ended with a loss
to the 49ers in the
NFC divisional playoffs. Minnesota was interested in acquiring
one of a trio of
cornerbacks—free agents Doug Evans or Darryl Pounds, or the
Saints' Eric Allen. But Evans
left the Packers for the Panthers, Pounds re-signed with the
Redskins, and Allen was shipped to the Raiders. Finally,
Minnesota traded a third-round draft pick in 1999 to the
Patriots to acquire restricted free agent Jimmy
Hitchcock.
A 1995 third-round selection who
started 20 games and had four interceptions in three
seasons with New England, Hitchcock replaces Dewayne
Washington, a free agent who left for the Steelers.
Hitchcock may be short on experience, but he
isn't lacking
in confidence. In that regard, he should fit in nicely with
the overly aggressive Corey Fuller, a world-class trash
talker but only an average coverage
corner.
"I will be an upgrade to this unit," says
Hitchcock, the only new face among the Vikings' starting 22
from a year ago. "I'm a developmental learner. That
means with every year of experience
I get better and better. The problems with ownership here
didn't bother me. Who the owner is has no bearing on how I cover
[the Lions'] Herman Moore, right? I chose to come here because
this team has the talent to win it
all."
| Schedule |
| Sept. | 6 | TAMPA BAY |
| 13 | at St. Louis |
| 20 | DETROIT |
| 27 | at Chicago |
| Oct. | 5 | at Green Bay (Mon.) |
| 11 | OPEN DATE |
| 18 | WASHINGTON |
| 25 | at Detroit |
| Nov. | 1 | at Tampa Bay |
| 8 | NEW ORLEANS |
| 15 | CINCINNATI |
| 22 | GREEN BAY |
| 26 | at Dallas (Thurs.) |
| Dec. | 6 | CHICAGO |
| 13 | at Baltimore |
| 20 | JACKSONVILLE |
| 26 | at Tennessee (Sat.) |
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Hitchcock does have a point there. Quarterback Brad Johnson
put up impressive numbers (3,036 yards passing, 20
touchdowns, a
60.8% completion rate) in '97 before being sidelined for the
final three games with a herniated disk in his neck. Now
close to
100%, Johnson has the luxury of an added receiving threat in
wideout Randy Moss, the rookie first-round draft pick out
of Marshall who will join what is arguably the best
receiving tandem in the game—Cris Carter and Jake
Reed. The rest of the time the
ball should go to Robert Smith, who in '97 set franchise
single-season rushing records for yards (1,266), 100-yard
games (six) and average yards per carry
(5.5).
Smith is a former world-class sprinter, but Gray is no
slouch in the speed department either. He complements
Griffith, who is among the hardest hitters in the game and
the quiet leader of the secondary. Free safety Orlando
Thomas appears fully healed
from a knee injury that slowed him throughout 1997, and for
depth the Vikings signed cornerback Larry Brown, the
MVP of Super Bowl
XXX.
To improve the pass defense, coordinator Foge Fazio has
worked with players on their pursuit angles. For
simplicity's sake, he also pared coverage packages.
"It really just comes down to pride," says
Griffith. "Nobody wants to be 29th in the league in
anything. That's just not gonna happen again.
I won't let it. This year we'll be in the top five or six in
the league [in pass defense].
I promise."
A few hours later, on the first play of the intrasquad
scrimmage, Griffith belted a tight end in the flat and
recovered the loose ball. It was only one play, but it was
a start. —David Fleming
By the Numbers | Inside Slant | Lineup
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