MINNESOTA VIKINGS THINKING WILDCAT?
A SIGNFICANT WRINKLE IN MINNESOTA
May 30, 2009 2:46 PM
Posted for ESPN.com by Kevin Seifert
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Just as I arrived at Minnesota’s second day of minicamp, fashionably late after skipping the stretching portion, I saw the Vikings’ offense in a decidedly unfamiliar formation.
Rookie Percy Harvin was lined up as a shotgun quarterback. Sage Rosenfels was split out wide.
What?
Yep. The Wildcat.
I’ve spent most of the past month believing there was no way that coach Brad Childress would consent to such a trendy formation, even after the Vikings’ decision to draft Harvin — an ideal fit for the Wildcat — in the first round. Childress is a traditional, meat-and-potatoes offensive coach who never embraced the formation as it became fashionable last season.
But the Wildcat was in plain sight Saturday morning. Harvin, tailback Chester Taylor and receiver Darius Reynaud were all rotating in the quarterback role. You can only imagine how dangerous this could be when defenses follow tailback Adrian Peterson wherever he goes.
“I like [the Wildcat],” Peterson said. “You’ve got guys out there: Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, Chester, me and the quarterbacks. When you get the majority of those guys on the field you really can create some things.”
This is the time of year when teams experiment with their schemes, and there is no guarantee the Vikings will use the Wildcat in 2009. But I give Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell some credit for dusting off their playbook to maximize the skill players on their roster. (And make no mistake. Harvin is a good fit for the Wildcat, but so is Taylor. Using Taylor would eliminate one of the biggest pet peeves of the Black and Blue blog: Not getting him on the field with Peterson enough.)
On draft day, according to Bevell, Childress asked for a package of plays that would utilize Harvin’s unique open-field running ability.
Bevell estimated he drew up a list of 20-30 plays. Half of them are totally new to the offense, Bevell said.
“We’re up there trying to diagram everything we can,” Bevell said. “We’re looking at things we do. We’re looking at things other teams have done.”
I don’t mean this to sound patronizing, but this really is a big step for the Vikings’ offense. Many of us have wondered if the Vikings would just assimilate Harvin into the structure of their established offense. But it appears they might use Harvin’s arrival as a catalyst for mixing things up in a broader way.
“Fortunately for us,” said defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, “I’ll be watching other teams try to defend [Harvin] and Adrian. And good luck to those defenses. We’re fortunate that he’s here.”
A few quick hitters before I check out:
Ryan Cook
Veteran Ryan Cook worked at right tackle with the first team Saturday after rookie Phil Loadholt handled that role Friday. You would expect that rotation to continue into training camp.
Many of you have asked about the competition between Tarvaris Jackson and Rosenfels. I’m always hesitant to draw conclusions based on minicamp practices. I can tell you they’re rotating with the first team on a fairly equal basis. Rosenfels looked sharp Saturday morning.
Peterson said he has dropped his body fat down to six percent this offseason and currently weighs 216 pounds. That’s actually two pounds less than where he played last season, but Peterson said he plans to add a few more before training camp. Regardless, it’s highly unlikely Peterson will reach the 230-pound level he predicted earlier this offseason.
Many thanks and all due credit to the great Kevin Seifert, frequent Dan Barreiro guest and former Minneapolis Star Tribune beat writer, for this story.
