An Interview w/ Forness: Trades Galore, Solidifying the Defense, and a More Dangerous Offense
K. Joudry
|
Recently, I reached out to Tyler Forness, a name you may recognize from his work at various spots across Internet Land. His work is on Vikings Wire, Daily Norseman, and Climbing the Pocket (among other spots). In other words, Tyler Forness is well-established among the online Vikings voices.
Below, you’ll find his answers to the questions I hit him with a couple days ago. Enjoy the interview!
1) Let’s kick things off with the draft. Obviously, most people who write about the team have been unpacking this topic. In your opinion, did Kwesi Adofo-Mensah do the right thing by trading with the Lions and the Packers?
I don’t have a really big issue with it. Not trading with your division rival is a really old school philosophy that quite frankly is overblown in my opinion. The key for me is winning the trade. DId you get enough value back in return? With the Lions trade, its a tough sell. The Rich Hill trade chart had the Vikings losing the value of the 95th overall pick. The models based heavily on production had the Vikings winning, including PFF WAR and Over The Cap’s Fitzgerald/Spielberger chart. The Packers trade was different. The Vikings won that trade pretty easily, gaining pick 127 in value per the Rich Hill chart. If the players that the Lions and Packers picked become Hall of Famers, that will stink. However, you have to go on the information you have now. I am ok with the trades.
2) Five of the first six picks went toward the defense. Has Minnesota done enough to solidify their defense? Are there any other moves they can make the help that side of the ball?
I think they did a good job helping the defense. One interesting thing that Adofo-Mensah prioritized was the 10-yard split. Lewis Cine had one in the 99.8th percentile and the defenders in the first four rounds all had them above the 84th percentile. The idea in drafting players with an explosive 10-yard split is that they will be able to get to the ball in a quick, explosive manner. Attacking the football seems to be the direction that this team is heading.
3) Extending Kirk Cousins was not without controversy, but it’s the decision the team’s leadership made. Should the team have done more in free agency and the draft to support him? Will Kevin O’Connell’s offense lead to a more dangerous QB1?
There is this idea that simply replacing Mike Zimmer with Kevin O’Connell is going to fix everything and essentially put the rocket pack onto this team, specifically this offense. Those expectations need to be tempered a bit. O’Connell coming in here won’t be some magic pill that will fix everything. On the offensive side specifically, the Vikings are essentially running it back. Is that a smart strategy? I don’t think it is the smartest strategy. With a likely focus on more 11 personnel packages, there simply isn’t the depth on this team to maximize those sets especially if either Justin Jefferson or Adam Thielen get hurt. I would have loved to have seen a wide receiver with one of the first few picks. Rookie contracts at wide receiver are becoming increasingly more valuable and securing one with having to pay Jefferson likely next year was a strategy that I thought was inherently smart.
Will O’Connell’s offense lead to a more dangerous Cousins? I have my doubts. Cousins is going into his 11th season in the NFL and going from one of the more risk-averse quarterbacks into a gunslinger would be one of the largest anomalies in the past few decades. Outside of Larry Fitzgerald becoming a power slot and extending his career an extra few years, we don’t see players change after being in the league for a decade. Kirk is who he is: a talented quarterback that can make all the throws but doesn’t have the gumption to make the truly game-breaking ones with any form of consistency. It’s ok to throw a couple extra interceptions if it means a higher profile offense. What’s inherently frustrating is that he won’t go to the next level. After the win against the Packers at US Bank Stadium in November, Cousins said that he was making too many risky throws and needed to play safer. That’s not going to win football games regularly. The only thing that I believe can take this team to a higher plateau is staying healthy and much better play calling. Will either happen? I’m skeptical.
With our thanks for agreeing to the interview. Where can readers find you?
My pleasure. You can find me on Twitter @TheRealForno. My work is featured across multiple platforms. I write about college football, betting and the NFL Draft for NBC Sports Edge, the Vikings for USA Today’s Vikings Wire and host The Real Forno Show Monday nights at 8 central on the Climbing The Pocket YouTube channel. It also drops Tuesday morning on SB Nation’s The Daily Norseman’s podcast feed.
Editor’s Note: Purple PTSD extends a sincere thanks to Tyler Forness for taking the time for this interview. Interested readers can find him on Twitter and the various spots he identifies above.
Purple PTSD: Vikings Secondary Remains Shorthanded
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1009437″ player=”26281″ title=”About%20This%20Eagles%20Business%20in%20Week%202″ duration=”884″ description=”Dustin Baker discusses the implications of Vikings-Eagles in Week 2.” uploaddate=”2022-05-09″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/snapshot/1009437_th_1652122935.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/sd/1009437.mp4″ width=”16″ height=”9″]