The Vikings have signed 27-year old kicker Rhys Lloyd.  He will likely serve as nothing more than a kickoff specialist saving 35-year old Ryan Longwell’s leg in 2010.  Lloyd kicked in all 16 games for the Panthers last season and he averaged 66.7 yards per kickoff with 21 touchbacks.  Lloyd has now played in 35 games in his NFL career and he has averaged 67.0 yards per kickoff with 53 touchbacks.  This was a great signing for the Vikings as Lloyd will pin the opposition deep on their end of the field a lot in 2010.

The Vikings have re-signed 30-year old WR Greg Lewis to a 1-year deal.  Lewis played in 13 games for the Vikings last season and he caught 8 passes for 96 yards (12.0 avg) with a TD grab.  He has now played in 103 games in his NFL career and he has caught 135 passes for 1,795 yards (13.3 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  Lewis is a favorite of head coach Brad Childress as they spent a lot of time in Philly together but he is still a solid #4 or #5 WR so it was smart of the Vikings to bring him back.

24-year old RB Adrian Peterson had another outstanding year for the Vikings in 2009.  He played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he carried the ball 314 times for 1,383 yards (4.4 ypc) with 18 TD runs.  Peterson also caught 43 passes for 436 yards (10.1 avg) last season for the Vikings.  Peterson really benefitted from having Brett Favre at QB as opposing teams couldn’t load the box to stop him.  Peterson has now played in 46 games in his career with the Vikings and he has carried the ball 915 times for 4,484 yards (4.9 ypc) with 40 TD carries.  He has also caught 83 passes for 829 yards (10.0 avg) with 1 TD grab in his career.  The knock on Peterson coming into the NFL was that he was a tad injury prone but he hasn’t really shown that in the NFL.

The Vikings only had five picks in the draft last April but every single player they picked made a impact on the team.  WR/KR Percy Harvin fell all the way to the Vikings at #22 in the first round due to off-field problems at Florida.  The Vikings quickly snapped him up and watched him be named the Offensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL.  He played in 15 games for the Vikings this season and he caught 60 passes for 790 yards (13.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs and he also carried the ball 15 times for 135 yards (9.0 ypc).  He was also outstanding on special teams as he returned 42 kickoffs for 1,156 yards (27.5 avg) with 2 TD returns including one that went for 101 yards.  In the second round the Vikings took OT Phil Loadholt (#54 overall) out of Oklahoma.  Loadholt played in 15 games (all starts) for the Vikings as a rookie and he is a really good player with a huge upside.  He is a mountain of a man at 6′8″, 343 pounds.  CB Asher Allen was selected in the third round (#86 overall) out of Georgia.  He played in 10 games as a rookie for the Vikings and he made 27 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he had 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  In the fifth round the Vikings picked linebacker Jasper Brinkley (#150 overall) out of South Carolina.  When E.J. Henderson went down to injury Brinkley stepped into the starting line-up and he did a decent job.  Brinkley played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he made 31 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and he forced 1 fumble.  He has a nice upside.  In the 7th round the Vikings used the #231 overall pick on safety Jamarca Sanford out of Mississippi.   Sanford played in 14 games as a rookie last season and he made 29 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he forced 1 fumble.

GRADE FOR 2009:  A

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A+

Turnovers and one very costly penalty cost the Minnesota Vikings the NFC Championship against the New Orleans Saints yesterday.  Brett Favre had the biggest turnover, which basically cost the Vikings the game.  With under a minute to go and just outside field goal range, Favre rolled to his right and committed one of the biggest sins a quarterback can do:  throwing across his body to the opposite side of the field.  The throw floated in the air too long and the Saints’ Tracy Porter easily picked it off to send the game into overtime.  Favre wasn’t the only one to blame down the stretch, as the Vikings had a penalty for too many men in the huddle and it pushed them out of field goal range right before Favre’s costly interception.  The Vikings played very sloppy football and did not take care of the ball.  They had 6 fumbles as a team, losing three of them, and Favre threw two interceptions.  Favre finished with 310 yards, 1 touchdown,  and 2 interceptions on 28/46 passes for a QB rating of 70.0.  Although Favre was not sacked, he was pressured all game and the Saints roughed him up with 6 hard QB hits.  Adrian Peterson had a big game, but he too struggled to hold on to the ball with 2 fumbles.  None were lost though and AP finished with 122 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 25 carries.  The Vikings’ offense racked up a ton of yards (475 yards) but they lost the turnover battle 5-1, which cost them the game.

The Vikings defense held the Saints explosive offense to only 257 yards, but all of the turnovers gave the Saints offense some great opportunities.  Also, the Vikings defense could not stop the Saints in the red zone, as they went 3-3 in red zone situations.  Drew Brees was held to 197 yards, but he had 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions on 17/31 passes for a QB rating of 106.5.  The Vikings defense actually played pretty solid, and if it weren’t for all of the Vikings’ turnovers they probably would have won pretty easily.  The Vikings still should have won this game, despite all of the turnovers.  When you have that many turnovers though, things are bound to eventually go the other team’s way.  The Vikings should be disappointed they missed out on a trip to the Super Bowl, but they should be proud of a very strong 2009 season.  Now the big question:  Will Brett Favre finally retire?