Upon hearing that the Vikes acquired Jared Allen at 10pm on Tuesday night while driving down Washington Ave., I stared long enough at the text message that I may have ran over a few people. On the subject of running over people, how good is a D-Line of Jared Allen, Pat Williams, Kevin Williams, and Ray Edwards/Erasmus James/Brian Robison going to be? Unleash the hounds Leslie Frazier! The one thing missing the past three seasons with the Williams Wall has been a steady force putting pressure on the exterior of the O-Line to take attention away from K-Will and Fat Pat. All three of these guys command a double team, so I expect even the currently nameless fourth defensive line starter to have one hell of a season.
After watching Randy Moss, Johan Santana, Kevin Garnett, and Torii Hunter all depart the Twin Cities sports market for often 50 cents on the dollar, it was refreshing to see a Minnesota pro sports franchise step up to the plate and deliver a solid trade that improves the championship aspirations. While the trade was first reported as a 2008 1st, a 2008 3rd, and a 2009 3rd, come morning it was clarified as the #17 pick as well as both of the Vikes 2008 3rd round picks. My initial thought was this was simply too much to give up for a guy that has a shaky track record, but at second glance, I would make this trade again in a second. Derrick Harvey isn't likely to be the player that Jared Allen is. Phillip Merlins isn't likely to be the player that Jared Allen is. If, Allen, in present form, was in the 2008 NFL Draft, he'd no doubt be the first pick because people want the sure thing. Well #69 IS the sure thing. Allen is a rock-solid, complete defensive end that will provide the entire purple defense with a trickle down effect of improvement. When Aaron Rodgers faces some pressure from the front seven, suddenly the secondary will look better. At 26 years-old, Allen should be highly productive for the majority of the six year contract, but the impact will be felt be felt as soon as he steps on the field...
-Judd Zulgad discusses Allen's maturation from the Kansas City party boy, to a sober 26 year-old young man that goes to bed at 10PM...
-Pat Reusse says the Purple Pride just jumped up a few notches in Minnesota...
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