The Skoloholics Mailbag – The nine AND two MAILBAG

Good Morning!

Just like I did previously expect a lighthearted answer to any question(s) but I’ll give you an answer…a wrong answer is still an answer though.

For salary cap questions I’ll continue using overthecap.com so I’m consistent with the numbers.

Any trades involving draft picks I’m using the updated NFL Trade Value Chart developed by Rich Hill available at https://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-Value-Chart-Rich-Hill.asp

For evaluating or looking up draft prospects or rookies my go to is thedraftnetwork.com

If I can’t come up with what I think is a legitimate answer, I’ll ask someone who I think can provide one.

If you have a question, leave me a comment in the mailbag post, I’ll revisit it later in the week.

Enough from me, let’s see what’s on everyone’s mind.

Skoldiers pondered: Where do you see us landing in the top 4 seeds?

Barring a complete meltdown by the Eagles, the Vikings should get the two seed. I looked at the Eagles remaining schedule, they have the Titans on Thursday night and a trip the Dallas in December plus they haven’t played the Giants yet. Even if they lose one of either the Titans or Dallas game they still have head to head over the Vikings. I’m not sure what to make of the Giants, but I’ll be a temporary Giants fan when they play the Eagles. Is the first seed still in play, yes it is.

Gone Fishin pondered: Are there any potential free agent targets that the Vikings may consider bringing in prior to our Super Bowl run? I’ll hang up and listen.

Before I deactivated my Twitter account there was a lot of talk on Vikings twitter about OBJ, while that’s fine, I’d prefer the Vikings not bring in an injured locker room cancer that won’t be able to play until late December for a playoff push. I looked at nfltraderumors for their top 100 remaining free agents and scanned down to…CB.
Why CB? Because whoever is playing opposite Peterson lately has been absolute horror show. I know we’re deep into the depth chart right now due to injuries. First available guy was Kenny King, recently of Green Bay…hard pass. There are some others but they aren’t worth mentioning.
My answer is save the money for next year.

Mick pondered: Will the Vikings bring in a kicker to compete with Joseph? If they do… who would you like them to bring in? Also, with the remaining games on the schedule, Jets, Lions, Colts, Giants, Peckers, and Bears…. how do you see this team finishing out the season as of TODAY?

I don’t think the Vikings will bring in a kicker this late in the season, if they were going to do that it should have been during the bye week. Like it or not, Joseph is the guy this year. Really all of his PAT and FG misses can be chalked up to poor technique. As for a potential guy I wouldn’t mind seeing brought in, Josh Lambo…he kicked very well for the Jags until he was cut last year, signed with the Titans for a week as their regualr kicker was injured, Lambo was cut after a week.

For your second question let’s go team by team:
Jets: on paper they have a very good defense but a huge question mark at QB. I expect a “W.”
Lions: I’ve said previously this game gives me pause because Dan Campbell’s very questionable time management cost the Lions vs the Vikings earlier this season. But they still have Goff at QB…”W.”
Colts: this is an awful team that’s probably going to fire their head coach….”W”
Giants: the Giants were darlings of the league earlier this season but it seems like they are returning to earth…with a thud. “W”
Packers: this team is going back to the future in the 80s when they sucked, bonus they have a scrub QB1 with a huge salaray. “W”
Bears: the Bears are doing what I wanted the Vikings to do this offseason, cast off bloated veterans, hoard draft picks and start looking to the future. Right now no one knows if Fields is their franchise QB because the offensive line is terrible and I have no idea who he’s throwing to for WR’s. “W.”
There you go, I have the Vikings winning out to finish the season…which means they likely won’t.

Peterplaysbass pondered: Which remaining divisional game are the Vikings most likely to lose? Or do you think the Vikings will complete a full division sweep for the first time since 1973?

Maybe the Lions since they took the Vikings to the brink of a loss earlier in the season. As above, it’s going to be a division sweep, which is nice.

 PA Viking Fan had a suggestion: If they do not bring in a kicker, should we start going for the 2pt conversion more, given Joseph’s struggles?

I looked at ESPN for Joseph’s stats, he’s 24/29 on PATs so far this year…for approximately 83%, of note his other missed kicks are from 50+ (1/5).

From what I can find the league average on PATs is around 93% and the league average for 2pt conversions is 48%. Put in numbers if the Vikings score four touchdowns and kick a PAT after every touchdown they’ll end up with 27 points; if they score four touchdowns and try a 2pt conversion after every touchdown they’ll end up with 28 points…remember those are averages. NFL coaches are by far members of a very conservative culture, I wouldn’t expect O’Connell to start going for two unless the situation dictates.

Rob pondered: Give us a score prediction:
Vikings 27
Jets 20

Thanks for everyone who took the time to ask a question, look for our next mailbag next week after the Jets game.

Skol!