Searching For a Name: The Return of Tyler Thigpen

I'll be perfectly honest. I'm jealous of Pacifist Viking. It's not because of his writing, the fact that he's got help writing his blog or anything like that. It's solely because he came up with a great title for all of his link centered posts: "Blizzard". That's just genius. Genius. I've been trying to come up with something that good for a long time and have nothing.

Any suggestions for something equally catchy would be appreciated. While you're working on it, here are a few articles worth taking a look at:

Former Viking seventh round pick, Tyler Thigpen, might actually challenge for the Chiefs starting quarterback job. You may remember Thigpen as the player the Vikings tried and failed to slip through waivers onto the practice squad last year so they could keep Brooks Bollinger and Kelly Holcombe. Hopefully, if Thigpen does win the starting job, it's because the Chiefs are so awful they don't have a better option than a seventh round draft choice, otherwise we're going to have to add Holcombe over Thigpen to the list of really regrettable roster decisions by the Purple. Thankfully, it's highly unlikely he'll turn into a valuable player (more on that tomorrow and Friday).

The Vikings didn't make a first round pick this year, which means that they will likely avoid the problems that come with trying to sign their top draft pick. As Chris Cooley points out, rookies are vastly overpaid (consider that Jake Long was signed for a similar amount of guaranteed money as Jared Allen) and current players don't really like it. It's definitely been a problem for the Purple in the past (Bryant McKinnie sat out the first half of his rookie year), but a lot of that can likely be laid at the feet of Red McCombs. Whether or not the system is fixed, expect it to dominate the news as rookies sign and especially as they don't sign.

The Twins just missed being no hit by Gavin Floyd last night, avoiding it only because of a slicing double into the gap by Joe Mauer in the ninth inning. What makes the Twins' offensive performance even more embarrassing is that Floyd wasn't even pitching lights out--the Twins just made him look like he was by swinging at everything. Then again, I guess that's what can be expected from a team that has only four players better than league average at laying off pitches outside of the strike zone and feature the players who have swung at the third and fourth highest percentage of balls in the American League.

When I wasn't watching the bonus coverage of the Twins' game on ESPN (I don't know why they chose the Twins feed over the awful White Sox announcers, but after I realized they had, it was the happiest I've been with ESPN in a long time), I was watching Kevin Garnett actually outplay another NBA star in crunch time of a playoff game, the first time he's done so since he dominated the fourth quarter of Game 7 against the Kings. Watching his post game interview only reinforced my feelings of hatred for Kevin McHale--I'm still a KG fan, even if I want the Celtics to lose horribly. Can't say I'm particularly happy that he's finally starting to realize that he can and should take over in crunch time though.

Finally, if you can, sign up to donate Bone Marrow and help fight Leukemia. Do it for Kenechi.

Seahawks-Vikings: THE REMATCH...

Saturday's the Vikings' third preseason game (which, loyal readers, I'm sure you already knew), meaning that Saturday night will be the closest we get to watching a real football game until Week One, as well as the last chance for players to make a good impression, lest they get sent to the chopping block (There's a solid breakdown of the Vikings' likely cuts over at KFAN.com) . And hopefully, it'll involve a few more passes by the Revolution. Aside from hoping that Tarvaris will be a tad bit more involved, there's quite a few other things to watch for:

• How will the newcomers fit in? Can Robert Ferguson show off the talent that lead the Packers to draft him in the second round? Has Fred Evans time in the legal world left him rusty and forlorn? Or will he take out his anger and frustration on the Seahawks?

• Will any of the safeties stand out? It's not that any of them have played poorly, rather, they've all played well, which likely puts Tank Williams as the odd man out, since Greg Blue is a cheaper, younger version of him. So will Tank Williams, Mike Doss or Greg Blue step up their game and insure they get a roster spot?

• Can the special teams units do a better job in winning the field position battle? Will Alex Reyes pull a Bo Jackson after another of his kick offs doesn't go past the twenty and just keep running into the locker room and right off the roster? Is Aundrae Allison going to be returning kicks for the Purple, or will Robert Ferguson or Chandler Williams steal the spot away?
  

• Which of the wide receivers are going to make the team? Troy Williamson, Sydney Rice, Robert Ferguson, Bobby Wade and Aundrae Allison seem to be locks for the team. That leaves Williams, Martin Nance, Billy McMullin and Todd Lowbar competing for the sixtha and final spot. I'd hate to see the Vikings lose Chandler Williams, their seventh rounder. He hasn't caught a pass in a preseason game yet, but he's played well in practice and has the longest kick return for the Vikings' so far (28 yards).
  

• The Vikings have had a lot of success rushing the passer with Brian Robison and Ray Edwards at defensive end. How will the return of Erasmus James play into that? And how is James knee going to hold up in live action? Does he still have the speed and quickness he had prior to the injury? I certainly hope so, because, with the way Robison and Edwards are playing, a healthy James could be the difference between a pass rush that's "better than last year's" and a "great pass rush".
  

• Drew Henson sucks. Will he continue to be a bad quarterback, or will he tantalize the coaching staff with a good performance, thus costing the Vikings the man, the myth, the legend(#16)--Tyler Thigpen. [Thanks to Bob D. for the Youtube link]
  

The Ragnarok--Your Tyler Thigpen Leader!

From Bob D., our friendly neighborhood Coastal Carolina fan:

Tyler Thigpen is going to be on a few ESPN2 shows this week.

Former Coastal Carolina quarterback Tyler Thigpen could be on ESPN2 as many as three times this week.

Thigpen, who expects to be asked about his path from high-school wingback to drafted quarterback, said he is scheduled to be on the station's show "Cold Pizza" at approximately 11:30 a.m. today

An e-mail from Dan Quinn at ESPN also said Thigpen and CCU coach David Bennett will be on "First Take" on Thursday. That show begins at 10 a.m.

Lastly, Thigpen said he has been asked to appear on "The Hot List," another ESPN2 program, on Friday.

Get to Know 'Em: Tyler Thigpen

Thanks to Bob D. (a Coastal Carolina fan) for this scouting report on Tyler Thigpen:

I need to preface this by saying that I am not unbiased, but I am also blunt and if I don't like something I say it, so you will not get a homer report here.. Feel free to visit our message board www.coastalfans.com

Just an FYI we are the team that is in either TEAL or BLACK in most of these videos.

Tyler is a great QB. His numbers his first three years were very pedestrian because we resembled a 90's Nebraska/80's Notre Dame team where we run the ball 1st and 2nd down and then pass only if we have to. After Tyler's junior year and before his senior year, we changed offensive coordinators and went with a no huddle [not sure if you are familiar with FCS Football (formerly D1aa) but it is similar to Appalachian State's offense] and multiple WR's. Tyler soaked it up like a sponge and threw for about 3,300 yards and29 touchdowns and ran for almost 700 more with 5 TDs. I won't lie to you--he will never break a land speed record but he is very elusive. When we played James Madison the year after they won the national title and were ranked #1, he made more people miss then I have ever seen. He has a great pocket presence and knows when he needs to get the hell outta there and run for yards. He throws a great, and very catchable (yea, I know that's a terribly overused phrase) ball. He can throw a laser in there if he needs to or toss it deep with great touch.

Here is a link to a pass he made against James Madison where our receiver made a ridiculous catch (SportsCenter top 10) but you can see he can just fling it 50 yards without a problem:

About 20 and 35 seconds into this one you can see Tyler running the ball:

At 1:00 and 1:10 are clips of him busting a big run. 1:25 and 1:30 are more of the same. 2:35 in he smokes vmi for about a 70 yard run. 3:42 is a great pass of his as well.

All of those are from his junior year.

Here are his statistics while at Coastal Carolina:

2005: 97 rushes for 437 yards avg 4.5/carry, 4 tds, a long of 77, 39.7 yards/game rushing. 133/246 oassing. 118.20 efficiency rating. 1,589 yards, 11tds, long of 60 yards, 6 ints.144.5 yards/game passing

2006: 113 rushes for 656 yards avg 5.8/carry 5tds, a long of 76, 54.7 yards/game rushing 217/339 passing. 167.4 efficiency rating. 3,296 yards, 29 td/11 int. 274.7/game long of 80

There are some people who don't think he has a WR background (which I saw here) but he was a wingback in high school and could be a WR but is probably too slow for that and too small for TE.