AI
Monday, June 10, 2002 1:59:41 AM
Vikings Ink Alexander
by Bo Mitchell - Content Manager, Fanball.com
Friday, June 7, 2002
Just as it was beginning to look like the Minnesota Vikings might not be able to translate their generous salary cap cushion into the top receiver on their June free agent wish list, the team announced that they had reached an agreement with Derrick Alexander. Terms of the deal were not announced, but the Vikes had close to $4-million in cap room available. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting that the deal is for three years and ESPN reports that it will be for $5.1-million.
Alexander, who was released by the Chiefs for salary cap reasons Monday, visited the defending champion Patriots Tuesday and was in Tampa Bay chilling with Jon and Keyshawn Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Vikings were growing antsy. Head coach Mike Tice said he didn't want to "play games" and the team was said to be shifting their attention to the second and third options on the free agent wide receiver menu, Keenan McCardell and Antonio Freeman.
Tice's minicamp opened Friday, and the word came down Friday afternoon that Alexander would be signed, sealed, delivered, and in camp for Saturday's workouts to catch his first passes from Daunte Culpepper.
With Cris Carter donning an IFB for HBO, this move should be considered one of the biggest fantasy transactions of the offseason. Had the Vikes not signed Alexander, they would have had to scramble to ink Freeman, as McCardell appeared to be heading elsewhere. Short of that, they were facing the possibility of entering training camp with D'Wayne Bates and Sean Dawkins as their second and third receivers—neither of whom would generate the kind of respect from secondaries that Alexander does.
Randy Moss needs a running mate to, at a minimum, create a dangerous diversion if the Vikes' stated plan to get him considerably more involved in the offense is going to work. Alexander, they believed, was that running mate—that perfect complement to Randy's ridiculous talent. The Purple are enamored with his size/speed combo platter. They told him so when he paid the team a visit last month, before being released and they convinced him of it when they talked again Friday.
Alexander, 30, can hardly be considered a sure-thing fantasy player after falling off the map last year. In fact, his dismal, injury-riddled follow-up to 2000 when he tallied 1,391 yards and 10 touchdowns, made him one of the biggest busts in fantasy football in 2001.
That said, when healthy and happy (and in a pass-happy system), D.A. can be a very potent weapon. Look beyond his huge 2000 season when Elvis Grbac was slinging him passes and the Chiefs' running game was absent. Look back to his 1996 and 1997 campaigns in Baltimore when Vinny Testaverde was filling the air with footballs and Alexander had consecutive 1,000-yard, nine-touchdown seasons.
Culpepper will easily be the best quarterback he's played with and Moss doesn't even compare to any receivers Alexander has run opposite. Conversely, both Daunte and Randy will be aided by his presence. And now they can operate with Byron Chamberlain, Bates, Dawkins, and Michael Bennett as their third through sixth passing options. That's not bad at all.
Conservatively, Alexander should be a top-30 wide receiver under any fantasy football scoring system. If he approaches his '96, '97, and '00 level of play, he'll be top 20 or even top 15. Be certain to remind the other owners in your league of his numbers from last year and then tell them that Moss will be catching eight of every 10 passes Culpepper throws.
Then grab Alexander in the mid-to-late rounds and hope those hammys hold up.
]
Breaking Clay Makes My Day!
by Bo Mitchell - Content Manager, Fanball.com
Friday, June 7, 2002
Just as it was beginning to look like the Minnesota Vikings might not be able to translate their generous salary cap cushion into the top receiver on their June free agent wish list, the team announced that they had reached an agreement with Derrick Alexander. Terms of the deal were not announced, but the Vikes had close to $4-million in cap room available. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting that the deal is for three years and ESPN reports that it will be for $5.1-million.
Alexander, who was released by the Chiefs for salary cap reasons Monday, visited the defending champion Patriots Tuesday and was in Tampa Bay chilling with Jon and Keyshawn Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Vikings were growing antsy. Head coach Mike Tice said he didn't want to "play games" and the team was said to be shifting their attention to the second and third options on the free agent wide receiver menu, Keenan McCardell and Antonio Freeman.
Tice's minicamp opened Friday, and the word came down Friday afternoon that Alexander would be signed, sealed, delivered, and in camp for Saturday's workouts to catch his first passes from Daunte Culpepper.
With Cris Carter donning an IFB for HBO, this move should be considered one of the biggest fantasy transactions of the offseason. Had the Vikes not signed Alexander, they would have had to scramble to ink Freeman, as McCardell appeared to be heading elsewhere. Short of that, they were facing the possibility of entering training camp with D'Wayne Bates and Sean Dawkins as their second and third receivers—neither of whom would generate the kind of respect from secondaries that Alexander does.
Randy Moss needs a running mate to, at a minimum, create a dangerous diversion if the Vikes' stated plan to get him considerably more involved in the offense is going to work. Alexander, they believed, was that running mate—that perfect complement to Randy's ridiculous talent. The Purple are enamored with his size/speed combo platter. They told him so when he paid the team a visit last month, before being released and they convinced him of it when they talked again Friday.
Alexander, 30, can hardly be considered a sure-thing fantasy player after falling off the map last year. In fact, his dismal, injury-riddled follow-up to 2000 when he tallied 1,391 yards and 10 touchdowns, made him one of the biggest busts in fantasy football in 2001.
That said, when healthy and happy (and in a pass-happy system), D.A. can be a very potent weapon. Look beyond his huge 2000 season when Elvis Grbac was slinging him passes and the Chiefs' running game was absent. Look back to his 1996 and 1997 campaigns in Baltimore when Vinny Testaverde was filling the air with footballs and Alexander had consecutive 1,000-yard, nine-touchdown seasons.
Culpepper will easily be the best quarterback he's played with and Moss doesn't even compare to any receivers Alexander has run opposite. Conversely, both Daunte and Randy will be aided by his presence. And now they can operate with Byron Chamberlain, Bates, Dawkins, and Michael Bennett as their third through sixth passing options. That's not bad at all.
Conservatively, Alexander should be a top-30 wide receiver under any fantasy football scoring system. If he approaches his '96, '97, and '00 level of play, he'll be top 20 or even top 15. Be certain to remind the other owners in your league of his numbers from last year and then tell them that Moss will be catching eight of every 10 passes Culpepper throws.
Then grab Alexander in the mid-to-late rounds and hope those hammys hold up.
] Breaking Clay Makes My Day!
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