Michigan steamrolling Minnesota early

Bold prediction: the Little Brown Jug won't be leaving Ann Arbor this season.

Minnesota could prove me wrong, but the Gophers look completely out of sorts against No. 19 Michigan, which continues to surge. Michigan is already up 14-0 following touchdown drives of 80 and 75 yards.

Fitz Toussaint and Denard Robinson already are carving up Minnesota on the ground. More encouraging for Michigan: Robinson is 3-for-3 passing for 53 yards.

Although Minnesota is starting a freshman quarterback, Michigan's defensive front seven looks very good. And if Robinson settles down with his passing, the Wolverines will be very tough to beat this season.

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Pondering McNabb’s job security in Minnesota

Published: September 21st, 2011 | Tags: Donovan McNabb, Christian Ponder, Michael Lombardi, Minnesota Vikings

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Donovan McNabb stood in front of the Vikings this week and told his teammates there’s no need to panic. McNabb sounds like someone with some job security.

From Michael Lombardi’s perspective, that’s exactly what McNabb has.  Even after an 0-2 start, Lombardi doesn’t believe the Vikings are close to giving rookie Christian Ponder his first chance to steer the ship.

“McNabb is the guy this year,” Lombardi said Wednesday on “Around the League”. “Right now, the team is built around McNabb being somewhat successful. The Vikings aren’t able to compete at the highest level unless they have an experienced quarterback (in the lineup). There are a lot of other issues besides McNabb taking blame for the two losses in Minnesota.”

Once the Vikings go down the road of benching McNabb, there’s really no going back. As Lombardi suggests, it was clear to the entire team during the preseason that Ponder didn’t give the team its best chance to win. You can’t fool the locker room.

“If they do that, they’re sending the message to the team that basically they’re looking toward next year,” Lombardi added. “I don’t think you want to do that with so many games remaining in the season. Ponder didn’t play well during the preseason. The team knows he didn’t win the job. If they just give him the job, then basically they’re telling the team they’re talking about 2012, not 2011. I don’t think you want to do that this early in the season.”

McNabb is on a one-year deal. So if the Vikings completely go in the tank, maybe this conversation is resurrected in three months. Until then, there is no reason to believe this isn’t McNabb’s show.

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Update on Minnesota coach Jerry Kill

Many of you have asked for updates regarding the condition of Minnesota coach Jerry Kill, who had a seizure on the sideline late in Saturday's game against New Mexico State.

Brian and I will try to provide as many updates as possible until Kill returns to his duties, which we hope is soon!

According to a Minnesota news release sent Sunday, Kill is continuing to show signs of improvement and is resting comfortably at a local hospital. Minnesota team physician Dr. Pat Smith says all tests performed on Kill to this point have shown normal results. Further testing will continue, and Smith hasn't said when Kill could be released from the hospital.

Another update on Kill's status is expected Monday.

"Coach Kill is in good hands and is receiving the very best in medical care," Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi said in a prepared statement. “Right now the reports we have received from our medical staff are positive and I am very pleased that he continues to show steady signs of improvement."

This is certainly good news after some scary moments Saturday. Here's wishing coach Kill a speedy recovery.

Assistant head coach Bill Miller and coordinators Matt Limegrover and Tracy Claeys are leading the team during Kill's absence.

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QB speculation alive and well in Minnesota

Published: January 20th, 2011 | Tags: Vince Young, Craig Johnson, Joe Webb, Minnesota Vikings, Tarvaris Jackson

The news that the Vikings have hired Craig Johnson to coach their quarterbacks is sure to be followed by plenty of speculation of just who he will coach in 2011.

As in … Vince Young?

Johnson has first-hand experience with Young after spending nine years coaching quarterbacks for the Titans before moving to running backs coach last season. Young has his sights set on being a starter, but I have to agree with NFL Network information man Michael Lombardi,who wrote recently that he’d be shocked if any team gave Young a starting job, or a starting contract to match. Great insight in that piece by Lombardi on some of the issues that have been following Young around since he entered the league.

Fortunately for Young, there are a handful of teams with unsettled quarterback situations where he could get that chance to compete. And, you guessed it, the Vikings are one of them. They were among the short list of teams compiled a couple of weeks back when we looked at where Young could land next season.

It’s an intriguing possibility. Much of it will depend on the direction taken by new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who has strong ties to the West Coast offense but isn’t tied to one system. Leslie Frazier has cited the need for a franchise quarterback, and his cupboard is nearly bare. Pending free agent Tarvaris Jackson expects to leave. Patrick Ramsey and Rhett Bomar ended the season as the backups to raw but versatile Joe Webb.

It likely puts (or maybe forces is the better term) the Vikings in a position to draft a quarterback and possibly bring in a veteran name who gets cut (Donovan McNabb, Kyle Orton) or via trade (Kevin Kolb) to bridge the gap. Frazier strongly supported the first of those two options Thursday in saying it will be a focus of the team’s draft strategy to find a player for Musgrave to develop, and didn’t rule out the latter.

If the price is right, maybe Young is a fit. Then again, maybe the fact that Johnson did coach Young will be the same reason he doesn’t end up in Minnesota.

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