Tag: Kris Boyd

Giants visiting with CB Kris Boyd, OL J.C. Hassenauer

The New York Giants hosted free agent CB Kris Boyd (Vikings) and OL J.C. Hassenauer (Steelers) for visits on Wednesday.

While many members of the New York Giants are attending the Ohio State Pro Day on Wednesday, business continues back in East Rutherford.

Darren Wolfson of SKOR North reports that cornerback and special teams ace, Kris Boyd, is meeting with the Giants.

Boyd was originally a seventh-round pick out of Texas in 2019. He had spent the entirety of his four-year career in Minnesota before being allowed to hit the open market this year.

In 58 career games (six starts), the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Boyd has recorded 95 tackles (73 solo, two for a loss), two forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and three passes defensed. However, his true value comes on special teams.

Boyd has taken the vast majority of his career snaps on special teams and plays multiple roles. Many believed he was deserving of the Pro Bowl in 2022.

The Giants need depth at cornerback and could certainly use a boost on special teams, so Boyd would make sense for them.

In addition to Boyd, the Giants are also hosting center J.C. Hassenauer.

The 28-year-old Hassenauer was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama by the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent one season in 2018. He played for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019 before signing with the Steelers that same year.

Hassenauer has appeared in 45 career games with seven starts. He earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 64.0 in 2022.

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Behind Enemy Lines: Week 16 Q&A with Vikings Wire

With a Week 16 matchup between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings on tap, we go behind enemy lines for a chat with Vikings Wire.

The New York Giants (8-5-1) and Minnesota Vikings (11-3) will square off on Saturday afternoon in a Week 16 matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Giants opened the week as 4-point road underdogs and that’s where the spread remains as of this writing.

With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Vikings Wire managing editor Tyler Forness.

ESPN sends the Vikings a cornerback in proposed trade deadline deal

The Vikings could use some depth in the cornerback room

It is no secret that the Minnesota Vikings have had issues on defense. While they are 14th in points allowed at 20.4 points per game, they have struggled to get off the field consistently.

The Vikings are currently 20th in third-down percentage at 36.2% and a paltry 29th in red zone percentage at 76.9%, allowing 10 touchdowns on 13 drives that made it to the red zone.

The NFL trade deadline is fast approaching and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell identified 15 different trades that could be beneficial to both teams.

In his article, he sent Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Michael Davis to the Vikings for cornerback Kris Boyd and a sixth-round pick. His reasoning was sound.

Davis is mainly a slot cornerback but his place on the depth chart was taken by the additions of J.C. Jackson and Bryce Callahan, leaving him without playing time.

“Depth is great, but most teams would consider paying a cornerback who doesn’t see the field on defense most weeks a $7 million base salary to be a waste of money. Boyd would be a much more realistic (and less expensive) fourth or fifth cornerback for Los Angeles. At 4-1, the Vikings have legitimate playoff aspirations and need help at cornerback. Chandon Sullivan has struggled as the team’s slot corner this season. The Vikings have allowed a 94.0 QBR to slot receivers, the fifth-worst mark in football. Minnesota would need the Chargers to eat some money to make this deal work, but Davis would be a significant upgrade in the slot and a possible solution next year, too.”

Sullivan has been okay for the Vikings, but a clear upgrade in acquiring Davis would make a lot of sense. It also fits the motif of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah thus far, as he has already traded multiple late-round picks for veterans.

Vikings fans should be excited for this potential addition.

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Vikings CB Kris Boyd claps back at ungrateful fans

Boyd had some choice words for ungrateful fans

The Minnesota Vikings had another hard-fought win that they squeaked to in the end beating the New Orleans Saints 28-25.

The game itself had the Vikings starting out and finishing hot but struggling in the middle. They were 2-5 in the red zone bringing their total down below 50% for the season.

Kirk Cousins also threw another brutal interception to Tyrann Mathieu that turned into a Saints touchdown to Chris Olave.

Despite the issues that the Vikings have had, the record doesn’t reflect their issues. Sitting at 3-1 on the season, they are atop the NFC North division holding the tiebreaker over the Green Bay Packers due to beating them in week one.

Despite their successful record, there is some discontent among the fanbase. Vikings fourth-year cornerback Kris Boyd saw that online and had a message for who he called “ungrateful fans.”

It’s ok to be critical of your team but it appears that some were going too far. Boyd’s sentiment is right. This team is 3-1 and still figuring things out.

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Watch Kirk Cousins celebrate the win doing the griddy

Cousins seems to have taken dancing lessons in the offseason

The Minnesota Vikings beat the New Orleans Saints 28-25 in a game that was closer than it had any right to be.

The Vikings allowed the Saints to get back into the game and had to rely on two drives from starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to get them into a position to win. Thankfully, they were aided by multiple penalties on the touchdown drive that helped them get the lead.

After the game, Cousins and the Vikings both celebrated the win on the field and Cousins did so in a way that is very familiar to the Vikings: he hit the Griddy.

Egged on by cornerback and special teams ace Kris Boyd, Cousins hit it on his way into the tunnel and it wasn’t half bad. It’s not on the same level as star wide receiver Justin Jefferson but it’s much-improved over his first attempt in week 17 of the 2020 season.

The fun is back in the Vikings locker room and building.

Vikings 2022 season preview: Cornerback

We continue our season preview series with the cornerbacks

In a similar vein to how fans felt when Mike Zimmer took over for Leslie Frazier, the excitement is palpable for the beginning of the Kevin O’Connell era.

While the team prepares for the season, we are doing the same at the Vikings Wire. We will be producing previews breaking down both each position and the team as a whole.

Today, we continue with our preview series by talking about the defensive line.

Quarterback Preview
Running Back Preview
Wide Receiver preview
Tight End Preview
Offensive Tackle Preview
Defensive Line Preview
Outside Linebacker/Edge Preview
Middle Linebacker Preview

Vikings top defensive PFF grades vs Denver Broncos

After an up and down game, the Vikings had some wide-ranging PFF grades on defense

The Vikings lost a tough game on Saturday night 23-13 to the Denver Broncos.

Not playing 33 players – including all starters – the Vikings took the opportunity to look at all their depth players to make roster cuts just a little bit easier.

There weren’t a lot of obvious standout performances but players did acquit themselves well on Saturday night.

With the offensive PFF grades from Saturday night’s game live, here are the defensive grades.

Vikings players currently slated for free agency in 2023

Multiple key starters are set to become unrestricted free agents in 2023

The Minnesota Vikings are juggling multiple one-year contracts in an effort to potentially compete for a Super Bowl in 2022. They’ve essentially kicked the can on future headaches in hopes of reaping a present-day reward.

But out of sight doesn’t necessarily mean out of mind.

This is the time of the year where general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will start to fade more into the background making roster adjustments with both the present and future in mind. The Vikings are going to have some seriously tough decisions ahead that includes multiple starters.

Keep in mind, they’ll have to work within the confines of potentially extending Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson to massive deals at some point, assuming they plan on going in that direction.

In his first year as general manager, Adofo-Mensah managed to keep the core of the team intact for the most part. But that certainly won’t be the case after this season.

Here are the current contracts set to expire in 2023.

Kris Boyd says it felt like ‘world ended’ if mistake was made under Mike Zimmer

Boyd is already loving the Kevin O’Connell era

Now that the Mike Zimmer era is completely in the rearview, more players for the Minnesota Vikings are speaking out about the differences between the previous coaching staff and the current one under Kevin O’Connell.

Cornerback Kris Boyd was the latest to give his take on what things were really like when Zimmer was at the helm, and his comments mirrored remarks made by standout linebacker Eric Kendricks, who claimed the team was being ran like a “fear-based organization.”

When appearing on All Things Covered, Boyd spoke about fear seemingly being at the center of everything football-related under the previous regime.

“With the last staff, they were like, whatever they were dealing with or were scared of, I don’t know,” said Boyd. “… They would walk around with their [butts] like tight. [They] would always be strict about everything. Like any time you messed up, it’s like the world ended.

“[O’Connell] and them, they way more chill, way more relaxed. Whatever we got to get fixed, we’re going to fix it. We’re going to keep rolling. We’re going to bounce back and figure it out. [They’ve changed] the whole vibe. Everybody’s way more relaxed.”

There’s obviously a distinct difference in coaching approaches from O’Connell and Zimmer.

O’Connell, 37, is a younger coach with a better ability to relate to the players on his team. He’s more of a player-friendly coach that runs his team with a bit more freedom. That approach might not work for everyone, but it did lead to O’Connell winning a Super Bowl under Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams.

Quite the contrary, Zimmer is more of an old school coach that ruled with an iron fist. That approach is fine as long as the team is winning football games. But an unpleasant atmosphere combined with failing to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons is always going to be a recipe for disaster.

The team imploded—and Zimmer along with it.

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Updated look at every former Texas Longhorn on an NFL roster

There are now 35 former Longhorns on an NFL roster, and a few have found new homes this offseason.

Although Texas did not have a single player selected throughout the 2022 NFL draft, the Longhorns are still well-represented across the league. Continue reading “Updated look at every former Texas Longhorn on an NFL roster”