{"id":102553,"date":"2024-03-10T06:55:09","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T06:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=102553"},"modified":"2024-03-10T06:56:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T06:56:33","slug":"vikings-eyeing-10-million-pro-bowl-rb-to-replace-alex-mattison-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/vikings-eyeing-10-million-pro-bowl-rb-to-replace-alex-mattison-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Eyeing $10 Million Pro Bowl RB to Replace Alex Mattison"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0released starting running back\u00a0Alexander Mattison\u00a0last week, which paves way for the franchise to take a shot on a player they\u2019ve had their eye on for some time \u2014\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0running back\u00a0Tony Pollard.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GettyImages-1803184364-e1700515404191.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780\" alt=\"Alexander Mattison\" \/><\/p>\n<p>During a March 7 appearance on SKOR North\u2019s\u00a0\u201cMackey and Judd\u201d\u00a0podcast,\u00a0KSTP\u2019s Darren Wolfson\u00a0reported that running back is a priority in free agency starting March 13 and Pollard has fans in high places within the Vikings organization.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are multiple fans at a very high level of Tony Pollard,\u201d Wolfson said, adding that Pollard\u2019s performance in a dominant 40-3 win over the Vikings in 2022 has had some staying power in Minnesota. \u201cDoesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re going to chase him, but Tony Pollard is somebody that has some fans in Eagan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a backup behind\u00a0Ezekiel Elliott, Pollard seized a lion\u2019s share of the workload that day at U.S. Bank Stadium, rushing for 80 yards on 15 carries and adding six receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns through the air.<\/p>\n<p>He earned Pro Bowl honors for his efforts in the 2022 season, tallying over 1,000 rushing yards, 371 receiving yards and 12 total touchdowns even with Elliott in the fold.<\/p>\n<p>Pollard is coming off a down year in his first season as a starter after he was on a one-year,\u00a0$10.09 million franchise tag.<\/p>\n<p>He is poised to reach free agency in a competitive market that could see the Cowboys chase a star running back like\u00a0Saquon Barkley,\u00a0Derrick Henry\u00a0or\u00a0Josh Jacobs\u00a0\u2014 giving the Vikings a chance to land him at a discount.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">TONY POLLARD 68 YARDS TO THE HOUSE \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n<p>(via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@NFL<\/a>)<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/97HyBPRg4S\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/97HyBPRg4S<\/a><\/p>\n<p>— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BleacherReport\/status\/1594470136819220480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">November 20, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Tony Pollard\u2019s Upside in the Passing Game<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-4779547 visible aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 16px\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/a_0d9d89-e1707762028829.jpeg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\" alt=\"Tony Pollard\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4779547\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/a_0d9d89-e1707762028829.jpeg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>A 2019 fourth-round pick, Pollard has exceeded expectations throughout his career.<\/p>\n<p>Pollard was Pro Football Focus\u2019\u00a0fourth-highest graded running back\u00a0for two seasons before he became the Cowboys\u2019 starter. He averaged 5.13 yards per carry across his first four seasons in the league as a change-of-pace back to Elliott.<\/p>\n<p>Pollard showed some signs of regression once he took the reigns of the rushing game last season. He still rushed for over 1,000 yards, but his 4.0 yards per carry was a career-low. Pollard finished as PFF\u2019s 15th highest-graded back last season.<\/p>\n<p>Pollard\u2019s struggles have fallen on Mike McCarthy, who has faced\u00a0some scrutiny\u00a0for not capitalizing on the running back\u2019s playmaking ability.<\/p>\n<p>But beyond his rushing ability, Pollard\u2019s prowess in the passing game is what should entice the Vikings. He saw a heavy workload as a receiver last season, catching 55 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>More importantly to\u00a0Kevin O\u2019Connell, Pollard is a reliable pass-blocker.<\/p>\n<p>He posted the fourth-highest PFF pass-blocking grade (70.6) among running backs with 60 or more pass-blocking snaps. Pollard was relied upon often in Dallas, with the second-most pass-block snaps (115) of any running back in the league.<\/p>\n<p>Pollard is proven in many phases of his game and could be the bell cow ahead of\u00a0Ty Chandler, who struggled in pass protection in his second NFL season.<\/p>\n<h2>Austin Ekeler, D\u2019Andre Swift Also RBs Vikings Could Target<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-4892634 visible aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 16px\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\" alt=\"Austin Ekeler (left), Tony Pollard (middle), D'Andre Swift (right)\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4892634\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=2048,1152 2048w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=782,440 782w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=780,439 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=425,239 425w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=660,371 660w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=320,180 320w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=267,150 267w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ekeler-pollard-swift.jpg?resize=225,127 225w\" \/><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4892634\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p>After the top three free-agent running backs in Barkley, Henry and Jacobs is a second-tier that includes\u00a0Austin Ekeler,\u00a0D\u2019Andre Swift\u00a0and Pollard. Wolfson said that the second-tier running backs are considered in play for the Vikings.<\/p>\n<p>While PFF projected Pollard and Swift to garner deals north of $6 million a year, Ekeler, the eldest of the trio at 28 years old, was\u00a0projected to land a $4.5 million-a-year contract.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Star Tribune, the Vikings\u00a0saved $3.35 million by releasing Mattison, which could be reappropriated to signing another running back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0released starting running back\u00a0Alexander Mattison\u00a0last week, which paves way for the franchise to take a shot on a player they\u2019ve had their eye on for some… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}