The dead zone

If your team isn't in the Super Bowl or had a great playoff run, late January is a tough time to be writing an NFL blog. It's not as bad as May, June or July, but it's still pretty bad.

That's the case with the Vikings right now, who made the playoffs but didn't last long once they got there. Free agency is a month away and until that happens there seems to be little to write about.

But I do sort of have a plan for the next month to keep the content relatively fresh here. I'm currently working on a piece breaking down Adrian Peterson's season. I'd also like to do something on the Vikings offensive performance on first downs. And I will evaluate the Vikings positional units like I did last year. This time I'll even try to complete the job. Last year I didn't get around to writing about the linebackers or defensive backs.

Darren Sharper
Here's a pointless update on Darren Sharper's future with the team from the Access Vikings blog by way of Pro Football Talk.

It's pointless because Sharper has no future with the Vikings. He's 33. He'll want too much money to re-sign and he's just not that good anymore. Sharper's made his bones in the NFL by being a ballhawk and a playmaker. But he's no longer ballhawking or playmaking. Last year he had one interception – his lowest total since his second NFL season.

And since he's never been a physical, run-stopping safety, if he's lost a step or two (which seems to be the case) in pass coverage, there doesn't seem much reason to retain him.

However, Sharper keeps himself fit, so I'm sure someone – whether it's the New Orleans Saints or some other pass defence deficient team – will sign him. But they will be doing it based on what Sharper's done in the past and not on what he can do in the future.

I don't know if Tyrell Johnson is a great replacement option at this point (he often looked tentative in pass coverage as a rookie) but he's 23, he's cheap, he's big, he's fast and he's got a ceiling.

Sharper's already reached his ceiling. It's time to move on here. The Tyrell Johnson era (do safeties not named Ed Reed deserve such billing?) is about the begin.

Mewelde Moore
I'm not too jazzed about the Super Bowl matchup but I'll watch it because I love football and when you love football, you have to watch the Super Bowl. Not doing so would be like a movie buff not watching the Oscars because he or she didn't like the nominees for Best Actor or Best Film.

One player I will be rooting for though is ex-Vikings/current Steelers running back Mewelde Moore.

I've always had a soft spot for Moore. I like bargains and Moore was a bargain. The Vikings haven't had much luck with their second-day draft choices but Mewelde – who was picked in the fourth round of the '04 draft – was one of the team's savvier picks. Too bad he was too often underutilized during his time with the team, particularly during Brad Childress's first season as head coach.

Some Vikings fans complained when management allowed Moore to walk as a free agent last offseason. I wasn't one of them. But it wasn't because I didn't like Moore (I do) or because I didn't think he was a good player (again, I do). I didn't complain because there was no way Moore was signing with the Vikings anyway. He had no role with the Vikings and at his age, I doubted he was content to waste away on the sideline, watching Adrian Peterson get all the carries and Chester Taylor catch all the screen passes, while only being asked to return the occasional punt.

So he signed with Pittsburgh where he had a chance to play more. It worked out and now he'll get an opportunity to win a Super Bowl ring and perhaps play a key role in getting that ring. I'd like to see it happen.

Moore will probably never be a starting running back in the NFL. He's got that label now as a small guy who's best suited as a third-down back. But he's shifty, can catch passes out of the backfield and pass block. If he stays healthy he could have a Kevin Faulk-type of career, who has been around 10 seasons and probably will play an 11th and maybe even a 12th before he retires.

Mewelde Moore won't make the Hall of Fame or win any rushing titles. But he may end up playing longer than a guy like Adrian Peterson.