Minnesota Vikings Rave About Newly Acquired WR Jerome Simpson

We all know Jerome Simpson has some things off the field that he needs to get figured out, but there is no question that when he’s on the field, he is an impact player.

After playing just 11 career games in his first three years in the league, the former second round pick out of Coastal Carolina played in all 16 games last year and had 50 receptions for over 700 yards and four touchdowns, including one memorable score that will go down as arguably the coolest touchdown in NFL history.

The Vikings didn’t sign Simpson to flip over defenders, but they are basically doing backflips after seeing him at OTAs. Minnesota GM Rick Spielman called Simpson “outstanding” and his new quarterback Christian Ponder is raving about him as well. Here is a snippet from Ian Rapoport’s report on NFL.com:

"Jerome Simpson was a real steal for the Vikings, and he may be even more than that. The super athletic receiver is making eyes pop in Minnesota. When I talked to Ponder after practice, he raved about Simpson. He wasn’t alone. As GM Rick Spielman told me, “Jerome Simpson (has) been outstanding since he’s been here, and you can see that he’s at a different speed.““Jerome was running a dig, which is 20-yard in-route and the cushion was unbelievable because everyone’s afraid he’s going to run right by them he’s so fast,” Ponder told me. “That just adds a whole other dimension to our offense.“"

That’s got to be encouraging for Vikings fans. Wide receiver is a real position of weakness, and while Simpson’s one year streak of consecutive 16 game seasons will end at one (faces three game suspension to start the year) it’s great that he is finally showing up as the second round pick he was drafted to be. He is an athletic freak, and while he’s not big like some of the elite receivers in the league, he is going to be able to get separation and is actually a very underrated pickup by the Vikes.

For a Fantasy Football spin, you may be able to snag Simpson late in pretty much every draft you are part of. He will be worth the gamble as a fourth or fifth receiver on your team and could turn out to pay huge dividends.