Dynasty Impact: Mike Wallace Joins the Vikings

Doug Green

wallace

When the trade of Kenny Stills to Miami hit Twitter, it took less than a minute for a buddy of mine to ask me “So when is Mike Wallace leaving?”

The answer turned out to be the very next day as Wallace and a seventh-round draft pick were shipped off to Minnesota for a fifth-rounder. Wallace will be joining his third team in his eight seasons after being drafted by Pittsburgh in the third round out of Ole Miss. Wallace is known as a deep-threat specialist, though his route tree is more complex than that and signed a large free agent contract just two seasons ago to head to Miami to try and prove just that.

This is the middle link in a series of connected moves across the NFL. Let’s take a look at how those pieces fit together.

Mike Wallace, WR Minnesota

Wallace had a productive (and lucrative) two years in Miami, but rumors always persisted that he and quarterback Ryan Tannehill could not get on the same page. Still, Wallace exits with 140 catches, 1,792 yards and 15 touchdowns.

He now arrives to the Vikings and Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner’s system, where he should mesh very well. One of the staples of the Turner offense is the deep pass down the sideline and that is where Wallace excels. With a roster full of younger, less experienced wideouts, Wallace should immediately jump to the top of the target list.

He’s averaged 65-70 catches and around 1,000 yards each season of his career. There’s no reason to think those will drop off anytime soon after this move.

Greg Jennings, WR FA

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When one player comes in, another must leave. Such is life in the NFL. And just as Stills forced Miami to move on from Wallace, his arrival in Minnesota caused the Vikings to release Jennings.

As of this writing, Jennings had not signed on with anyone yet, but he has been linked to Seattle, New England, and ironically enough, Miami. Though Jennings isn’t the speedster he was when he was with Green Bay, he still runs very good routes and is generally considered a good leader wherever he goes. Jennings would be a good addition to any of those three teams previously mentioned and could step in and contribute right away.

Cordarrelle Patterson, WR Minnesota

If there is someone who stands to lose in this scenario (outside of Jennings being cut), it’s Patterson. After being drafted out of Tennessee as a raw prospect, Patterson has really yet to develop any consistency to his game. His best attributes involve him playing space, but in his two seasons, the coaching staffs he has played under have struggled to find ways to do this. With his elite speed, being a deep threat would seem like a common-sense way to get him the ball, but Minnesota elected to only throw the ball his way seven times over 20 yards. Patterson caught one of those, with no drops, for 28 yards.

With Wallace filling the deep threat role and the coaches struggling to find ways to get the ball in his hands in space, Patterson’s maddening situation becomes even worse.

Charles Johnson, WR Minnesota

Another player who probably isn’t thrilled to see Wallace arrive. Johnson was seeing a healthy seven-to-ten targets last season and Wallace may cut into that. Johnson was not the primary deep threat but had a solid 15.4 yards per catch, including a YAC of 5.5.

Most of Johnson’s work came between the numbers last season, but the addition of Wallace and a healthy Kyle Rudolph could cut into those.

Kyle Rudolph, TE Minnesota

Rudolph should be quite pleased to see Mr. Wallace arrive. With Wallace stretching the field, that opens up more room underneath and in the middle for the veteran tight end.

He missed nine games last season and had mixed results when he did find his way to the field. His best game came in Week 2, with five catches and 53 yards against New England. He has missed 16 games in his four seasons, with 2012 being the only year he played a full 16. In his career, he averages 9.7 yard per catch.

Teddy Bridgewater, QB Minnesota

This is the combination that worries me. Wallace already has already struggled to get on the same page with another young, talented quarterback, so what will his relationship with Teddy Bridgewater be like?

Taking a look at the deep-ball accuracy of both Tannehill and Bridgewater, the Minnesota quarterback had the better completion percentage at 39% to Tannehill’s 30%. A deeper look reveals both men actually completed 16 passes, but Tannehill had 12 more attempts, which would make sense, since Wallace was the most prolific deep threat of the group.

If Bridgewater and Wallace can find a way to co-exist, there could be lots of long touchdowns in Minnesota.

Kenny Stills, WR Miami

We take a more in-depth look at the Stills deal yesterday, but the short version is the reason Wallace is in Minnesota is because Miami got a younger, cheaper replacement in Kenny Stills and saved $5.5 million in cap space.

Stills will pair with Tannehill, Jarvis Landry and Jordan Cameron to give the Dolphins an exciting young offensive core for years to come.

Potential 2015 first-round draft pick

Recent mock drafts have been projecting Minnesota to select a wide receiver with the No. 11 pick. The candidates appearing most often have been Amari Cooper, who was Bridgewater’s high school teammate, and Davante Parker, who was Bridgewater’s primary target at Louisville. With the move of Wallace for Jennings bringing more speed to the Vikings, they may consider a defensive player and pick up more of a possession-type receiver in the second or third round like USC’s Nelson Agholor or Rashad Greene out of Florida State.

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