RZBR - Kickoff Games & The Training Camp Tour First Stop

by adelfish | 3 years ago | 0 Comments

RED ZONE BLEACHER REPORT

Cycle Kickoff Games Announced & Training Camp Tour

Red Zone Cycle Kickoff Games

Bleacher Report has learned that Red Zone's 9th annual kickoff will feature a terrific double-header of live, broadcasted games. The return of Trent in the Truck, and a cast of thousands in the broadcast booths. 

Let's take a look at the two games.

Dallas Cowboys @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

One of the matchups many picked to be on the dockett, and sure enough it is one of the two games featured in the Kickoff Special. What a showdown between two first-time champions last cycle, as Coach Pat Allen and the Dallas Cowboys travel to face Coach Roc and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Storylines abound in this game, as we have two great quarterbacks going head to head, and two coaches looking to solidify themselves among Red Zone's best. This has all the makings of a high scoring matchup. 

Minnesota Vikings @ Cincinnati Bengals

A game featuring two star head coaches, in Coach Cory Astin and Coach Mike Mojica, but two quarterbacks that hope to have their names in the conversations of Dak Prescott and Tom Brady. We have the Minnesota Vikings, with rookie quarterback Kellen Mond, traveling to Cincinnati to face the Bengals and Joe Burrow. 

What a fun game to pair with the Buccaneers and Cowboys. This game will showcase the future of Red Zone's quarterbacks, as we see Kellen Mond's first action as the starting quarterback, facing off against Joe Burrow entering his second season, hoping to bounce back from the knee injury that ended his rookie season. 

Also, is there any better matchup than Astin vs Moji? Must see TV.

RZBR Training Camp Tour 

Bleacher Report is hopping in the bus, and making our way around the country to hit up some Red Zone training camps and preseason games. Along the way we plan to check in with some coaches and see how things are progressing at camp. 

First stop on the tour? Come on, you had to know it was happening...

First stop: Minnesota. We had to check in with Coach Cory Astin in his new digs (Diggs?) and see how things are going in the great north. Joining the NFC North with Coach Panos, Glenn, and (Brandon) Beech, it seems as though this is going to be the cycle of purple. 

The biggest surprise from camp came early, as Coach Astin announced that the Vikings were proceeding with rookie 3rd round pick Kellen Mond as QB1, moving the highly-paid Kirk Cousins to backup. Mond is a project, but has tremendous upside in Astin's system, who has developed young quarterbacks in the past (Tyree Jackson, Eric Haskins, Drew Lock). 

Without a true early threat in the NFC North outside of the Chicago Bears, the Vikings have the luxury of patience with their new quarterback, a cheaper and more athletic alternative to Kirk Cousins. 

Now the spotlight is on this young man, as mentioned above, the Vikings will be one of the two primetime kickoff games for the cycle, so we will get a front row seat to Mond's first start in Red Zone. What a way to start your career.

We had time to sit down with his head coach, Cory Astin, to talk football and ask what he thinks of the rookie quarterback's performance so far.

I took a seat in Astin's office, a Surly beer in my hand, compliments of the local brewery. Astin opened his fridge underneath his desk for a Diet Coke, and kicked his feet up.

What a power move.

Q - 'Pretty early in the process you seemed to identify Kellen Mond as the guy to start the cycle for you, what went into that?'

Coach Astin - 'Kellen brings all the intangibles you like to see in a quarterback in today's game - a strong arm and the ability to move outside the pocket and become a threat with his legs. Kirk isn't getting any younger, and while Kellen isn't perfect out of the gate, we feel like his potential to be great will not be achieved by holding a clipboard.'

Q - 'Pressure is always on you to win with your track record, is there any chance that Vikings fans will see Kirk Cousins if Mond doesn't develop as anticipated?'

Coach Astin - 'No.' - Coach Astin said this emphatically, taking a big bite of his re-heated pizza, and a sip of Diet Coke.

'Kirk is here to be a mentor to Kellen and groom him to be the next great Minnesota quarterback. We are financially tied to him for two more seasons, and we will utilize his experience and knowledge on the sidelines. He has been taking snaps with the field goal team, and he is great at holding kicks. 

We will give Kellen a year or two to prove himself, and if the project fizzles out, we will then reevaluate our quarterback situation and decide what we should do at that point.'

Q - 'Anything that has surprised you about Mond during preseason scrimmages? What does this kid bring to the table? Anything he needs to work on?'

Coach Astin - 'We have had three preseason scrimmages, and two of those games he was GREAT. Don't take my word for it, look at the stats yourselves.'

Mond Game 1: 16/23, 368 Yards, 6 TDS, 1 INT

Mond Game 3: 17/19, 303 Yards, 3 TDS, 0 INT

'The second game (missing above) was a learning experience in which we kept asking Kellen to try and play more vertically down the field, and it ended up having him force too many balls into coverage. 

A lot of that is on me and the windows we asked him to throw to just weren't there. We have had to adjust our offensive gameplan around shorter, safer throws and that is actually Kellen's biggest strength. Once he starts to get more comfortable in the league, we imagine the offense will open up.'

Q - 'Talk about a tough first matchup for the young quarterback against Coach Moji and the Bengals, any nuggets you can give us for a gameplan?'

'Before Coach could answer this question, he had to take a phone call from the head coach of the 49ers organization.'

Coach Astin - 'Coach Moji is a hall of fame coach who is taking on a very young and inexperienced team. On paper, they probably have a bottom five roster TODAY, but I think he's the right kind of hire to get that team headed in the right direction.

I am glad that we are facing him early on before he starts getting those guys going. We are just going to play our game and take what our opponent gives us, whether that means Dalvin (Cook) is getting 30 carries, or Adam (Thielen) is seeing 15 targets from the slot.

We aren't going to go in with a mindset of we are doing X, Y, and Z. Regardless, I expect it to be a very competitive game and a great chance to evaluate ourselves for the season.'

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After a riveting afternoon in Minnesota, I'm firing up the bus once again...tomorrow we arrive at our next training camp destination........