Age is just a number, which is a good thing for a pair of Vikings cornerbacks.
ESPN.com writer Kevin Seifert combed through NFL rosters to find the best player at every age, ranging from 21 to 44 years old.
Minnesota's Xavier Rhodes earned the nod for 26-year-olds. The fourth-year player has a career-high four interceptions, tied for fourth in the league.
Seifert wrote:
Rhodes has been dominant in coverage, although he has missed two games, and he's having a better (if less publicized) season than Patrick Peterson.
The Vikings other starting cornerback received praise from Seifert. Terence Newman, 38, continues to play at a high level, despite being the oldest defensive player in the NFL.
Newman, in his 14th NFL season, has seven passes defensed and an interception.
Seifert wrote:
Newman gets the nod over Steelers *linebacker James Harrison, who has 5.5 sacks in 12 games, because Newman is still a full-time player chasing speedy receivers 15 years younger than him. Newman has played more than 70 percent of the Vikings' snaps while Harrison has played about 50 percent of the Steelers'.*
Seifert listed Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott as the best 21-year-old in the league.
The kicker the Vikings will see next Sunday, Adam Vinatieri of the Colts, rounded out the list at 44 years old.
Boone, Vikings not taking Jaguars lightly
Don't think Vikings left guard Alex Boone is taking Sunday's game in Jacksonville lightly.
Although the Jaguars have two wins and won't be going to the playoffs, Boone told John Holler of Viking Update that he and his teammates will be on full alert in the Sunshine State.
*The Jaguars have 10 losses, but six of those have been by seven points or fewer and they've been relatively snake-bit late in games this season. *
*But the team Boone sees on tape can be a little scary. When a team has been eliminated from playoff contention this early in the season, they can often be a salty bunch that has to keep potential playoff teams on alert. *
"That's a situation that's almost dangerous," Boone said. "They have nothing to lose. They'll do anything and they will come out with looks that are the exact opposite of what you expect them to do."
Boone told Holler that teams who don't have a shot at the postseason sometimes call a wide variety of plays and looks in an attempt to throw off an opponent.
*For teams like Jacksonville, you can expect the unexpected and nothing is off limits as teams start pulling out trick plays and unseen looks to see if confusion can work in their favor. *
"I've played many teams like that," Boone said. "You go into the game thinking to yourself that they don't ordinarily blitz and all of the sudden they're blitzing every play. I've been in games when they're an odd (front) team and they come out playing a 4-4 that you haven't seen on tape at all. They don't care. They're just out there to (mess) you up."
