The Monday Morning Mailbag and the Pick 6 appear every week on vikings.com to answer fan questions. But even with those two pieces of content, there are still many more great questions from Vikings fans that deserve attention. Enter: Pick 6 Extra.
What have been your impressions of rookie RT TJ Clemmings so far this year? Has he been performing better or worse than you thought?
-- Jordan Diekman La Crosse, WI
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**Clemmings has done a great job stepping into a starting role as a rookie. Remember, he was set to be a reserve as a rookie, learning behind veterans Phil Loadholt and Mike Harris on the right side. Then the injury to Loadholt happened, and Clemmings was thrust into action. It appears to me that he's progressed over the course of the season and has really made strides in his run blocking. I give a lot of credit to the Vikings offensive coaching staff for the way they've been able to operate the offense with a rookie at RT while also getting that rookie to develop over the course of the season.
Why are the Vikings still listed as a wild card team in the League standings? If the season ended today, we should win the NFC North because we have two more divisional wins than them.
*-- Brenner Mills Branson, MO *
Green Bay is listed ahead of the Vikings in the standings because they have the tie-breaker advantage right now. The first way to break a tie is head-to-head matchups, and the Vikings and Packers have not played. The second tie breaker is win-loss percentage within the division, and both teams are undefeated in the division. The third tie breaker is win-loss percentage among common opponents, and that's where Green Bay has the advantage. Both teams have lost to the Broncos but the Vikings also lost to the 49ers and the Packers defeated the 49ers, and that is why Green Bay is listed ahead of the Vikings in the standings.
But here's the thing: it doesn't matter right now. There are still eight games to play, including two games between the Vikings and Packers. I can assure you no one within either organization is putting any stock into who is atop the standings on November 10.
Who would have played QB if Shaun Hill had gotten hurt after Teddy went down? They only had two active QBs.
-- Adam R. New York City, NY
Interesting question, and my best guess is Jerick McKinnon. He played QB at Georgia Southern. Granted, it was in a triple option offense, so he doesn't have a lot of experience throwing the ball and he certainly wouldn't be able to operate as a traditional QB in Norv Turner's offense. But he has experience taking snaps from under center, handing the ball off and running with the ball, so I think he could get the Vikings out of a game in an emergency. That's just my guess, though, I don't know what head coach Mike Zimmer would elect to do in that situation.
