[color=red]pictured: Chad Greenway[/color]In his second season as head coach, Brad Childress has moved the Vikings away from their memorable “love boat” era under Mike Tice — but not by much.Demographically, the Vikings have 17 white players on the 53 man roster (counting of course the long snapper, kicker and punter), up one from last year, but just five white starters, six depending on who’s starting at tight end any given week.Two of those starters are on defense at linebacker, and the Vikings even have two white backup LBs, giving them an astonishing four altogether.Ben Leber is the starting strongside linebacker for the second season after coming over to Minnesota from the Chargers. The weakside LB is Chad Greenway, coming off a blown knee suffered early in training camp last summer after being the Vikings’ number one draft pick. By all accounts Greenway is completely healthy and should become one of the best in the league at his position as he gains experience. Heath Farwell and Vinny Ciurciu are the team’s other white linebackers.’07 fourth round draft pick Brian Robison has looked great at end, the only question being whether he will have to serve the long “apprenticeship” that so many white players do before being “allowed” to start. Robison had the fastest 40 time of any defensive end at the 2007 Combine. He also led all d-linemen with a phenomenal 40” vertical, had the best score in the three cone drill, did 27 bench press reps of 225 pounds, and broad jumped 10 feet 1 inch. Oh, and he also has the obligatory “non-stop motor.” Let the kid start!On offense, LG Steve Hutchinson is the best guard in the league bar none. He’s joined by Harvard grad and Pro-Bowler Matt Birk at center, and second year man Ryan Cook out of New Mexico at RG.Jeff Dugan and Jim Kleinsasser are in the mix at (blocking) tight end, but a key pick-up may turn out to be Garrett Mills. Mills was waived by New England in the final round of roster cuts and promptly snagged by Minnesota, even though Patriots head coach Bill Bellichik reportedly called Childress and asked him not to take Mills so that the Patriots could try to sign him to their practice squad.At Tulsa, Mills was the most prolific receiving tight end in I-A history. Not a big guy, he should slim down by 10-20 pounds and be used as a wide receiver, but the NFL doesn’t work that way — whites routinely are made to beef up to “fit” a position but never to slim down — so Mills, coming off an injury-plagued 2006 rookie season, will have to find a niche as some sort of tight end or H-back. There’s no question that with his top-notch receiving skills he can be an impact player if used the right way.Two white quarterbacks back up black starter Tarvaris Jackson, who looked atrocious in limited action last season. It’s possible that Jackson may turn out to be a good quarterback, but the fact that so few pundits and fans seem to think so is an indication that they are starting to catch on to the fact that despite all the opportunities presented them, most black QBs in the NFL have been either flops or constantly injured. Wisconsin grad Brooks Bollinger has nice mobility and touch but will probably never get a long look at starter in the league. Veteran Kelly Holcomb is a pure pocket passer.NUMBER OF WHITE STARTERS: 5 (or 6 depending on the starter at TE)APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF WHITE PLAYERS ON 53 MAN ROSTER: 17GRADE: F+