Here are the bios and scouting reports on Viking draftees Chris Cook, Toby Gerhart, Everson Griffen, Chris DeGeare, Nate Triplett, Joe Webb, Mickey Shuler and Ryan D'Imperio.
There is some interesting reading in there.
Here is the dilemma I have every year with this draft thing. The draft is very important to NFL franchises and as a guy who blogs about an NFL team I have to write about it.
But I don’t watch much college football anymore and I don’t know much about the players, so what can I offer readers on this subject?
Well, below is what I am offering – some brief thoughts on the draftees. Ignore it. Read it. Praise it. Trash it. Anything goes.
Chris Cook: Err, Benny, about that nickel role you’ve had the past two seasons….
Toby Gerhart: Sorry Albert (Young), we’ve decided to go in a different direction.
Everson Griffen: Read between the lines – Ray Edwards will not be a Viking in 2011.
Chris DeGeare: Anthony Herrera, you’ve been put on notice.
Nate Triplett: Ben Leber’s replacement in 2011?
Joe Webb: Raw, but selection doesn’t bode well for the futures of Darius Reynaud and Jaymar Johnson.
Mickey Shuler/Ryan D’Imperio: Be ready to make an impression on special teams boys – or else.
Other draft thoughts
• Obviously, you can get some very good players in the second round (here’s looking at you, Sidney Rice), but second rounders just aren’t as sexy as a first round pick. The Vikings draft seems a bit dull without one.
• Overall, the Vikings draft made sense to me. They had needs at defensive back, running back, offensive line, linebacker, defensive tackle and quarterback and addressed four of the six. Assuming Brett Favre returns, the Vikings probably have the deepest quarterback situation in the NFL short-term, so drafting one this week wasn’t a must. It would have been nice if the team had picked up a space-eating defensive tackle as the heir to Pat Williams (Fred Evans and Letroy Guion aren’t it.) But those guys are hard to find and you can only fill so many holes in a seven round draft.
• Watch out for Everson Griffen. I’ve read that he had first round potential, but that he was inconsistent and a tad lazy during his college career. But the same things were said about Ray Edwards in 2006. Point is, Griffen is a talent and he had a very good year in ‘09 at USC. And with Edwards pissed about his contract situation, Griffen could be a starter by 2011. I should note the Vikings have made some very good picks in the fourth round in recent years – Edwards included.
• On the other hand, the Vikings continue to treat the third round with indifference. They traded away their third round pick again – the third time they’ve done so in the past five drafts. But it probably doesn’t matter. History shows if they don’t trade it, they just pick a stiff anyway (hello, Willie Offord!). I’m hoping Asher Allen is an exception.
• The Vikings also continued the trend since Brad Childress became head coach of selecting a defensive player with their first pick in even numbered years and selecting an offensive player in odd numbered years. Along with Cook, Chad Greenway (’06), Tyrell Johnson (’08) were the Vikings first picks in those years. Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin were the first picks in 2007 and 2009, respectively.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Nothing to see here
The NFL may have moved the first round of the annual college draft up to Thursday night, but the Vikings weren't interested in playing along.
Now I don't make a living running a football team, but I find this to be an odd trade by the Vikings.
The Vikings gain a pick, but it's only a seventh rounder. They also move up in the fourth round by exchanging picks with the Leos – not insignificant, I guess – but the haul for helping a divisional rival get a player they obviously wanted is an extra seventh round pick (translation: practice squad guy at best) and a fourth round pick 28 spots higher than the Vikes had at the start of the day.
I'd like the deal a lot more if they had been able to keep both the fourth round pick they got from Detroit, and their own fourth round selection.
Anyway, the Vikings draft starts on Friday. They have nine picks in the final six rounds. I expect tonight's deal won't be the last one Rick Spielman makes this week. Do they pick Clausen at #32? We know the Rams won't.
Oh yeah, I do like the Lito Sheppard signing.
Now I don't make a living running a football team, but I find this to be an odd trade by the Vikings.
The Vikings gain a pick, but it's only a seventh rounder. They also move up in the fourth round by exchanging picks with the Leos – not insignificant, I guess – but the haul for helping a divisional rival get a player they obviously wanted is an extra seventh round pick (translation: practice squad guy at best) and a fourth round pick 28 spots higher than the Vikes had at the start of the day.
I'd like the deal a lot more if they had been able to keep both the fourth round pick they got from Detroit, and their own fourth round selection.
Anyway, the Vikings draft starts on Friday. They have nine picks in the final six rounds. I expect tonight's deal won't be the last one Rick Spielman makes this week. Do they pick Clausen at #32? We know the Rams won't.
Oh yeah, I do like the Lito Sheppard signing.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Easter weekend what ifs
So much for my pipe dream.
Anyway, before the Donovan McNabb trade went down, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert ran a post a few days ago looking at the draft positions of each NFC North team and then showing who had been picked at those spots in the past five drafts. I thought it was an interesting exercise.
And I thought it was interesting because the Vikings have the 30th pick this year, and with McNabb on the trading block for a top 42 pick, I’d suggested the Vikes seriously consider trading their first round pick to get McNabb.
However, I’ve read comments from fans on various blogs and heard NFL analysts say that surrendering a first round pick – even a late first rounder – is too steep a price to pay for a soon-to-be 34 year-old QB who has had some injury problems in recent years.
The reasoning behind this thinking is that a team is trading away a potential star with 10 years of football ahead them for a player likely on the downside of their career and a career that’s only got three years left at that.
With that thought kicking around my head, I went a bit further than Seifert did and researched who has been selected at the 30th position in each draft since 1994 – the year the NFL went to the current seven round draft format.
I wanted to see how good a player the Vikings might expect to get with their #30 pick and whether recent history showed trading it away might be too high a price to pay for a player like McNabb.
Here is a rundown of the players picked at 30th position since 1994.
2009: Kenny Britt (WR – Titans)
2008: Dustin Keller (TE – Jets)
2007: Craig Davis (WR – Chargers)
2006: Joseph Addai (RB – Colts)
2005: Heath Miller (TE – Steelers)
2004: Kevin Jones (RB – Lions)
2003: Sammy Davis (DB – Chargers)
2002: Kendall Simmons (G – Steelers)
2001: Reggie Wayne (WR – Colts)
2000: Keith Bulluck (LB – Titans)
1999: Patrick Kerney (DE – Falcons)
1998: Marcus Nash (WR – Broncos)
1997: Ross Verba (T – Packers)
1996: Andre T. Johnson (T – Washington)
1995: Craig Powell (LB – Browns)
1994: Darnay Scott (WR – Bengals
A look at the careers of the 16 players shows that 11 of them started at least one year during their careers (and that number probably grows to 12 in 2010 based on Kenny Britt’s rookie season.) That means 69 percent of those players eventually became starters, which isn’t a bad number.
Not all of those starters have been studs though. Four have appeared in at least one Pro Bowl (Wayne, Addai, Bulluck and Kerney) – 25 percent of the 16 players selected.
On the flip side, five of the 16 (Sammy Davis, Jones, Nash, Johnson and Powell) have been busts – 31 percent of the litter. And while it may be a bit early to label Craig Davis as a bust, his stats thus far (just 30 catches in three seasons) indicate he’s well on his way to Bustville.
So what does this all mean to me?
Well, first I have to admit there was never any indication that the Vikings had shown any interest in McNabb. So a post based on the Vikings trading their 30th pick for McNabb is all speculation on my part.
But maybe the Vikings should have been interested – even if they know Favre wants to come back in 2010. History indicates the Vikings would have made a very acceptable gamble in trading away the 30th overall pick to acquire a player who completed 60.3 percent of his passes, threw for over 3,500 yards and 22 touchdowns and was picked off just 10 times in 14 games in 2009.
While we tend to get caught up with the potential of high draft picks, the goal is always to acquire a very good player with them. Whether teams use those draft picks to select a college player or use them for an established one, it shouldn’t matter.
It’s possible the Vikings could select the next Reggie Wayne with their 30th pick in a few weeks. But history shows the chances are just as good that they could pick the next Marcus Nash.
The point is, they won’t really know whom they are getting by drafting a player 30th overall. However, if they had of used that pick to trade for a player with McNabb’s resume, they would have known what kind of player they were getting – a pretty good one. And they'd have him – assuming they could sign him to an extension – for a longer period than Favre.
Anyway, before the Donovan McNabb trade went down, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert ran a post a few days ago looking at the draft positions of each NFC North team and then showing who had been picked at those spots in the past five drafts. I thought it was an interesting exercise.
And I thought it was interesting because the Vikings have the 30th pick this year, and with McNabb on the trading block for a top 42 pick, I’d suggested the Vikes seriously consider trading their first round pick to get McNabb.
However, I’ve read comments from fans on various blogs and heard NFL analysts say that surrendering a first round pick – even a late first rounder – is too steep a price to pay for a soon-to-be 34 year-old QB who has had some injury problems in recent years.
The reasoning behind this thinking is that a team is trading away a potential star with 10 years of football ahead them for a player likely on the downside of their career and a career that’s only got three years left at that.
With that thought kicking around my head, I went a bit further than Seifert did and researched who has been selected at the 30th position in each draft since 1994 – the year the NFL went to the current seven round draft format.
I wanted to see how good a player the Vikings might expect to get with their #30 pick and whether recent history showed trading it away might be too high a price to pay for a player like McNabb.
Here is a rundown of the players picked at 30th position since 1994.
2009: Kenny Britt (WR – Titans)
2008: Dustin Keller (TE – Jets)
2007: Craig Davis (WR – Chargers)
2006: Joseph Addai (RB – Colts)
2005: Heath Miller (TE – Steelers)
2004: Kevin Jones (RB – Lions)
2003: Sammy Davis (DB – Chargers)
2002: Kendall Simmons (G – Steelers)
2001: Reggie Wayne (WR – Colts)
2000: Keith Bulluck (LB – Titans)
1999: Patrick Kerney (DE – Falcons)
1998: Marcus Nash (WR – Broncos)
1997: Ross Verba (T – Packers)
1996: Andre T. Johnson (T – Washington)
1995: Craig Powell (LB – Browns)
1994: Darnay Scott (WR – Bengals
A look at the careers of the 16 players shows that 11 of them started at least one year during their careers (and that number probably grows to 12 in 2010 based on Kenny Britt’s rookie season.) That means 69 percent of those players eventually became starters, which isn’t a bad number.
Not all of those starters have been studs though. Four have appeared in at least one Pro Bowl (Wayne, Addai, Bulluck and Kerney) – 25 percent of the 16 players selected.
On the flip side, five of the 16 (Sammy Davis, Jones, Nash, Johnson and Powell) have been busts – 31 percent of the litter. And while it may be a bit early to label Craig Davis as a bust, his stats thus far (just 30 catches in three seasons) indicate he’s well on his way to Bustville.
So what does this all mean to me?
Well, first I have to admit there was never any indication that the Vikings had shown any interest in McNabb. So a post based on the Vikings trading their 30th pick for McNabb is all speculation on my part.
But maybe the Vikings should have been interested – even if they know Favre wants to come back in 2010. History indicates the Vikings would have made a very acceptable gamble in trading away the 30th overall pick to acquire a player who completed 60.3 percent of his passes, threw for over 3,500 yards and 22 touchdowns and was picked off just 10 times in 14 games in 2009.
While we tend to get caught up with the potential of high draft picks, the goal is always to acquire a very good player with them. Whether teams use those draft picks to select a college player or use them for an established one, it shouldn’t matter.
It’s possible the Vikings could select the next Reggie Wayne with their 30th pick in a few weeks. But history shows the chances are just as good that they could pick the next Marcus Nash.
The point is, they won’t really know whom they are getting by drafting a player 30th overall. However, if they had of used that pick to trade for a player with McNabb’s resume, they would have known what kind of player they were getting – a pretty good one. And they'd have him – assuming they could sign him to an extension – for a longer period than Favre.
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