I didn’t expect the Vikings to pick a tight end until much later in the draft (if at all, given all their other needs), but according to Judd Zulgad, they picked the best player rather than drafting for need:
The Vikings were accused of reaching by some on Thursday night when they selected quarterback Christian Ponder with the 12th pick in the first round of the NFL draft. The selection seemed to run contrary to the team’s long-standing philosophy of taking the best player available.
On Friday night, the Vikings returned to their usual means of operation and stayed true to their board by selecting Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph in the second round. However, the decision was a bit of a surprise considering that of the Vikings’ many positional needs, tight end didn’t seem to be near the top of the list.
“We felt that he was too good of a player to pass up,” said Rick Spielman, the Vikings vice president of player personnel. “We felt that he has a lot of unique skills as a tight end and we wanted to stay true to our board. That was a situation where there was a player that normally, if he hadn’t had that hamstring injury [last season], we wouldn’t even had a shot to get. We feel that we got great value when we got Kyle.”
