“Trader” Rick Spielman was in full wheel-and-deal mode on Saturday, as the Vikings traded back a few times to stockpile extra picks. Despite some moaning on the part of the fan base, this is something he’s been remarkably consistent about — he likes to have about ten picks in a given draft. He’ll move up to get a particular player (like Harrison Smith in 2012, Cordarrelle Patterson in 2013, and Teddy Bridgewater this year), but in general he prefers to trade down to get more opportunities to draft players for the long term. There was a particularly persuasive article about this at Vox.com a few days back, arguing that teams should always try to maximize the number of players they draft, to increase their chance of getting players who will be around for a long time in the league:

Draft picks can be traded, and the success of any one player picked is highly uncertain. Because of that, their data says that in the current trade market, teams are always better off trading down — that is, trading one high pick for multiple lower ones — but many teams become overconfident in their evaluation of one particular player and do the exact opposite: package several low picks for the right to take one player very early.

“There are one or two teams out there that philosophically follow this idea,” says Massey, who serves as a draft consultant with several NFL teams that he can’t disclose. “But in my experience, teams always say they’re on board with it in January. Then when April rolls around, and they’ve been preparing for the draft for a long time, they fall in love with players, get more and more confident in their analysis, and fall back into the same patterns.”

My only disagreement with this argument is that due to the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, there’s a discontinuity in the data at the bottom of the first round: teams get an optional fifth year on contracts with first round players. For this reason, I think Minnesota was right to trade up to get Bridgewater at the bottom of the first round, to get that option instead of waiting until they were next on the clock (which would have been eight picks later in the second round).

At the Daily Norseman, KJ Segall looks at the draft philosophy being employed by Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer:

As we agonized through the pre-draft build up, I contemplated the basic two directions the Vikings could go — solving the offense with relatively few moves, or focusing on a defense that had holes everywhere. On one hand, we needed three things to have an offense worthy of contending in the NFC North: a good quarterback, a good offensive guard, and a reliable backup running back. (Not bad when one of the things you need is a backup position.) If we fixed that, then our solid WR corps, strong Oline, and superstar RB would be giving opposing DCs nightmares… but, that would also mean that our defense would have missed out on some upgrades, and many a team might simply outscore us no matter what we could do with the ball. On the other hand, letting the offense be with the adequate Matt Cassel, Charlie Johnson, and (fill-in-the-blank backup running back), all while attempting to plug as many holes on the leaky longship that was our defense could create a relatively well-balanced team that might not scare a lot of people but could still sneak out some surprises.

So it came down to this — be mediocre across the board, or be great at one thing and weak at another. Ultimately, through FA and what has been a shockingly good draft (shockingly because when you get the hands-down best QB available at freakin’ pick 32… well, the mind, it gets blown), they basically have gone with the latter. Yes, we solved our quarterback situation beyond our wildest expectations, and our offense will in fact be much, much better this year (and it wasn’t even all that terrible last year, either). And yes, by drafting Daddy David Yankey and Jerick McKinnon, we did technically solve those other two holes- although McKinnon is most definitely a project at first, and Yankey’s ability to unseat Charlie Johnson yet remains to be seen. (Although he should hopefully do so at some point in the season.) In reality, we focused pretty heavily on defense throughout the draft, starting off with the selection of Anthony Barr. The Bridgewater awesomeness aside, it would appear that the Vikings were determined to work on the defensive upgrades made in free agency as their primary focus.

On to the actual day three picks below the fold.

In the fifth round, the Vikings selected Stanford offensive guard David Yankey. Arif Hasan had recommended Yankey as an earlier round pick and had this to say about him before he was drafted:

Yankey is an extremely intelligent offensive lineman and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as a potential center convert down the road, given his awareness and smarts. He also can play offensive tackle in a pinch, giving any team flexibility should the unexpected happen — Yankey is a better kick out option at tackle should an OT go down than most backup OTs and he’s smart enough to be able to make the transition seamlessly.

The first thing that stands out about Yankey is his size and power. He’s very strong, and uses it well — not only using brute force against defensive linemen, but leverage and superior pad level, a good combination to have. He sets up off the stance early and he uses his long arms (34″) to engage defenders, often hitting them before they get the chance to do the same.

He has a powerful punch and strong hands, and his handfighting is one of the better aspects of his game, making him difficult to disengage from; more than one star defensive tackle has been stonewalled by him for long stretches because of his technique. His pass protection is top notch, and his run blocking could be even better.

Next, the team selected Virginia Tech safety Antone Exum with the 182nd pick in the sixth round. He’d suffered an offseason injury (torn ACL), so he missed most of his senior season, which is probably why he was still available to be picked at this stage. Arif was happy with this pick, as it was another player he’d already highlighted as a good choice:

Exum is another strong CB, but he is imposing in a way Reynolds can never be. He’s built like a small linebacker and he plays that way, with a lot of violence. His 2012 tape was phenomenal, but an injury derailed his ability to enter the draft and impacted his film this year. But he’s fully healed now and a top player that can player either CB or Safety. At 6’0″ with 32″ arms, he’s incredibly fluid, with good transition skills and experience in man and zone coverage.

In man coverage, he reads the WR well and knows when to get his head turned around, while in zone coverage he does a great job reading the quarterback’s eyes and breaking on the ball. He’s stellar in run support and plays it like a linebacker.

He’s a bit too physical downfield and will get called for interference and his agility isn’t the greatest, but at least he knows how to use his body and stay in position. His aggressiveness also translates to how quickly he attempts to jump routes. While this helps him, it does lead to some blown coverages.

With the 184th pick in the sixth round the selection was cornerback Kendall James. Arif says he’s a “sleeper to watch”:

His physicality has been questioned at times, though I think the fact that he plays strong at the line of scrimmage in press at least speaks to something. Against the run and in-route, but his hard-hitting after the catch speaks to willingness more in my eyes.

What is interesting about James is that he’s the first player on defense that the Vikings selected without interesting physical dimensions. He has small hands (8″), which has limited his interception opportunity, meaning his INT-to-PBU ration is a little off (8:25), though still actually very good. At the next level with higher velocity balls, it could be a bigger issue. He also has some of the shortest arms of the defensive backs (29 1/2″), but at least jumps well and with good timing.

His play in the passing game, on the other hand, is well worth your attention. He’s an instinctive player that has great footwork coming off the snap, both when mirroring WRs at the LOS and in backpedal. He finds his spot drop in zones very well, and tracks receivers closely with route recognition far superior to a typical Division II corner. That said, he’s much better in zone than in man, and needs to work on getting his head turned around in time to track the ball.

The first pick in the seventh round was defensive tackle Shamar Stephen. Arif’s take on what he provides to the Vikings defence:

Shamar Stephens is a strong defensive tackle with a great frame for the position. Early in his career, there was a worry that he bogs himself down and finds it difficult to move, but he actually carries his weight well. For a player of his size to be slotted into primarily a pass-rushing role at Connecticut is impressive, and he can find ways into the backfield.

That said, his measureables aren’t quite of the “freak” variety. With a 5.24 40, and more importantly a 1.83 second ten-yard split, he measures out to below average at his position before accounting for his weight. A Barnwell Speed Score of 79.4 is somewhat poor (Aaron Donald’s was 119, but Louis Nix was 78.4) and it would be nice if he could help his case with a more consistent showing off the snap he’d go a round earlier or better in the draft.

The next selection was Brandon Watts, linebacker from Georgia Tech. Arif’s take on Watts:

The Vikings continued their focus on defense by adding Watts, a smallish linebacker from Georgia Tech. Watts has some experience as a gunner on punt coverage, and while he has considerable athletic upside, that might be where he has to make the team at first.

Watts was on the pre-season watch list for the Butkus Award, but didn’t have what you would term a great season in 2013. Again, he’s a nice pick this late because of his athletic ability and the fact that he could contribute on special teams early on.

The final selection in the seventh round was University of North Carolina cornerback Jabari Price. Arif doesn’t have a lot on Price yet:

Jabari Price is another player whose early impact might have to come on special teams. He was an Honorable Mention All-ACC selection this past season, and showed decent speed at the Scouting Combine with a 4.45 time in the 40-yard dash. He registered just two interceptions in his collegiate career, but is a willing tackler that can come up and make stops in the open field in run support and on special teams.

After all the drama of the draft itself was over, the team moved quickly to sign players who were not drafted:

• AC Leonard, TE Tennessee State
• Kain Coulter, WR Northwestern
• Antonio Richardson, OT Tennessee
• Zac Kerin, OC Toledo
• Pierce Burton, OT Mississippi
• Matt Hall, OT Belhaven
• Austin Wentworth, OG Fresno State
• Isame Faciane, NT Florida International
• Dominique Williams, HB Wagner
• Jake Snyder, DE Virginia
• Erik Lora, WR Eastern Illinois
• Tyler Scott, DE Northwestern
• Donte Foster, WR Ohio
• Rakim Cox, DE Villanova
• Conor Boffeli, OG Iowa

The team is limited to 90 contracted players, including the newly drafted group, so some roster adjustments will have to be made, as they’re currently three players over the limit.