At the time this post goes live (the morning of the first day of the 2018 NFL draft, unless I messed up my scheduling), the Minnesota Vikings have the following eight draft picks to make over the next couple of days:

• R1N30 (30th overall) – The Vikings lost in the NFC Championship game, so they’re the third-to-last pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft
• R2N30 (62nd overall) – Third-to-last in each of the following rounds except where noted.
• R3N30 (94th overall)
• R4N30 (126th overall) – Traded to Philadelphia as part of the Sam Bradford deal in 2017.
• R5N30 (167th overall)
• R6N30 (204th overall)
• R6N39 (213th overall) – Compensatory pick
• R6N44 (218th overall) – Compensatory pick
• R7N30 (222nd overall) – Traded to San Francisco for cornerback Brock Tramaine in 2017 (who is no longer with the team)
• R7N33 (225th overall) – Acquired from Denver in the Trevor Siemian trade earlier this year.

Based on past experience with Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, it’d be foolish to assume that each of those draft picks will be used by the Vikings … they don’t call him “Trader Rick” without good reason. For example, it wouldn’t be any sort of surprise if the Vikings find a trade partner for their first round pick and move down into the second round in exchange for additional later round picks. The consensus among Viking fan sites is that the team’s top need is offensive line help — either at the guard or tackle spots — and the belief is that this is a good (that is, deep) draft for OL prospects. That supports the notion that the Vikings will try to trade down, as Spielman usually tries to gather ten draft picks in any given draft and the best way to do that without mortgaging the future is to trade down.

I don’t follow college football, so there’s no point at all in my trying to predict who the team will end up drafting, but there are certain positions that are clearly higher priority (aside from the obvious OL need mentioned above), so it would be surprising if the Vikings don’t draft players for these roles:

• Offensive guard (or offensive tackle, if the coaches think Mike Remmers would be better suited to the guard position)
• Cornerback – Terence Newman is a free agent who may choose to retire, and Mackenzie Alexander is the only experienced backup on the roster.
• Defensive tackle – Linval Joseph is very good and should work well with off-season addition Sheldon Richardson, but the team needs depth behind these two with the loss of Tom Johnson and Shamar Stephen in free agency.
• Running back – Dalvin Cook is coming off ACL surgery and Latavius Murray restructured his contract this year, but the team will miss the 3rd down/change-up role that Jerick McKinnon played so well in 2017.
• Tight end – Kyle Rudolph and David Morgan need at least one good backup behind them.
• Safety – Harrison Smith is now acknowledged as one of the best in the NFL and Andrew Sendejo would have to really decline to lose his spot, but depth is always a good thing.

Other less-important needs are at wide receiver (the Laquon Treadwell experiment seems to be coming to a close), swing tackle (Rashod Hill did well, but he’s not really full-time starting material), and linebacker (depth, unless we draft someone who can challenge Ben Gedeon for the third LB spot).

Also, for those of you who enjoy getting the real story, here’s Ted Glover’s creative re-interpretation of Rick Spielman’s press conference before the draft. It explains* everything**.

* By “explain” I mean “the closest thing to an involuntary psychedelic trip based — very loosely — on what Spielman said”.
** By “everything”, I of course mean “you’ll never take me alive, coppers!” “certain aspects, as viewed from a dimension where the skies are a remarkably attractive shade of purple”.

After no activity on the first day of the draft, the Vikings war room did a lot of things on the second day, including two trades to move up in both the second and third rounds (drafting running back Dalvin Cook and centre Pat Elflein), and then two trades to move down in the later rounds. At the end of Friday’s trading session, these were the seven draft picks the Vikings had in hand:

• Fourth round, No. 109 (from San Francisco)
• Fourth round, No. 120
• Fourth round, No. 132 (from Kansas City). Traded to Philadelphia for pick 139 in the fourth, and a seventh round pick (215th overall). The 139th pick was then traded to Kansas City for two picks in the fifth round (170th and 180th overall).
• Sixth round, No. 199
• Seventh round, No. 219 (from San Francisco)
• Seventh round, No. 232
• Seventh round, No. 245 (from Kansas City)

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With no pick in the first round on Thursday, Minnesota fans didn’t get too excited about the draft’s first day, although lots of comment was directed at Chicago (swapping a bunch of picks to move up to second overall and selecting their quarterback of the future in Mitch Trubisky from North Carolina). On Friday, the Vikings started the evening with three picks in hand (the 16th in the second round, and the 16th and 22nd in the third).

I admit I was surprised at the Vikings’ first pick: running back Dalvin Cook, Florida State (obtained by trading with Cincinnati, swapping 2nd round picks and giving up one of their two fourth round picks).

From the fan sites, I had the distinct impression that Cook’s character and medical issues would make him an undraftable prospect for Minnesota. Clearly the team successfully disguised their interest in Cook (the two Oklahoma running backs were each strongly rumoured to be the Vikings’ target at that position). The Vikings provide this overview of Cook:

Florida State has had a slew of talented running backs over the past 30 years, but Cook was the first to break the 1,000-yard barrier in his first season with the team. The next two seasons have only gotten better, ranking in the top 10 by breaking 1,600 yards (1,691 in 2015 ranked sixth in the FBS, 1,765 in 2016 ranked fifth), scoring 19 times as a rusher, and earning first-team All-ACC accolades each year. The speedy and shifty back was also named 2016 first-team All-American by the Associated Press and Walter Camp Foundation, among others. NFL teams will be interested in his medical checks, though, because of the hamstring issues he had throughout the 2015 season and the three shoulder surgeries he’s had since high school. Cook tore his rotator cuff in high school, then tore the front part of his labrum in 2014, and the back part of the labrum in 2016. He’s also had run-ins with the law, starting in high school (robbery in 2009, charges dropped; firing and possessing a weapon on school property in 2010, charges drooped) and then again in 2015, where he was charged with misdemeanor battery outside a bar (found not guilty).

That’s quite a medical record … and rap sheet! While I’m certain that the team has taken every precaution, this seems on the surface to be an uncharacteristic risk for Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer. Nobody appears to question Cook’s on-field skills — it’s his off-field life choices that raise the questions.

In the third round, I’m pleased to report that my mock draft at least did get this pick right: Pat Elflein, Centre, THE [dramatic pause] Ohio State University. (This was another trade-up situation, swapping picks with the New York Jets to move up nine spots and throwing in the Vikings’ fifth-round pick, 128th overall).

The Vikings’ overview of Elflein:

Elflein (pronounced ELF-line) naturally wanted to be a Buckeye after growing up in Pickerington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The all-state pick (and four-year wrestler) was certainly coveted by Ohio State, as well. He didn’t get on the field much in his first two years (redshirted in 2012, reserve with one start in 2013), but then met his promise starting as a sophomore. Elflein earned the first of his three first-team All-Big Ten seasons that year, starting three times at left guard and 12 on the right side. In 2015, he received second-team Associated Press All-American status while dominating at right guard in every game. The team needed him to move to center as a senior, and his play resulted in first-team All-American recognition from various media outlets.

Rather than exercising their second pick in the third round, the Vikings traded the 22nd pick (86th overall) to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for KC’s third (104th overall), fourth (132nd overall), and seventh round (245th overall) picks. Then, just because it hadn’t already been confusing enough to track the Vikings’ picks, they traded the 104th pick acquired from KC to San Francisco in exchange for pick 109 and 219. If you’re following along at home, this means the Vikings’ day three picks are (pending even further wheeling and dealing on the part of “Trader” Rick Spielman):

• Fourth round, No. 109 (from San Francisco)
• Fourth round, No. 120
• Fourth round, No. 132 (from Kansas City)
• Sixth round, No. 199
• Seventh round, No. 219 (from San Francisco)
• Seventh round, No. 232
• Seventh round, No. 245 (from Kansas City)

As I say every year around this time, because I don’t follow college football, it’s difficult for me to get particularly excited about this or that draft prospect for my favourite team. I see some names pop up in mock drafts by the various fan sites, and I certainly read the enthusiastic paeans to the skills of this running back or that offensive tackle. This year, there’s been a hugely popular online draft simulator at http://fanspeak.com/ontheclock/, which offers a basic (free) version that anyone can use and a premium simulation that also allows trades.

It’s actually so easy to use that I figured it was worth displaying my draft ignorance to the world in my very first mock draft:

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As I don’t follow college football, much of the lead-up to the NFL draft is just noise to me … mock drafts are fun, but debating the relative value of players from this or that university and how that will or will not translate to the pro league … I usually fall behind reading posts from my usual Vikings bloggers until the draft is imminent. In this case, Christopher Gates posted an interesting retrospective on bad Viking draft classes more than a week ago, and I just got around to reading it now:

For as long as I’ve been writing for this little corner of the internet, I’ve maintained that the Minnesota Vikings’ worst draft class of all time came in the 2005 NFL Draft. From the purple completely blowing it on not one, but two first round picks (wide receiver Troy Williamson and defensive end Erasmus James) and the rest of the class not really amounting to much, that class was pretty dismal.

(And before we get too far into the proceedings, I don’t want to hear about how the Vikings “passed” on Aaron Rodgers in 2005. They had a 27-year old starting quarterback (Daunte Culpepper) that was coming off of a season that saw him throw for over 4,700 yards and 39 touchdowns, and saw him come in second in the NFL MVP voting to a guy that set the single-season record for touchdown passes. The Vikings would have been certifiably bonkers to take a quarterback in the first round that year, and anyone that says otherwise is probably pretty ignorant of history and how the draft actually works.)

But, thanks to another article from behind the great E$PN paywall, I may have to adjust my line of thinking on the worst Vikings’ draft class of all time.

I’ve also long thought that the 2005 draft class was one of the worst-ever for an NFL team, but ESPN makes a good case that the Vikings’ 1989 draft class was even worse:

How bad was the Vikings’ draft class? Here’s ESPN’s description of it:

The Vikings traded their first-round pick to the Steelers for linebacker Mike Merriweather on the eve of the draft, making linebacker David Braxton (second round) their first pick. Braxton joined tight end Darryl Ingram (fourth round) as the only two of the team’s nine draft picks to play a game with Minnesota — and neither lasted long there. The lone bright spot in the Vikings’ draft was running back Brad Baxter (11th round), who went on to score 35 career touchdowns … for the Jets.

For the record, here’s the entire Vikings’ draft class of 1989, which you can find (along with every other Vikings’ draft selection) in our Complete Minnesota Vikings Draft Pick Database.

Round 2, #52 overall – David Braxton, LB, Wake Forest
Round 3, #80 overall – John Hunter, OT, Brigham Young
Round 4, #108 overall – Darryl Ingram, TE, California
Round 6, #163 overall – Jeff Mickel, OT, Eastern Washington
Round 7, #191 overall – Benji Roland, DT, Auburn
Round 8, #219 overall – Alex Stewart, DE, Fullerton State
Round 11, #303 overall – Brad Baxter, RB, Alabama State
Round 12, #331 overall – Shawn Woodson, LB, James Madison
Round 12, #335 overall – Everett Ross, WR, Ohio State

Most of those players never played a down for the Vikings, and the team only got 20 game appearances from the entire class (and 16 of those were from Darryl Ingram, who played in every game in his rookie year). That was an atrocious draft class.

Coming into the third and final day of the 2016 NFL draft, the Minnesota Vikings started the day holding the following picks:

• Fourth round: 23rd (121st overall)
• Fifth round: 23rd (160th overall)
• Sixth round: 5th (180th overall, from San Francisco)
• Sixth round: 11th (186th overall, from Miami)
• Seventh round: 19th (240th overall, from Buffalo)
• Seventh round: 23rd (244th overall)

And here’s how the last day of the draft played out for Minnesota:

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After Thursday’s rather undramatic and non-suspense-filled first round pick, where the team did the predictable thing and selected the best remaining wide receiver, day two of the draft promised to be a bit more exciting. “Trader Rick” Spielman must have been just itching to do some wheeling and dealing by this stage of the draft. And yet…

With their actual second round pick (I can’t believe I’m typing this), the Vikings selected Clemson cornerback Mackensie Alexander. No slick trading. No fancy up-or-down-swapping. Almost like someone has forced “Trader Rick” to act completely out-of-character and use yet another draft pick in the original order …

Sorry, still in shock that we actually picked at the original spots consecutively…

Here’s what Sports Illustrated had to say about the Vikings’ second round pick:

Alexander has the best mirroring and transition speed of any cornerback in this class. Takes his receiver seamlessly from the first step throughout the route, and turns and flips on a dime to stay with them through quick-breaking and option routes. Has the chase and recovery speed to close in and deflect passes with good timing. Understands his movement in the deep routes, and gets his hand on the receiver and tracks the ball well throughout the throw. Great with angles and will use his body to cut routes to the quick. Transitions between man and bail coverage seamlessly, which is a process that many NFL cornerbacks find tough to handle. Excellent economy of motion allows him to play the entire field well.

Very contentious, competitive player who keeps the fight going all the way through—his battle against Oklahoma’s Sterling Shepard last season is a must-watch. Plays wide and tall coverage as an outside corner out of necessity; Clemson’s schemes left him without help in curl/flat routes and over the top at times. Good musculature for the position and will throw his body around against the run. Takes it upon himself to bring his game to a different level.

Some see this pick as creating competition at the nickel corner position for Captain Munnerlyn. Including Munnerlyn:

In the third round of the draft, Trader Rick finally managed to throw off the restraints and swapped Minnesota’s pick (at 86th overall) to Miami, in exchange for Miami’s 6th round pick (186th overall) plus Miami’s 2017 third and fourth round picks. I’d say that was a good exchange for the Vikings. The Dolphins used the pick acquired from Minnesota to select Rutgers wide receiver Leonte Caroo. ESPN‘s Ben Goessling explains the logic of the trade:

“There were a couple guys that we liked — we had two guys targeted,” Spielman said. “But then as I kept staring at the board — which we have a tendency to do a lot — I saw there were still a lot of good football players that we can potentially pick up tomorrow. There was enough depth in the draft this year that you’re going to get quality players. So to still be able to get quality players tomorrow, and kind of look into the future, potentially where your roster’s going to be in ’17 and how valuable those picks are going to become, I felt the trade was the right move for us.”

The Vikings now have six picks in the first four rounds of next year’s draft, when they could have some spots to fill after possibly parting with players due to hit free agency after 2016. The offensive line, for example, has five players set to hit free agency after the season, and the Vikings could have more use for those picks next year. Considering how many of their in-house free agents the Vikings retained, it sounds as though they know this year’s roster might be harder to crack. That would inherently depress the value of draft picks this year, and the Vikings chose to parlay a third-rounder into more high picks next season.

“I think you just look at where your current roster is, but that’s also why we try to plan for the future as well,” Spielman said. “I want to make sure that we always keep a competitive roster. Depending on what happens in 2017, just projecting what our roster could look like, just to have those draft picks next year is going to be valuable.”

At the start of the first round of the draft, the Minnesota Vikings held the #23 pick. Given how frequently the team has depended on the wheeling-and-dealing skills of general manager “Trader Rick” Spielman, few of us were anticipating that the team would actually use that pick (although the Vikings actually did use their original first round pick in 2015).

The most frequently mentioned wide receiver to be drafted by the Vikings was Josh Doctson, but he went to the Washington Redskins just ahead of Minnesota’s pick, so Laquon Treadwell ended up being the team’s first round pick at the #23 slot. Before the draft began, ESPN’s Ben Goessling had bucked the trend by selecting Treadwell in the NFL Nation mock draft, saying:

The Vikings brought both Treadwell and Doctson to their top 30 event earlier this month, and either one would fit a need for a big receiver on the roster. Either could be a viable option for the Vikings on Thursday night. But I leaned toward Treadwell for a couple of reasons.

First, while the Ole Miss receiver has slipped in mock drafts after his slow 40 time (4.63 seconds at his pro day), he still brings much of what the Vikings need for their offense. At 6-foot-2 and 221 pounds, he has plenty of size to deal with press coverage, and he has shown an ability to both be physical with cornerbacks and separate from them with his footwork. His size and mentality also should help him as a run blocker — no small part of playing wide receiver in the Vikings’ offense — and he has displayed an impressive understanding of positioning while competing against cornerbacks in the SEC.

Doctson is the better deep threat, and he’ll do a better job of plucking balls over the top of defensive backs. But Teddy Bridgewater might benefit more from a receiver who can box out defenders and present a reliable target in the red zone.

It’s also worth noting that Treadwell doesn’t turn 21 until June, while Doctson will be 24 in December. They typically haven’t taken players as old as Doctson in the first round; in fact, he’d be the Vikings’ oldest first-round selection since Todd Steussie in 1994. That doesn’t rule him out, but especially when the Vikings are looking for a receiver who can grow with their 23-year-old quarterback, it shouldn’t be discounted.

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As I say every year at around this time, I don’t know who the Vikings are planning to draft this year (because I don’t follow college football), but there are some positional needs that the team will probably address between Thursday and Saturday as the 2016 NFL draft unfolds. One position we can confidently predict won’t be high on the list is quarterback: the 32nd pick of the 2014 draft is still the incumbent starting quarterback and (most of us hope) Teddy Bridgewater will continue to develop in his third season in the league. Which leads to the first few draft needs most fans can readily identify:

• Wide receiver. The Greg Jennings experiment didn’t yield the results the team had hoped for in 2014 (even though Greg Jennings is always open). The Mike Wallace experiment likewise failed to live up to eleven-million-dollars-worth of expectations in 2015. Will the (fill-in-the-blank) experiment finally energize the Vikings’ passing attack in 2016? The mock drafts this year are pretty insistent that the Vikings will draft TCU receiver Josh Doctson with the 23rd pick, unless Laquon Treadwell (Ole Miss) is still available … or (fill-in-the-blank).
• Offensive line. Teddy Bridgewater apologists can reasonably point to the fact that the Vikings’ offensive line was … sub-optimal in 2015, which translated into Bridgewater being pressured more than any other NFL quarterback last season. Shoring up the line is a pretty good way to give the QB enough time to finally find his downfield receivers. Veteran center John Sullivan and right tackle Phil Loadholt should be back from serious injuries that kept them off the field for the entire 2015 regular season. Free agent additions of guard Alex Boone and tackle Andre Smith provide depth and flexibility (particularly in allowing Brandon Fusco to return to his natural right guard position after a terrible season at left guard). It wouldn’t be surprising to see the team add a high draft pick to the OL group this year.
• Safety. While Harrison Smith has been establishing himself as one of the best safeties in the league, the team hasn’t been able to provide him with a complementary player to allow Smith to fully exploit his opportunities. While there’s still a chance that the “other” safety is already on the roster (Andrew Sendejo?, Antone Exum?, Anthony Harris? free agent addition Michael Griffin?), a number of players have rotated through that position without really establishing a legitimate claim. According to several stories, this isn’t a draft that is deep in potential safety help, it wouldn’t be surprising to find the Vikings drafting a safety during the first three rounds this week.
• Linebacker. Much has been written over the last few months about the Vikings’ need for another linebacker, but with the team having used a first (Anthony Barr, 2014) and a second round pick (Eric Kendricks, 2015) on the linebacker position in the last two years, it would have to be a phenomenal player falling unexpectedly to tempt Spielman and company to draft yet another linebacker this high.
• Defensive tackle. On first glance, this is a strength of the team, but injuries exposed some unexpected weaknesses in the depth chart in 2015 (Linval Joseph’s turf toe, Shamar Stephan went to IR, Sharif Floyd had multiple injuries, and Tom Johnson turns 32 this year). Adding a developmental player here makes a good deal of sense in this year’s draft.
• Punter. It would not be a huge surprise to see the Vikings draft a punter this year. It would be a surprise to see them draft one before the sixth round, however. Incumbent Jeff Locke hasn’t been covering himself in glory since he was drafted in the fifth round of the 2013 draft.

I didn’t think “Trader Rick” would be happy with “only” six picks in the final day of the NFL 2015 draft…

Round 4 (110) – T.J. Clemmings, Tackle, Pittsburgh. After three straight defensive picks, the Vikings finally address their offensive line concerns. At the Pioneer Press, Chris Tomasson has this to report on Clemmings:

The 6-foot-6, 315-pound Clemmings had projected by some to go in the first round but he dropped because of some medical issues. It’s not a high-risk pick by the Vikings, who have six picks on the third day of the draft.

It was appropriate Vikings Hall of Fame offensive lineman Randall McDaniel played a role in the pick on NFL Network. At the site of the new stadium that will open next year, McDaniel introduced construction foreman Lesley Singer, who announced the pick.

Clemmings, who was a second-team All-American as a senior and played in the Senior Bowl, has been projected as an NFL right tackle. However, he has the ability to play other positions on the line.

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After the (total lack of) drama and suspense over the Vikings’ first round pick yesterday, I did the sensible thing and went out for the evening and paid minimal attention to day two of the draft. Since I don’t follow college football, I wasn’t likely to say whether any given player was a good or a bad pick and aside from checking to see what position the drafted player is projected to fill, I could follow with an occasional check of my Twitter feed.

With all the trades in previous drafts, the Vikings hadn’t actually drafted anyone in the second round for several years (not since 2011 when they drafted Kyle Rudolph), but this time they actually did use the 45th pick on UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks, a former team-mate (and college room-mate) of last year’s first rounder Anthony Barr. Here’s 1500ESPN‘s Andrew Krammer on the pick:

The Vikings had offers to trade down from 45th overall, but general manager Rick Spielman said they weren’t expecting Kendricks to be there.

“He has the athletic skill set to be a three-down backer,” Spielman said. “We were surprised he fell to where we were at.

“And he says he can help Anthony Barr line up,” Spielman joked. “They said they had the ‘AB’ role when he was [at UCLA].”

Kendricks (6’0″, 230lbs) finished his four-year career with the Bruins totaling 480 combined tackles, 10 sacks, five interceptions and three forced fumbles. He was the NCAA’s 2014 Butkus Award winner.

The Vikings feel he can play either weak-side linebacker or the middle linebacker role for coach Mike Zimmer’s defense. Last year’s starter in the middle, Jasper Brinkley, left in free agency and signed with the Dallas Cowboys. Kendricks joins a linebacker corps comprised of Barr, Chad Greenway, Audie Cole, Gerald Hodges, Casey Matthews and others.

They spent one of 60 combine interviews with Kendricks in February and had heard enough to prioritize him atop their draft board.

After that pick, Spielman’s famous “Trader Rick” persona broke out in the Vikings war room and some wheeling and dealing took place. They swapped picks with Kansas City to move back four spots in the third round (with the Chiefs giving up a sixth-round pick, #193, in compensation). Then they moved back again in a trade with the Lions, going from #80 to #88 in the third round, acquiring the Lions’ fifth-round pick at #143.

After trading down twice for the extra picks, the Vikings chose LSU defensive end Danielle Hunter. Here’s ESPN‘s Ben Goessling on the pick:

It had been clear all offseason that the Vikings were looking for help at defensive end, and for the second year in a row, they took one in the third round. Hunter is an impressive athlete — a 6-foot-6, 240-pound end with 4.57 40 speed and 34½-inch arms. He didn’t put up the kind of sack numbers you’d expect in college and will have to figure out how to beat offensive tackles in the NFL. But after the Vikings missed out on signing Michael Johnson, they added the kind of lanky defensive end Mike Zimmer likes.

[…] Hunter had just 1½ sacks in 2014 at LSU, and after the Vikings took Scott Crichton last year, they could be looking at another end who could take some time to develop. Hunter came out a year early, and while Pro Football Focus ranked him second among draft-eligible edge rushers in run-stop percentage, he will have to get better at pressuring the quarterback. In any case, the Vikings will have to get something out of Crichton or Hunter this season to lighten the load for Everson Griffen and Brian Robison, who each logged more than 900 snaps last year.

The final rounds of the 2015 draft take place later today, with the Vikings holding six picks (for now, pending further wheeling and dealing by Rick Spielman):

• Round 4 (110)
• Round 5 (137) – (from Buccaneers through Bills)
• Round 5 (143) – (from Lions)
• Round 6 (193) – (from Chiefs)
• Round 7 (228)
• Round 7 (232) – (from 49ers through Dolphins)

Well, few saw this coming … that Minnesota would actually use the #11 pick rather than trading down. Pretty much everyone read “Trader” Rick Spielman’s last pre-draft press conference as a clear attempt to get any kind of trade offer for the #11 slot, but perhaps no other team was all that interested in moving up.

With their original pick, the Vikings selected Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes. This is so boring: 90% of the mock drafts had this as the Vikings’ selection. Mr. Spielman, you’ve let us all down … where’s the drama? Where’s the suspense? Where’s the Earth-shattering Kaboom? How dare you do what everyone thought you’d do?

Initially (never having watched any of his college games), I was enthusiastic about Waynes, but as the pre-draft process wore on, I started to think he wasn’t the best scheme fit (and Arif Hasan’s analysis added to the niggling doubts). When Rick Spielman came out to talk to the media about the team’s pick, he said there had been some offers to trade, but that they didn’t feel the trade value was worth it, as they had Waynes high on their board. Unless this is smoke-blowing, I tend to believe that coach Zimmer feels that Trae Waynes is the best choice for the Vikings’ secondary.

Here’s Arif’s immediate reaction to the pick at Bleacher Report:

Known for only giving up two touchdowns in the past two years, Waynes’ ability to protect against vertical threats is unparalleled in college. He should provide the Vikings with some protection against the deadly passing attacks of the NFC North, which features deep threats and quarterbacks who like to exploit them.

With Kevin White (Miami) in the division, it increases the importance of a player who can keep up with his speed and provide some protection over the top.

There are a number of concerns about Waynes going in, some of which match the issues that Xavier Rhodes had coming out of the draft, including a predilection for grabby play and issues with short-area quickness.

Known for his high character, Waynes puts in time in the film room and can read receivers well.

On the flip side of that is a limited ability to read offensive concepts, and he struggles with route combinations. For the most part, the quarters defense at Michigan State made it less important to do so, although that unique defense also raises questions about his capacity to cover interior routes.

It’s been a very long time since the Vikings have entered the NFL draft where a quarterback was not one of their top needs. Except for that one season of Brett Favre’s greatest hits, the team has been looking for their franchise quarterback since Daunte Culpepper went down with a serious knee injury in 2005. This year, finally, the Vikings are not in the market for a starting quarterback in the draft (let’s all just pretend that the Christian Ponder era never happened). Teddy Bridgewater, drafted with the last pick in the first round of 2014, has established himself as the unquestioned starter and we hope he’ll continue to improve his game the way he did throughout his rookie season.

The team still has some deficiencies that can be filled in the draft, including cornerback, safety, middle and strong-side linebacker, wide receiver, and offensive guard. The mock draft folks have had a great time trying to read the tea leaves to figure out who the Vikings will draft, and I guess it’s fine for them to speculate wildly. (It keeps them off the streets.)

As I say around this time every year, I don’t follow college football, so there’s little or no point in me trying to predict the individual players who will end up wearing purple and gold this year. Instead, I can look at the team’s needs at various positions and try to guess how the team leadership may play their hand during the draft (you can consider this my re-thinking of my March 10 post on the same topic). Where I mention actual player names, it’s not because I’m convinced they’re the answer at that position, but that the mock draft folks have that player pencilled-in frequently enough that it does seem a strong possibility.
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