Tag Archives: Minnesota Vikings

NFL

Draft Hinges on Cleveland

Leave a comment

by Nick Wershing

With the top two picks in tomorrow’s NFL draft locked up, the only thing anyone seems sure of is that there are only three elite players left: USC Tackle Matt Kalil, LSU Corner Morris Claiborne, and Alabama Running Back Trent Richardson. Most experts expect the Vikings to take either Morris Claiborne or Matt Kalil with the third overall pick. This brings us to the Browns. Supposing the Browns don’t trade out, and the Vikings go with Kalil, they seem to have three options: they can go with another of the elite players in Richardson, they can bring in the top weapon in the draft in Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon to help Colt McCoy, or they can bring in a new quarterback in A&M’s Ryan Tannehill.

Richardson is the hot pick for experts right now, seeing as he is touted as the best back since Adrian Peterson. If Richardson can be anything like Peterson, this pick is a home run. Richardson clearly has the ability to run both between the tackles and bounce it outside, but what makes him more dynamic are his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and his willingness to stay in the backfield and block. Richardson is a do-it-all back. There are only a handful of teams at this spot that would not take Richardson. If the Vikings did not have Peterson, they would be taking Richardson one spot earlier. So why is Richardson not a lock here? Well, let’s look into this further… Continue reading →

Share
NFL

Draft Ramblings

1 Comment

Drafting based on need sounds like it makes a lot of sense.  Instead of overpaying a free agent to come in and fill a hole, you bring in a young, raw athlete with boatloads of potential and shape him however you choose. Sounds simple enough, but I have some problems with that school of thought. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that great teams build through the draft.  I just don’t buy into the idea of bringing in a rookie and then trying to turn them into the player that your team needs rather than helping them progress and further developing their skill set that made them special in the first place.  There are exceptions, but for the most part, a great player is great because they are allowed to play to their strengths.

This is especially true with quarterbacks.  How many times have you seen a QB overdrafted because the team didn’t have a quality starter and needed immediate help?  Of course this is a quarterback-driven league, and it’s nearly impossible to win nowadays without someone special under center.  NFL teams know this, but it seems like they panic under the gun and reach for something that isn’t there.  There is no other explanation that I can come up with for the Vikings choosing Christian Ponder with the 12th overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft.  Drafting him with such a high pick doesn’t mean that he is going to play up to that level, it just means that the Vikings didnt get their moneys worth with that pick.

What I’m saying is that drafting a guy like Ponder just to fill a hole makes no sense.  In my opinion, he is not the same caliber player as guys like Mike Pouncey or Nick Fairley, who were both available when Minnesota was on the clock.  Teams need to learn to take a step back and realize that when the special QB – or whatever other position the team needs – isn’t there, use the pick to its full potential by choosing someone who is just plain better.

Follow The Bearor’s Den and give feedback on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Bearors-Den/125071330921708

Share