As the season closes it's time for the teams to revamp their teams with the addition of highly touted rookies from the NFL Draft. This year's draft class is extremely talented, and there is no reason for a team like the Vikings(picking at #22) to not get an instant impact player.
I made my own "Big Board" with the top 45 players I feel are available for this year's draft.
1. Eugene Monroe- LT, Virginia
2. Aaron Curry- OLB, Wake Forest
3. Mark Sanchez- QB, USC
4. Andre Smith- LT, Alabama
5. B.J. Raji- DT, Boston College
6. Malcolm Jenkins- CB, Ohio State
7. Rey Maualuga- ILB, USC
8. Matthew Stafford- QB, Georgia
9. Everette Brown- DE, Florida State
10. Michael Crabtree- WR, Texas Tech
11. Vontae Davis- CB, Illinois
12. Knowshon Moreno- RB, Georgia
13. Jason Smith- LT, Baylor
14. Chris Wells- RB, Ohio State
15. Brian Cushing- WLB- USC
16. Brian Orakpo- DE, Texas
17. Michael Oher- LT, Ole Miss
18. D.J. Moore- CB, Vanderbilt
19. Alex Mack- C, Cal
20. Percy Harvin- WR/KR/PR/RB, Florida
21. LeSean McCoy- RB, Pitt
22. Brandon Pettigrew- TE, Oklahoma State
23. Aaron Maybin- DE/3-4 Bookend, Penn St
24. Larry English- DE, Northern Illinois
25. Peria Jerry- DT, Ole Miss
26. Kenny Britt- WR, Rutgers
27. Tyson Jackson- DE, LSU
28. Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina
29. Max Unger- C, Oregon
30. Brandon Gibson- WR, Washington State
31. Michael Johnson- DE, Georgia Tech
32. Rashad Johnson- SS, Alabama
33. Clint Sintim- DE/OLB, Virginia
34. Duke Robinson- G, Oklahoma
35. Phil Loadholt, RT, Oklahoma
36. Fila Moala- DT/3-4 DE, USC
37. James Davis- RB, Clemson
38. Kyle Moore- DE, USC
39. Jairus Byrd- CB, Oregon
40. Darrius Heyward-Bay- WR, Maryland
41. Victor Harris- CB, Virginia Tech
42. Chase Coffman- TE, Missouri
43. Jeremy Maclin- WR, Missouri
44. Josh Freeman- QB, Kansas State
45. Rhett Bomar- QB, Sam Houston State
With the use of ESPN 360 and You Tube I was able to watch games of every player on here. It was a long and grueling couple of days, but I think it will help me in getting pissed off at the Vikings for over valuing a player and reaching at some point in the first 2 rounds.
The Vikings don't have any glaring needs outside of the quarterback position, and if they choose to take a guy in this year's draft they are going to need someone in the top 10 willing to trade down. If they can somehow manage to move up to either #3 or #10 they should guarantee either Mark Sanchez or Matthew Stafford being available. My preference is Mark Sanchez because I feel he will be the better QB down the road, but Matthew Stafford would probably have a better shot at making a deep run in the playoffs based on his experience.
I could also see the Vikings trading the #22 pick to the Patriots in exchange for Matt Cassell. I'm not entirely sold on Cassell's overall ability. Cause let's face it, he was throwing to Randy Moss and Wes Welker last year, making his numbers seem better than they would have been with the playmakers the Vikings have. Bottom line though is that Cassell is better than any QB on the Vikings roster, and if we fail to trade up to land one of the Big 2 QBs in this draft I expect the #22 pick to be used as a trade piece for an experienced QB.
Other options at QB in free agency would be Kurt Warner and Jeff Garcia. I wouldn't mind signing Warner and drafting either Sanchez or Stafford, but if we failed to land a younger QB along with Warner I feel like we would just be getting a band aid for 1 season.
Another route the Vikings could take at #22 is drafting a replacement for either Ben Leber or Pat Williams. I love Pat but let's face it, he's old. There aren't many great DT prospects in this year's class, but a guy like Fili Moala from USC would be a nice fit next to K-Will, and would give the Vikings another pass rushing threat along side Jared Allen. A replacement for Leber would be a much more viable option at pick 22, due to the abundence of quality at the OLB position. If Brian Cushing falls all the way to us we have to take him. He's simply too talented to pass over.
The only other route I could see the Vikings take is drafting a CB. Alphonso Smith, Vontae Davis, and DJ Moore are very talented guys who project as future #1 CB's in the NFL. By drafting one of these 3 would signal the end of Cedric Griffen's days as a #2 corner, and would probably push him to his more natural role of a nickelback.
5 comments:
Okay. I have not been able to break down the draft as much as you my friend so I will give you kudos there. As usual, you do see a crop of USC guys in the mix. And, you being a fan of USC, I can see how much you would build them up. Now, lets be a little honest in saying that there are 100+ college teams with some sort of talent that can supercede a USC product. Although they attract top of the line athletes out of high school, it is not a for sure thing that any USC guy is pro material.
With that said, I have done some research (okay, maybe like 10-15minutes on ESPN) regarding draft boards and the like. I see that Sanchez, Maualuga & Cushing are in the top 20-25. I would not be against the Vikes picking any of the LB's or even a DT. I think their strongest need is on the O-line. Birk is most likely gone at center. Hutch & Mckinnie still have some years but Mckinnie is a huge disappointment and needs to show he deserves big money. Herrera is okay and does what we need him to do but the glaring need is RT. Cook sucks point blank and unless he is the Center of the future or shows he is better at that position and not tackle, he will just be a serviceable backup. I also think they could look at center as well.
Drafting a QB is not the answer in my mind. Yeah, Sanchez has tools to be an NFL QB but just like Cassell, he is a QB in a place where talent is all around him. Just look at what Leinert is doing and you will see what I am talking about. Cassell may not be the answer either and will be a hefty price. They need to do something as T-jack or Frerotte are not the answer.
Who I really like and think could be a huge help to our team is that WR from North Carolina, Nicks (not sure the name). I watched him in the bowl game they had with West Virginia and he impressed me. I would like that pick.
Well yes I have a lot of USC guys on there, because USC churns out NFL talent better than any college in the country. The fact that I root for them has nothing to do with how I rate their players. When you consistently pull in 25 of the top 100 high school talents in the country, odds are you're going to find yourself with a school full of NFL potential. This year Sanchez, Cushing, Maulauga, Matthews and Moala all have a shot to go in round 1. Guys like Kyle Moore and Patrick Turner have a shot to go anywhere from round 3-5, and a few of their DB prospects(Kevin Ellison and Cary Thomas) will be off the board at some point as well. So when you put that in perspective, that's 9guys from one team being drafted in the first 5 rounds of the draft. Does that sound too far fetched to occur? USC had 11 guys taken in the first 6 rounds last year,so not so much.
As for the O-Line situation I agree with you, and I think a guy like Alex Mack or Max Unger would be great replacements for Birk at center, or if someone like Michael Oher or Andre Smith falls we could use them at LT and slide McKinnie over to RT.
I disagree 100% with your assessment of the QB situation. We need to draft a QB for the future, as well as sign/trade for a QB to lead the team now. So by drafting Sanchez/Stafford I believe we get our QB in 2 years, and by signing Warner/Garcia/K.Collins I believe we have a great shot at making the super bowl.
To say Matt Leinart isn't starting because he had so much talent around him at USC would be unwise. How many NFL QBs would've beat out Kurt Warner for the starting job with the Cards this year? Peyton Manning... and that's it. When Leinart has been given PT he has shown the ability to lead the Cardinals offense and put up pretty decent numbers. He's been put in a tough situation sitting behind a future hall of famer,and getting constantly criticized because he likes to party(even though 99% of football players do the same thing). Just be happy he's not off snorting coke and beating women or shooting himself in the foot.
Points taken. However, I disagree with a few of them.
- you can have 25 of top 100 talent but as I said, it doesn't mean they are necessarily NFL talent.
- USC does turn out alot of players that get drafted. Again, does not mean they will be anything in the NFL. Just because you get drafted, it does not mean they are a guarnatee in the NFL. I believe they say statistics show that it doesn't matter where a player is drafted as their longetivity in the league is about the same.
- I don't see any other real breakdown of other schools that turn out talent as well (Texas, Ohio State, Florida to name a few) so that is why it looks so one sided. Yes, my opinion but I think a good one at that.
- Yes the top 2 QB's are Sanchez and Stafford. Could they both be good? Yeah they could but I am not as keyed into things like this like Kiper or mcShay. Whether the Vikes get a shot at them might cost them alot and I am not sure they will do something to cost them in later drafts. Plus, there are other teams in need of QB's so I don't think any of these two will fall to us at 22.
- While drafting a QB may not be out of the question, they will or should look to the later rounds. The last few drafts they had drafted QB's (Thigpen and Booty) and whether Booty pans out is yet to be seen. It is whether he gets a chance at all or if Childress can actually help develop a QB. I would like them to look at him as reports said he had good tools to be an NFL QB.
- Yes we need to sign/trade for a QB for now as this is the best chance for a Super Bowl run. As I said, T-jack or Gus are not the answer and they should realize it. The biggest question will be is there anyone worth the look.
- The Leinert arguement is somewhat valid. Yes he looks serviceable but the Cardinals still need to look to the future and the quicker they get him in if he is the answer, they need to do so. Warner, even if he is a hall of fame QB, will not be around very long. Unless he doesn't retire, we will see how good Leinert is. Bottomline is that Leinert had his shot to get the job this year and besides his "partying," he lost it based on performance as well. I can be wrong as anybody can but preliminarily, he does not look as good as he was hyped up to be.
A good combination for the Vikes will be just like last year to get a good mix of drafting young talent and signing some vets to get them to the top. Whether this happens is yet to be seen. It should be an interesting off season for this team and hopefully makes them better.
I agree with your QB assessment, but again with claiming Leinart's preseason performance cost him the job... Kurt Warner won the job, and for good reason. As I already stated, only 1 other QB in the league would've beaten out Warner for that starting job. Leinart will be fine, and the more time he spends learning the better off he'll be anyway.
While I don't have any statistical breakdown for you on the ratio of NFL Players to the colleges they come from, what I can tell you is that skill players and QBs from Texas/Oklahoma/Florida NEVER pan out in the NFL save Adrian Peterson. Major Applewhite, Vince Young, Chris Simms, Jason White, Nate Hybl, Paul Thompson, Josh Heupeul, Rex Grossman, Danny Weurful, Chris Leak, Shane Matthews and Jesse Palmer. Those are the QBs from Texas, OK and FL from the past 10 years or so, and not one of them has been successful in the NFL... and there is a reason for that. Those 3 schools sell out their QBs potential by utilizing a gimmick spread offense that makes the QB decide where to throw the ball before the snap. This is highly successful in college due to soft defenses and not much variety or complexity in defensive schemes. All of these schools have a history of their WR's failing as well. The reason behind this is the same, their systems do not require the wideouts to run many NFL type routes, and as a result you get big fast guys who have no idea how to run a fade route. Runningbacks are also failures from these 3 schools. Like I said before, Save AP(who was and is a freak of nature), guys from those schools don't pan out.
Point taken. As every year, we will see how things go. Leinert will get his chance this year as i don't think Warner will go back to the Cardinals with all the changes in coaching and probably personnel (i.e. James leaving, Boldin wanting out, etc.). but who knows, Warner may go back but I would like to see him in a PURPLE jersey myself.
The schools I was referring to was just examples of their players that get into the NFL. they are not locks by any means and was not really breaking them down by just QB's, RB's or WR's. They put a lot of potential talent out there and whether they pan out is yet to be seen. Same with USC players. yeah, they may get into the league but success will be their longevity in the league.
USC players do have a bit of an advantage as Pete has been an NFL coach and can make a difference. Like I said, can make a difference. It all depends on the player itself.
This draft I think should be intriguing as it is every year. I am anxious to see what the Vikes do as this is an important draft since they are kind've a year behind since they traded 3 draft picks last year. It was a very good trade but nonetheless, the draft is important for the future. I look to see them get help at OL, DL, LB, WR. I hope they draft that Nicks guy from North Carolina in the 1st round. It will just depend on how he does in the combine this weekend. If he blows people away, he will not be available to us at 22.
Hey, baseball is ohhhhhh so close. We need to start talking about that. GO IRISH!!!!!!!!
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