VIKINGS DRAFT FILLED WITH TRADES, SURPRISES, AND GOOD PLAYERS

I’d be lying if I said I was greatly impressed with the Minnesota Vikings draft this weekend. Thursday night started with the new General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Head Coach Kevin O’Connell sitting at the 12th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft. It was becoming more of an enviable place to be as the draft rumors and picks started to shake out. When the 12th pick arrived, the Vikings seemed to be sitting in the perfect spot to get the player most assumed they wanted in safety Kyle Hamilton or make a trade back with a team in need of a quarterback. What happened next was only partly what some expected. As soon as the pick came up on the board it was just as quickly gone, and the Detroit Lions were in their place. The trade was surprising because it was a trade with a division rival and the Vikings went all the way back from 12 to 32 in the round. I and every fan that had been monitoring the draft was shocked. There were many as well that didn’t feel the Vikings got the proper compensation for the pick either based on older draft trade value charts. Although, to some those charts are outdated and new ones show the Vikings got more than fair compensation. Regardless of the rules many Purple fans were immediately angry and asking for the firing of a staff that hasn’t even played a game yet. Some felt it was no different than when former GM Rick Spielman ran things and his penchant for trading back and acquiring numerous late round picks that didn’t amount to much on the field. For me, I have decided to wait things out as Kwesi is more of an analytics person than a straight football person. I felt better after the pick was finally made and the team drafted Lewis Cine (pronounced seen) a safety from Georgia. He was the 5th player drafted in the first round from the Bulldog’s defense that helped them win the College National Championship in which he was the Defensive MVP. I didn’t know much about him, but after I watched his tape and heard that in interviews with his teammates he was unanimously the guy they would want to play with wherever they went next. The guy is a great player with some experts saying that he didn’t get the notoriety of the other players on his team because of his position in the backfield. He’s a big hitter and knows how to separate the ball from the receiver in air or in their hands. Word also came out that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were rumored to want to take him with the next pick which goes to show that players don’t always get selected where everyone thinks they should.

With the trade down in the 1st round the Vikings also traded up in the 2nd round and added a 3rd round pick which was good because they traded away their 4th round pick last year. The 2nd night looked like it would be a bit quieter for the team and they would pick their favorite player at pick 34. But that didn’t happen either as they traded away that pick to the Green Bay Packers for the 54th and 59th picks in the draft. The team wasn’t immediately done there as the Vikings then sent the 53rd, 77th and 192nd overall selections to the Indianapolis Colts to draft corner back Andrew Booth at 42 and pick up the 122nd overall selection. Booth is a solid pick and only slipped due to some injuries he had to get fixed in the offseason. Had those injuries – which are not expected be lingering or a problem not existed he may have been a 1st round pick. Booth is a good ball hawk and not afraid to go h=make a good tackle as well. Depending on how he works out he could become a steal in this draft.

At pick 59 the Vikings took Ed Ingram, an offensive guard from LSU. Ingram is an athletic guard that can play the run and the pass well. He holds up at the pint of attack and has gone against some of the best defensive competition in college football the last few years. He also has some center flexibility and can help strength the middle of the offensive line where the Vikings have struggled the last few years. You can see form this highlight tape (he’s number 70) that he can get up and down the line quickly and with aggressive hits.

In the 3rd round the Vikings took speedy linebacker Brain Asamoah from Oklahoma to add to their depth for the new 3-4 defense they plan to run. And in the 4th round they selected Akayleb Evans a cornerback from Missouri to get more youth and depth in their secondary. Then with two picks in the 5th round they selected more defense and kept it local with defensive lineman Esezi Otomewo form the University of Minnesota, and then running back Ty Chandler from North Carolina. With Vederian Lowe from Illinois they brought in more offensive line help to compete for the right guard position and speedy wide receiver Jalen Nailor from Michigan State in the 6th round. With all the wheeling and dealing the Vikings did they even had moved up in the 7th round to end the day by picking a tight end from South Carolina named Nick Muse. Muse can catch the ball and has a little wiggle to him, but he can also block well on the edge to help the running game. Most of the late round picks become special teams’ players helping on the punting and kicking teams with Chandler a possible punt returner. While the early trade wasn’t what most consider the best choice, we have to wait a few years to see how things pan out with these players which can take a few years. All the picks by the team are rated as solid players on their own with some experts giving the Vikings an “A” grade and a few giving them an “F”. I’m giving them a “B-” only because I think they could have gotten a bit more for the trade with Detroit or at least not given up their original 2nd round pick. These players are solid choices though and are picked based on how they fit the schemes as well. We will just have to see how they perform in the next few years to see how smart the new regime really is.

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