Draft in April

[HardcoreVikesFan]

Kyle Long - G - Player

Oregon OG Kyle Long has "generated a lot of buzz over the last few weeks."

NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah "(keeps) hearing his name from personnel buddies." Howie's son and Chris' brother, Long is already 24 thanks to a failed baseball stint, but generated buzz with a strong Combine. He checks in at a mountainous 6-foot-6, 304 pounds. He's unlikely to slip into the latter part of the first round, but should come off the board early on day two.
Source: Daniel Jeremiah on Twitter

If we take an offensive lineman ( I hope we do) I want Larry Warford. That dude is tank and I hope we draft him.

[dead_poet]

Updated mock by Dane Brugler, NFLDraftScout.com Analyst:

23. MINNESOTA VIKINGS

DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson: No one will mistake Christian Ponder for Peyton Manning, but the Vikings are currently connected to the former Florida State quarterback and need to add weapons to help him succeed, especially after dealing Percy Harvin. Although he won't "wow" athletically, Hopkins is a polished route runner and knows how to separate and create.

25. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (FROM SEATTLE)

Johnathan Hankins, DT, Ohio State: If the Vikings go offense and wide receiver with their original first round pick at 23, they will almost certainly go defense with this pick. With several linebackers and defensive tackles still available, Minnesota will have several choices here and Hankins is one of those options.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfld ... aneBrugler

Interesting to note: Patterson lasts until #17, Tavon lasts until #22, Keenan Allen goes #27, Trufant #29. Six defensive tackles are selected in round 1. Ogletree (listed as an OLB) goes #20 to Chicago and the next potential MLB goes at 32 to Baltimore (Minter).

[dead_poet]

Heard my man @BuckyBrooks say on Path to the Draft that UNC's Jonathan Cooper had the best workout he has seen from a guard in a long time. Also heard @gregcosell say awhile ago that Cooper is the most purely athletic guard he can remember seeing coming out of college. The takeaway isn't that Cooper is a better prospect than Warmack. It's that both are better prospects than top guards of previous years. Mayock: Warmack is best player I saw on film this year. Cooper "just a tiny notch" behind him. “I’d jump all over either of them at No. 10.”

Chris Wesseling on Twitter

[big deli Vike]

No DT in the first round, that would be a mistake. its too deep a position in the draft, plus we dont have a MLB. hankins would be too far a stretch in the 1st and so would Slyvester WIlliams. a waste if you ask me. Minter or ogletree

[dead_poet]

Jonathan Cyprien - DB - Player

Appearing on the Rich Eisen Podcast, NFL Films' Greg Cosell suggested Jonathan Cyprien of Florida International has a strong case to be the first safety selected in April's draft.

"This kid is really athletic," said Cosell. "When I watched him, I couldn't believe that he was 220 pounds and the way he moved. He had an interception against Louisville that was just unbelievable. He came from the middle of the field all the way to the sideline. For a second, it looked like Ed Reed. I don't think he'll be the first safety drafted, but I wouldn't have a problem if he was the first safety drafted." We expect Cyprien's draft window to begin at No. 18 with the Cowboys. The Rams at No. 22 could also be in play.
Source: NFL.com

[dead_poet]

McShay's latest mock:

Minnesota Vikings

No. 23: Bjoern Werner, DE
No. 25: Keenan Allen, WR
NO. 52: Johnathan Hankins, DT

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... mock-draft

[big deli Vike]

McShay's latest mock:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... mock-draft

No way minter goes all the way at 50. I dont understand why all the mock "drafters" say the Vikings need D line, when we dont have a MLB? Werner would be nice, but doesnt fit a first round need. Allen, Robison. Yeah allen is up there in age, but maybe next year. Immediate needs, MLB and WR. thats what the two first picks will be used.

[Mercy Percy]

McShay's latest mock:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... mock-draft

Whenever i see mocks giving up a DE I just smack my forehead we have pretty good depth at DE

[Demi]

No way minter goes all the way at 50. I dont understand why all the mock "drafters" say the Vikings need D line, when we dont have a MLB? Werner would be nice, but doesnt fit a first round need. Allen, Robison. Yeah allen is up there in age, but maybe next year. Immediate needs, MLB and WR. thats what the two first picks will be used.

Maybe next year? You don't build a team by forcing a MLB now and then forcing a DE next year just because that's when you need them! Allen, Robison, Griffen are all entering the last year of their contract. Allen is going to be making like 14 million or something next year. There aren't that many MLBs in the draft that fit the defense, and if there is a DE we could save a chunk of money and have one for a decade! We didn't need a HB when we drafted AD according to some! And we desperately needed a WR and a QB when we took a couple knuckle head picks! And when we tried to draft defensive ends when we desperately needed them before we ended up with Kenechi and Erasmus James!

They need to build a team, and need to have more foresight in doing it then the previous regime! If that means Cole or some mid to late rounder for this year? Better then forcing ANY position and simply ending up still needing an upgrade there!

[big deli Vike]

[/quote]

Maybe next year? You don't build a team by forcing a MLB now and then forcing a DE next year just because that's when you need them! Allen, Robison, Griffen are all entering the last year of their contract. Allen is going to be making like 14 million or something next year. There aren't that many MLBs in the draft that fit the defense, and if there is a DE we could save a chunk of money and have one for a decade! We didn't need a HB when we drafted AD according to some! And we desperately needed a WR and a QB when we took a couple knuckle head picks! And when we tried to draft defensive ends when we desperately needed them before we ended up with Kenechi and Erasmus James!

They need to build a team, and need to have more foresight in doing it then the previous regime! If that means Cole or some mid to late rounder for this year? Better then forcing ANY position and simply ending up still needing an upgrade there![/quote]

I agree that its usually better to take the best player available but dont you see the glaring hole in the middle of the defense? its been a while since we've had a dominant MLB (EJ had that decent run). there are some talented ones available and not getting one early on i can see a lot of future regret

[MrPurplenGold]

Maybe next year? You don't build a team by forcing a MLB now and then forcing a DE next year just because that's when you need them! Allen, Robison, Griffen are all entering the last year of their contract. Allen is going to be making like 14 million or something next year. There aren't that many MLBs in the draft that fit the defense, and if there is a DE we could save a chunk of money and have one for a decade! We didn't need a HB when we drafted AD according to some! And we desperately needed a WR and a QB when we took a couple knuckle head picks! And when we tried to draft defensive ends when we desperately needed them before we ended up with Kenechi and Erasmus James!

They need to build a team, and need to have more foresight in doing it then the previous regime! If that means Cole or some mid to late rounder for this year? Better then forcing ANY position and simply ending up still needing an upgrade there!

I agree that taking Werner would be better than reaching for a MLB even if there is a need. Future planning at the DE position, because of the free agency next year, will help the Vikings in the future. The question is, which DE on the roster would the Vikings let go? I can see it being Allen depending on how much he is asking contract wise, but if he doesn't try to break the bank I can see them getting rid of Robison and Werner could fill that role with Griffen continuing to provide depth and play making ability all across the Defensive line

[MrPurplenGold]

I think one thing we might be ignoring is the Vikings actually trading back in the draft. With that 25 pick there maybe teams that miss out on Geno Smith that might want to trade up into the 1st round to pick up a Matt Barkley. Say the Jaguars try to trade up from pick 33 and they give an additional 4th rounder or maybe the Cardinals at 38. The Vikings could get a Keenan Allen with the 23rd pick and then trade back and still pick up someone like Kevin Minter at MLB and they'll have a lot of ammunition to trade back into the 2nd round if they need to or just stock up on picks.

[big deli Vike]

i agree. trading back from 25 is a really good idea. the draft is deep in the positions where we have the needs, plus if the guys that we want are falling, we might as well move back.

[Texas Vike]

We currently have the following picks in the first four rounds:

23
25
-----
52
------
83
----
99
117

This value chart estimates that pick #25 is worth 720 points, which would equate to an early 2nd and an early 3rd (for example, picks #40 and #72). Since the most likely position for which a team generally trades up is QB, three teams that would make sense would be Arizona, the NY Jets, and Buffalo (#38, 39, and 41 respectively).

I could see us doing this trade IF they have their sights on several players at a position of need whom they think will still be available at 38/39, say Robert Woods, Minter, Arthur Brown, etc.

Value chart: http://walterfootball.com/draftchart.php

[Texas Vike]

On the other hand,

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2013/3/30/ ... o-trade-up

Here's some speculation that they might move UP instead of down. The Norseman doesn't seem to like the possibility (neither do I). I have a hard time believing that they covet a particular WR (likely Austin, but possibly Allen or Patterson) so much that they feel the need to trade up ahead of the Rams. I could see it for a MLB, if Oggletree, for example, didn't have his red flags...

But as things are, I don't see it.