J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 13, 2021 9:34 am
Put another way, let's say Kansas City or Buffalo have the 14th pick. Would they be smart to draft a QB? Not even close. That's why pundits viewed Green Bay's drafting of Jordan Love with a massive head tilt. It made no sense then, and it makes no sense now … Even if the Vikings are misguided, they see Kirk Cousins as their franchise quarterback, just as the Chiefs view Mahomes as theirs. And with that being the case, we need to stop talking about the Vikings using the 14th pick on a quarterback ... cuz it AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.
Drafting or not drafting a first round QB is based on age and projection of what you have more than anything else. Absolutely the teams with older QB’s - even great ones - should be figuring out what their plan is. Of course the teams with the young studs won’t. I don’t think it’s “we have Cousins he’s our franchise so screw the QB position in the draft”. Not at all, that would be way too simplistic.
S197 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 12, 2021 3:24 pm
You don't draft a guy at 14 to sit for two years while you pay someone $75M as your interim.
Why not? The 14th pick will sign about a $15M, four-year contract with a team option for a fifth year. If that mythical QB sits for two years while Cousins makes $75M, who cares? So while I am out here guaranteeing things, I’ll guarantee Cousins contract will not be a big part of this equation.
And I think drafting a QB (if the right guy is there) at #14 is definitely under serious discussion in our FO.
Our FO does not have some casual view of the potential players to be drafted, spend 6-7 hours eating wings and sifting through tape to make decisions. Trust me, they (for instance) have AT LEAST the next three years of incoming QB’s mapped out, with all possibilities attached (player soars, gets hurt, regresses, needs to work on A/B/C, etc.). I guarantee you they have them all ranked accordingly. In fact it’s possible it's on someone’s list to keep track of top seniors in High School and where they might commit.
If a QB who “fits the bill” (versus the next 2-3 years worth of QB’s potentially coming out, or the unlikely trade of a Sam Darnold type) is available at #14 in 2021, selecting QB is a distinct and real possibility. To think “Rick doesn’t draft QB’s so he won’t this year either” is not really a reasonable supposition. Rick doesn’t draft QB’s he doesn’t like (or value) at the pick we have in any given year. The right guy/right value comes along at the pick we have? Different story. Not saying they WILL pick a QB this draft, but if the cards fall then yes I can see it happening. Easily. And when I say "right guy", I'm talking in terms of THEIR evaluations, not mine or yours.
So now, in real life, and assuming we keep the #14 pick:
1) Do I see a QB falling to #14 that would be a realistic candidate that our FO is sold on? Nope. So I certainly do not see us picking a QB at #14. But it’s not for the knee-jerk reaction of “NO WAY RICK PICKS A QB HE HATES THEM!!”. It will simply be that whoever was available at #14 this year was not deemed #14 value and/or not head and shoulders above what the braintrust sees feasibly coming our way in the years ahead (according to their scorecard).
2) Do I think Rick will trade (generally, UP) to get his QB? Nope. I don’t think Rick has any “gamble” in him for trading up, for anything. Based on his record of (not) moving up, I’m assuming when discussions happen he offers list price and little to nothing more.
So I see us taking the best (maybe first?) CB available at #14, unless a gem at another position - like DL - falls to that spot. If we pick a CB, I say we go ahead and call Zim a 60% GM because that would be HIS pick, for sure.
We can argue all day and all night about their process and how they develop a scorecard on players, but to simply dismiss the consideration of a position like QB because we historically “don’t do that” is not realistic in my book.
The other area I think our FO has draft inadequacies is getting ready for any and all possibilities that unfold during the draft. I just don’t get the feeling we are prepared to respond to something strange happening.
But hey, on the bright side, Rick and Zim are not Tice and Brzezinski in 2005 using our two 1st round picks on Troy Williamson and Erasmus James … or in 2004 picking Kenechi Udeze with the #1 … or in 2003 completely whiffing on our #7 pick window, watching Leftwich and Jordan Gross get picked and then having to pick at #9 (worked out well though with Kevin Williams).
So yes, things could be worse!