Pick 14

[Pep2Moss]

Denny telling everyone he wasn't passing on Warren Sapp just to pass on Warren Sapp was my most furious draft moment, followed closely by Ponder, Gerald Robinson over Leslie O'Neil and Denny treating the Underwood pick like it was a freebie.

I remember the old days of the draft when you had like 2 magazines and no internet and Denny making picks in round 2 or 3 that weren't even listed in the magazines, lol. Denny had some GREAT picks, but a lot of the later guys generally were major reaches.

[S197]

There's a lot of smoke this time of year so it's hard to say how big those concerns are and whether teams like the Giants are telling the truth.

I give Spielman a lot of flak but one thing he's done well is identify players who have character concerns but are worth the risk. Think of guys like Dalvin Cook and Jared Allen. Granted, there's Gladney but I didn't see anything other than minor concerns about his character coming out of college so that one may just be bad luck.

If Parsons falls to the bottom of the first, or further, then maybe there's a true issue. I'm just really worried we pass on him and a team like the Pats snag him.

[RandyMoss84]

Denny telling everyone he wasn't passing on Warren Sapp just to pass on Warren Sapp was my most furious draft moment, followed closely by Ponder, Gerald Robinson over Leslie O'Neil and Denny treating the Underwood pick like it was a freebie.

I remember the old days of the draft when you had like 2 magazines and no internet and Denny making picks in round 2 or 3 that weren't even listed in the magazines, lol. Denny had some GREAT picks, but a lot of the later guys generally were major reaches.

Yeah, that was stupid but at least Dennis did not pass on Moss

[CharVike]

They also missed. Underwood? Zimmer is in a win now mode. He will get a guy that can start day one. Barr is not going to sit on the bench. He is Zims QB on defense. Parson's weakness is in coverage. Zim likes guys that can cover Barr and Kendricks are the perfect examples. They will fill a hole. There's no choice at this point. You can look at the position groups and found a hole on all of them. Right now 2 out of our 3 LBers are considered very good players. Look at our top 3 CBs. Can you call any of them very good players? Forget the was or will be BS I'm talking right now. OL? I won't even go there. Our LBer group is the most solid on the team. They need a fix now not a nice to have.

IIRC, Underwood didn't fall. Green actually took him much higher than expected because of his prior injury history and off-field issues. I don't believe he even played the year before he was drafted due to some combination of those issues. Nobody expected him to go in the 1st and Green decided to take a flyer because he was a gamblin' man apparently.

For Parsons, I've read some teams have taken him off their boards entirely, but since its impossible to know how many teams have him off and for what specific reasons, I take that with a grain of salt. Every mock I've seen has Parsons going somewhere in the first. I'd say about 75% of them have him going in the top 15.

I do understand where you're coming from with the Barr situation and the immediate payoff of drafting a LB high when you already have an established vet in that spot. If you're looking at this draft as a way to address obvious holes in the roster, LB isn't a position the Vikings would normally consider at #14.

But I look at the draft as a way to stock the roster with the best talent possible, which means for me if one of the top QBs is there at #14 I'm taking him unless I get a smokin' offer to trade back. Ditto for LB. Micah Parsons as a football talent is undeniable, and with Barr's injury history you never know when you might need to call on him to step in, plus it gives you future flexibility at the position as Barr is getting older and is relatively expensive. I think drafting for pure need risks forcing less-talented players at positions where the need may be greater but the relative impact of a particular player might be less, and when a GM starts running on that treadmill where he's forcing players to fill needs, he just ends up failing more and creating more needs. I still believe the best place to address immediate needs is FA or trade since the draft giveth and the draft taketh and you never know what you're going to get at any particular spot. May as well get the best value you can (and sometimes trades are the best value and not a player).

Anyway, my only concern about Parsons is the character stuff. In terms of his talent and ceiling, I'm not concerned at all. If coverage is his weakness I doubt that will be a weakness for long. The guy has incredible range for a man as large as he is. You put an LB like that behind a stout defensive line and no team is going to reach the edge running the ball. You force offenses to try running inside where the Big Dogs gotta eat. He's definitely worth #14 in the draft from that perspective.

With that said, I don't know if he's going to be BPA at #14 because other really good players might slide there due to no fault of their own. Spielman might end up with a very difficult decision to make. Parsons is that good.

I know the restocking deal. Were not at the point were we are the division favorites because we lack the base talent. Get the base up to par then restock. The 49ers are the team that's doing what I wanted. Get a QB no matter what the cost. IMO that's Jones. The 49ers might like another guy. Speilman missed that but Lynch went for it. He has a Super Bowl QB already but he's not sitting still. If at the No 3 spot he gets a HOF QB level that team is golden for almost a couple decades. The 1st rounders will be in the mid to high 20s. It's not like he gave up 3 or 4 top 5 picks. Plus he can trade his current guy. He'll get a couple 1st rounders for him just because the need is so great. For argument sake for this draft lets assume the 1st 10 picks are offensive guys. No 11 should be Parson. I don't see that being the case. There are better defensive players than him in this draft. They also play more critical spots. But if they do pick him I won't cry over it. Maybe they can make him an edge rusher. He can rush the passer.

[IIsweet]

This is the complaint for so long about Spielman. He trades down and has accumulated late rd talent. There is a reason why they are late round talent !!!! He never takes the best or trades up for guys. Eventually, we are depleted of elite playmakers and are a roster full of average NFL players. We are constantly hoping for the diamond in the rough. For every player to reach and exceed their potential. Our roster is loaded with really low floor guys but a potential high ceiling.... problem is that they rarely get to that ceiling.

[StumpHunter]

This is the complaint for so long about Spielman. He trades down and has accumulated late rd talent. There is a reason why they are late round talent !!!! He never takes the best or trades up for guys. Eventually, we are depleted of elite playmakers and are a roster full of average NFL players. We are constantly hoping for the diamond in the rough. For every player to reach and exceed their potential. Our roster is loaded with really low floor guys but a potential high ceiling.... problem is that they rarely get to that ceiling.

Looking at Spielman compared to the rest of the NFL, he has more late round picks (6th and 7th) than any GM in the NFL, and less to show for it than a number of other GMs. Some depth guys and borderline starters, but combined I doubt they have gained us a single win in the past 6 or 7 years.

The irony is that he does a great job drafting in the 2nd and 3rd round compared to most other GMs, but has the fewest picks in those rounds.

[RandyMoss84]

This is the complaint for so long about Spielman. He trades down and has accumulated late rd talent. There is a reason why they are late round talent !!!! He never takes the best or trades up for guys. Eventually, we are depleted of elite playmakers and are a roster full of average NFL players. We are constantly hoping for the diamond in the rough. For every player to reach and exceed their potential. Our roster is loaded with really low floor guys but a potential high ceiling.... problem is that they rarely get to that ceiling.

Speilman traded up to draft Cook

[IIsweet]

This is the complaint for so long about Spielman. He trades down and has accumulated late rd talent. There is a reason why they are late round talent !!!! He never takes the best or trades up for guys. Eventually, we are depleted of elite playmakers and are a roster full of average NFL players. We are constantly hoping for the diamond in the rough. For every player to reach and exceed their potential. Our roster is loaded with really low floor guys but a potential high ceiling.... problem is that they rarely get to that ceiling.

Speilman traded up to draft Cook

Always has to be 1 !!! Great. we traded up for a RB. He has been great with us. However, why is he not trading up for other players ? He does do a good job in rds 2 and 3. After that, and I really don't know what the % is for guys taken in rds 4-7 even making an impact is, he is not impressive !!! How about use those picks to continue to move up into 2nd and 3rd rds where he does do a good job of drafting ???
Maybe that makes too much sense?

[CharVike]

This is the complaint for so long about Spielman. He trades down and has accumulated late rd talent. There is a reason why they are late round talent !!!! He never takes the best or trades up for guys. Eventually, we are depleted of elite playmakers and are a roster full of average NFL players. We are constantly hoping for the diamond in the rough. For every player to reach and exceed their potential. Our roster is loaded with really low floor guys but a potential high ceiling.... problem is that they rarely get to that ceiling.

Speilman traded up to draft Cook

That's a good point. Cook is a special back. He can do it all. It's not a stretch to say he's the best all around guy we ever had. I didn't like the move when it was made because the value of backs has dropped big time. I don't like all the late picks Speilman accumulates either. We have all these 4th rounders this year. Not much value on the surface. Speilman has made some very good picks. He's missed also. That's part of the deal.

[CharVike]

This is the complaint for so long about Spielman. He trades down and has accumulated late rd talent. There is a reason why they are late round talent !!!! He never takes the best or trades up for guys. Eventually, we are depleted of elite playmakers and are a roster full of average NFL players. We are constantly hoping for the diamond in the rough. For every player to reach and exceed their potential. Our roster is loaded with really low floor guys but a potential high ceiling.... problem is that they rarely get to that ceiling.

I want us to trade up this year to get that potential HOF QB. I mentioned this before and 99% of the board claimed it is a stupid idea. That's ok we all have opinions. If he traded up x number of spots this year for x player people will ####. Many here like that Parsons LBer guy. Maybe we should trade up to pick 5 to get him. Make sure he is ours. I think that's stupid others might think that's the best move to make. I don't think we are depleted of play makers. What's wrong with Jefferson or Cook? Are they HOFers? Probably not. But they are dam good IMO. Even this young TE has shown some good stuff. Bisi Johnson has improved. No team has elite guys across the board. The CAP won't allow that. If you have a top flight QB the CAP hit further decreases the chance of having elite talent at a bunch of spots. I think Speilman collects those 7th rounders as a replacement for undrafted FA players. Once picked there his.

[VikingLord]

I want us to trade up this year to get that potential HOF QB.

I know you like Mac Jones, but what if Jones slides to the Vikings at #14? I could see that happening.

Or what if the Vikings just bide their time into the 3rd when some pretty intriguing QB's might still be on the board like Mond, Newman, Mills or even Trask? Russell Wilson went in the 3rd. Some very good QBs have slipped into the later rounds of the draft. Its a tough position to evaluate, and moving up to get one is probably riskier than holding tight and seeing how things shake out.

Any move that pays off is by definition not stupid, but the trick is in knowing and not guessing the odds a particular player at a particular position is going to work out the way they hope. If you give up a lot, you need to get a lot or people will (justifiably) criticize the decision.

I think Speilman collects those 7th rounders as a replacement for undrafted FA players. Once picked there his.

Not this year... He had just one 7th round pick and the league took that away as punishment for some salary cap shenanigans apparently.

This year Spielman makes his money in Rounds 3 and 4...

[Maelstrom88]

I would love to see them trade down and then select Sam Cosmi. I want a 2nd round pick back.

[RandyMoss84]

I would love to see them trade down and then select Sam Cosmi. I want a 2nd round pick back.

I rather have Creed Humphrey and move him to tackle, boomer sooner!

[Pep2Moss]

I really think 5 QB go before 14.

Who has the best chance to fall?

Locks are the 5 QB, Pitts, Sewell and Chase. That's 8

Means only 5 spots to us. I think Parsons goes regardless of interviews. Surtain will prob be gone. Waddle I think as well.

2 picks to us.

OL Slater, Darrisaw, AVT
ED Paye, Rosseau, Phillips
CB Farley, Horn

[CharVike]

This is the complaint for so long about Spielman. He trades down and has accumulated late rd talent. There is a reason why they are late round talent !!!! He never takes the best or trades up for guys. Eventually, we are depleted of elite playmakers and are a roster full of average NFL players. We are constantly hoping for the diamond in the rough. For every player to reach and exceed their potential. Our roster is loaded with really low floor guys but a potential high ceiling.... problem is that they rarely get to that ceiling.

Looking at Spielman compared to the rest of the NFL, he has more late round picks (6th and 7th) than any GM in the NFL, and less to show for it than a number of other GMs. Some depth guys and borderline starters, but combined I doubt they have gained us a single win in the past 6 or 7 years.

The irony is that he does a great job drafting in the 2nd and 3rd round compared to most other GMs, but has the fewest picks in those rounds.

Getting all those 7th rounders has gotten us zero. Throwing them in the garbage would have provide the same value. Now it's the 4th round game. Not much there either. Samia is the poster child for what that round will produce. I liked the pick but he isn't worth wasting the room or time on. It's like he never played the sport. Now it will be 4 more of that ####. Trade all them and get back into the 3rd round or maybe 2nd.