** Official 2013 Draft Thread **

[PurpleKoolaid]

Rogers, plz, Rogers.

[denburch]

We traded to Tampa Bay?

[Eli]

They traded their 6th???

[saint33]

You take a specialist because you really need one badly.

If you can grab a guy who dropped down to the fifth, then you do that, even if it's just for depth. You can keep 6-8 linemen, 5-6 receivers, several linebackers, 3 running backs, a mess of defensive backs, etc. You can only keep one punter unless you feel that it's a good idea to stow one on special teams. If you're going to stow a guy on special teams, then you better have a punter that is seriously past his prime. Like 37 or 38 and can't get the ball 45 yards anymore. These guys don't HAVE to immediately contribute. They're depth that competes with possibly inferior depth. This becomes vital later in the season when things like the playoffs start.

There is obviously still value in this draft that has fallen that would have pushed some of the current Vikings backups. Having a good backup makes contract negotiations a lot more straightforward. Punters don't even score points or stop the other team from scoring points. The purpose of a punter is a pure team purpose, it's about field position.

You're looking at it entirely the wrong way. You're so obsessed with taking the best or almost the best player at a position without assessing the value of the position itself.

I think what you're missing is that the positional value of a starting punter is greater than that of a backup who will likely never see the field at another position. As odds would suggest, that is what you're most likely to get at the end of the 5th round.

[Rus]

Or should we grab Cobi an possess the whole ark wr core?

I don't really like Cobi. He's reasonably big, but not exceptionally fast, and he drops easy passes sometimes. Kind of bugs me. If he were 6'4" then maybe. But we'd be drafting him as a 5th or 6th wide receiver, and I think at this point the ones that would help the most are off the board. I'd roll the dice with Brandon Kaufmann, though. 6'5" receivers seem to get away with being slightly less talented. Maybe he could be Vincent Jacksonesque.

[S197]

Looks we might get tampas next years 5th

Edit nope looks like we just moved back a bit

[Purple Rage]

What did we get in return?

[denburch]

Looks we might get tampas next years 5th

Edit nope looks like we just moved back a bit

To the 28th spot?

[Skoltastic_Voyage]

Okay wait... TB just jumped to take Mike James dropping us back in the 6th and we get a 5th rounder NY? Well.. I guess.

Edit: Okay so what'd we get? I'm confused

[Purple Rage]

I don't really like Cobi. He's reasonably big, but not exceptionally fast, and he drops easy passes sometimes. Kind of bugs me. If he were 6'4" then maybe. But we'd be drafting him as a 5th or 6th wide receiver, and I think at this point the ones that would help the most are off the board. I'd roll the dice with Brandon Kaufmann, though. 6'5" receivers seem to get away with being slightly less talented. Maybe he could be Vincent Jacksonesque.

What about the Wash st kid! They were talking about him earlier big body good hands..

[S197]

Vikings get back the 7th they traded to NE

[Eli]

Yep. We dropped down 7 picks, from 189 to 196. But what did we get for that?

[Rus]

I think what you're missing is that the positional value of a starting punter is greater than that of a backup who will likely never see the field at another position. As odds would suggest, that is what you're most likely to get at the end of the 5th round.

Ha ha, arguing with guys over drafting a punter to replace an established one. Absolutely classic.

You do know, too, that there are a LOT of college punters that don't get drafted, don't get seen as much by scouts, and are signed AFTER the draft?

You guys keep accusing me of "not seeing something". No, I see it, and the benefits are usually outweighed by the negatives.

It is patently obvious that there are players that can still help in THIS draft, not last years, not 2009's, but right now. It may not be that way next year, but there are good players right now that are still there...and they drafted a punter. You guys are obsessed with pointing out that in other years, because every year is obviously the same...no. It's a case by case basis.

[Raptorman]

Yep. We dropped down 7 picks, from 189 to 196. But what did we get for that?

Minnesota Vikings: Acquire picks No. 196 and No. 229 in 2013.

[Eli]

So that means 4 more picks. Stay tuned...