2014 Vikings Draft Discussion

[NextQuestion]

Isn't he ready to be a tackle though? Rather not waste the #8 pick on a guy who doesn't even play LG

[thatoneguy]

I'm hoping for one of two things to happen.
Draft Gilbert first round, Mosley (for some reason he is dropping in many of the mock drafts i've seen) in the second, and trade up into the back of the second for Mett (if we dont feel he will be there in the third)

OR

Draft Mosley first round, Van Noy second round, and again trade up or stand pat and get Mett.

Any thoughts?

[mmvikes]

love the new shutdown corner mock on yahoo. Vikings have their choice of all QBs in the draft at pick 8.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutd ... 16353.html

[vikingsrock46]

My perfect draft for next season. Let me get some feedback
Round 1: Justin Gilbert CB - Oklahoma St.
Round 2: Gabe Jackson OG - Mississippi St.
Round 3: Jimmy Garoppolo QB - Illinois
Round 3: Jeremy Hill RB - LSU
Round 4: Pierre Desir CB - Lindenwood
Round 5: Jonathan Brown OLB - Illinois
Round 6: Brock Vereen SS - Minnesota
Round 7: Best Player Available

I think this draft would satisfy all of our needs without reaching for players and make us serious contenders going into next season with our new coaching staff and the guys we've picked up in free agency this year.

SKOL

[rugbyrugger23]

1. Houston: Clowney or Mack
2. Atlanta (from St. Louis via Washington): Mack or Clowney
3. Jacksonville: Manziel or Bortles
4. Cleveland: Bortles or Manziel
5. Oakland: Watkins
6. St. Louis (from Atlanta): Robinson
7. Tampa Bay: Evans
8. New York Giants (from Minnesota): Matthews
9. Buffalo: Ebron
10. Lions: Dennard or Gilbert
11. Tennessee: Barr
12. Minnesota (from Giants): Gilbert or Dennard

I think Giants are a good prospect to trade with Vikes...they would want to select before Buffalo at 9 who would draft Matthews (or Robinson) if 1 falls to #8.
I think Vikes trade back into first round for Mosley if he drops into 20+ range.


Ideal draft Vikes end up with:
Gilbert (or Dennard) (with traded down 1st)
Mosley (with second 1st acquired using 2nd acquired in trade down, Seahawks 3rd, 4th, and 5th acquired in trade down)
2nd round OG or QB (if Carr or Bridgewater takes HUGE tumble it will be QB)
3rd round QB or OG

Potential 3 starters day 1 with QB of the future drafted.

[dead_poet]

1. Houston: Clowney or Mack
2. Atlanta (from St. Louis via Washington): Mack or Clowney
3. Jacksonville: Manziel or Bortles
4. Cleveland: Bortles or Manziel
5. Oakland: Watkins
6. St. Louis (from Atlanta): Robinson
7. Tampa Bay: Evans
8. New York Giants (from Minnesota): Matthews
9. Buffalo: Ebron
10. Lions: Dennard or Gilbert
11. Tennessee: Barr
12. Minnesota (from Giants): Gilbert or Dennard

I think Giants are a good prospect to trade with Vikes...they would want to select before Buffalo at 9 who would draft Matthews (or Robinson) if 1 falls to #8.
I think Vikes trade back into first round for Mosley if he drops into 20+ range.


Ideal draft Vikes end up with:
Gilbert (or Dennard) (with traded down 1st)
Mosley (with second 1st acquired using 2nd acquired in trade down, Seahawks 3rd, 4th, and 5th acquired in trade down)
2nd round OG or QB (if Carr or Bridgewater takes HUGE tumble it will be QB)
3rd round QB or OG

Potential 3 starters day 1 with QB of the future drafted.

I'd be on board with this (with the tiny caveat that they "hit" on at least the first three picks).

[dead_poet]

Been watching more tape on another top-10 prospect that would be interesting/controversial but I think has the potential to be a dominant player in this league: Aaron Donald.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/future ... ron-donald

I know, we just spent a first-rounder on Floyd which makes the pick unlikely. But the guy is a legit stud.

[Eli]

I think the decision that the Vikings have to make with regard to Aaron Donalds points up the disadvantages of going into the draft with a new coaching staff. Zimmer doesn't really know yet what he has in his defensive linemen. He can only go by instinct, tape and what he's seen from the other sideline. He didn't coach and closely watch the development of Sharrif Floyd last year. He didn't coach Fred Evans or Linval Joseph. He might really love Aaron Donald, but there's almost no way he can say that the Vikings must have him instead of some other very good player at another position.

[VikingsBoss]

I think the Vikings are in a kind of unfortunate situation this year. There are a few sure things in this draft in my opinion; Clowney, Mack, Watkins, Matthews, Evans (maybe). To me though, it seems there are question marks, or value issues with almost everybody else.
The QBs have been analyzed to death, I don't see one of them as a sure thing, though I still think Bridgewater is the best of the bunch (Pro Day aside, watch three years of game film, not an hour and a half of throwing) followed by Bortles, Carr, McCarron, et al. But, do I take ANY OF THEM before 20? I don't think so.
Barr? Does he fit our scheme well enough? Most people seem to think his best fit is as a 3-4 pass rusher, as opposed to a 4-3 WILL.
Mosley? Taking him at 8 might be a reach.
People have mentioned Robinson, possibly moving to guard. Intriguing. I think he's better suited to guard than tackle...he's a mauler in the run game, and Auburn didn't throw much last year and he wasn't left on an island much against the other team's best pass rusher play after play. Can he make that adjustment this year?
I think Gilbert makes sense at 8, BUT he has seemingly zero interest in the run game. It's not that he gets blocked, or misses tackles...he just doesn't try. Dennard is my preferred choice, he is a good tackler in run support(not Antoine good...but good) and has decent ball skills. Gilbert may be the better COVER CB, but I think Dennard is more well-rounded and fits what Zimm wants to do better. But, the prevailing winds seem to have him dropping into the 15 range.
People may disagree, but I'd try to trade down to a team that really wants one of the QBs, Gilbert, or maybe Eric Ebron. I think for the Vikings, there's more value and flexibility in a pick between, say 12-18 AND some teams #2 or 3.
If you have to stay at 8? Man, Barr's got a whole lot of physical gifts and could wreak havoc in games...if he adapts to the scheme. I wouldn't be devastated by Gilbert either...Dennard is just my boy. Anybody but Manziel is about the long and short of it for me.

[Mothman]

Moth...I can see examples of all of the above in the Ohio State Game but I managed to find the Kent State game and frankly, it was pretty ugly. A guy who is a potential #1 pick shouldn't be reduced to near irrelevance against a team like Kent State. A few details, Mack did have two sacks. Sack one was a stunt in which mack circled in from DE spot and was totally unblocked enroute to the qb (near end of third qtr). Sack 2 was a blitz in which the rt picked up the blitzer and left Mack off the edge unblocked. In neither case was he particularly impressive. These were the result of alignments and blown assignments from the O-Line. For most of the first half he took bad angles and failed to bring down the ball carrier when he had the chance. In the second half they seemed to move him more to the other side of the line and his play improved somewhat against the Kent State LT. Some of his better plays included a big hit @ 8:52 in 3rd qtr. He also had the awareness to bat down a ball around the end of the third. He made two good tackles in a row crashing down off the edge near the goal line in a goal line stand early in the fourth qtr. He did a nice job holding his edge and fighting off a blocker to make a tackle on the RB at the LOS with about 13:00 remaining in the 4th. He also kept contain on a bootleg with about 3 min left in the 4th.

Thanks for the info, although your post doesn't make it sound like he was reduced to irrelevance in the game. Based on your description, it seems you watched his performance in the 2012 game against Kent State, which isn't the game I was referring to when I said I knew he had a big game against Kent State. That doesn't mean his performance against Kent State that year isn't relevant in evaluating his ability but I should have been more specific in my previous post. Sorry about that.

Just to be clear, I haven't seen his 2013 performance against Kent State. I just know he reportedly had a good game that day. Here's a little more info:

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/py ... artspot=10

10/28/13 - WEEK 9 MAC EAST DIVISION DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Buffalo LB Khalil Mack...Senior linebacker Khalil Mack (Fort Pierce, Fla.) tied for the game high with 10 tackles and added a sack and an interception in a 41-21 win at Kent State. Mack made the biggest defensive play late in the half that changed the complexion of the game. With the Bulls leading 13-7, and Kent State in the Buffalo redzone, Mack made a one-handed interception at the 10-yard line and returned it to the Kent State 45 yard line. Four plays later, Buffalo scored a touchdown with just nine seconds left in the half to take a 20-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. Mack's sack in the third quarter was the 25 of his career, giving him the all-time school record. - MAC football

I recently heard Chris Mortenson echo my concerns saying there are some doubts because "there has to be more than just the Ohio State game", and frankly I think thats all he is being analyzed on by those who are in love with him. He just doesn't look special in the two other games I have been able to analyze. In fact, I think there are several other LBs who look much better against better competition.

Fair enough. He's looked like a special player to me when I've seen him but admittedly, I haven't seen that much of him.

[dead_poet]

Todd McShay on Justin Gilbert: "Gives up lot of separation in covg. Not that physical & not that good at tackling. Missed a lot of tackles."

[dead_poet]

Auburn RB on OT Greg Robinson:

“It was a lot of fun. Since freshman year, I knew Greg was going to be something special. He was around that size freshman year coming in,” said Mason. “He just tightened it up a little bit. I knew he was going to something special. He demolished people. He just straight manhandled people. As soon as the ball was hiked, he was five yards down the field with a guy in his hands.”

[dead_poet]

Totally unfounded Vikings trade speculation and the cost of moving up or down

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... um=twitter

[S197]

Totally unfounded Vikings trade speculation and the cost of moving up or down

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... um=twitter

Johnny Bridgebortles is definitely worth the trade up!

[Mothman]

Well rats...I'll have to check now and see if I can find that. Thanks for the heads up.

You're welcome. As I said, the performance you saw is still relevant when evaluating him as a prospect so it's not like you wasted your time. If anything, if you can find footage of the 2013 Kent State game, it should be interesting to compare how he performed against the same team a year later.