Vikings to trade up

[Mothman]

There's pretty much two different stances on the value of the collection of receivers in this draft. One half has Austin and Patterson as the heads of the class and far and away the biggest playmakers in this draft. Maybe Spielman is part of that group who thinks their value is the better fit and best option for the Vikings as opposed to trying to pick the winner out of long string of uncertainty.

... or maybe he wants others to focus on them and select them over a player at another position he's hoping will fall to the Vikings. Who knows? It's more than possible that Ian Rapoport just heard a rumor, speculated on it and there's nothing to it at all.

[PacificNorseWest]

Pretty much.

[mansquatch]

So what is the game? What is the smokescreen? What impression is he trying to create and to what gain? I don't see the benefit of this being a "smokescreen" because I don't know what he would be attempting to cover up.

For that reason I think he does want to trade up, but I don't know for which position, but WR doesn't seem to make sense since there will be many available at #23 and #25.

Perhaps it is misdirection? Who knows? To answer your quesiton you'd have ot know Spielman's "cards" as well as the other 31 GM's cards. This isn't world championship poker where we can see everyone's cards.

This is all about creating some sort of value. Hard to know what that is as a fan. My post is just to point out he is playing a game. We don't know what direction he ultimately wants to go or even if he knows what direction he ultimately wants to go. We have far from perfect information. I'm just pointing out that this is the case so there isn't much value in getting bent out of shape over it.

[NextQuestion]

I could see them only doing this for Austin or Patterson as well. Both are future big time play makers while IMO, Keenan Allen, will be more of a "solid WR" like Jeremy Maclin

[Mothman]

I didn't understand the point of a smokescreen in this situation but you've given a scenario. The only downside to that is if he still wanted a WR in the first, the increased interest in Austin/Cordarrelle might create an earlier run on WR's sort of like what lead us to take Ponder earlier than we wanted. But yeah, maybe that might loosen up the demand on CB/DT or MLB if that's what we want. I guess I'm just assuming/hoping we are targeting a WR in the first round.

I think a lot of people are... I just want good players, preferably impact players. A WR would be nice but as long as whoever they get helps make the team better as a whole, it's fine with me.

Regarding the smokescreen: who knows what goes through the minds of NFL GMs at this time of year? They're probably all half-crazy with exhaustion, excitement and caffeine-fueled player analysis marathons!

[allday1991]

If the Viking feel they need to trade up to fill the depth or get a worthy player at WR I think they should do so, yes our defence has some holes like most of the teams in our division and it would be nice to stack the defence but, if everyone forgot we are playing in a division with two of the best WR in the game today (Marshall, Johnson), and also two QBs capable of putting up 40 tds and 5000yards. At some point we need to address this offensive and be able to put up points. Tavon Austin would be perfect, he adds a threat on offence and fills our Kick return position.

[HardcoreVikesFan]

If I am Minnesota, I am only trading up these players: Chance Warmack (doubtful), Tavon Austin (most likely), Star Lotuelei (possibility), Jonathan Cooper (doubtful), or Shariff Floyd (too high to trade up).

[Purple bruise]

For those that don't like Spielman's mechanations, I would remind that he isn't doing it for us and he isn't doing it for his players. He is doing it for the other NFL GMs. The Market for this stuff is very small. 32 potential buyers in total. That makes these moves a lot more like a poker game than say selling Tide to the mass market.

We as fans might crave a straight story, but we should have patience with Spielman and recognize that he is playing a game with the other GMs and thus far, he has proven to be quite adept at creating the perception of value. That is good for the Vikings and therefore, good for us, even if it makes the next 6 days uncertain.

I'm not really sold onthe trade up thing. This is a draft where you want more picks, not less. If there is an elite talent sitting up there they covet, then I can see why they want to do it, but I fall back on the depth/breadth of this draft. A trade down just seems to make more sense. However, we really just have to trust our FO to know what is best for the team. If they see a marquee talent and think it is worth the trade, then let's just hope they are right. You do not win in this league by being passive, that is for sure.

Another one that "get's it" great insight

[jackal]

I was watching Game changers with the wide outs and I really like Keenan Allen (Cal)

they say he is a faster A. Boldin .. fights for the ball and blocks well.. would be a great fit

for our team

[Laserman]

Maybe he wants to trade up to get a Corner

[RandallioCobb18]

I was watching Game changers with the wide outs and I really like Keenan Allen (Cal)

they say he is a faster A. Boldin .. fights for the ball and blocks well.. would be a great fit

for our team

Precisely. I watched this dude and he really seems like he has 'it'.

Im hoping you guys give up way too much trading up for Patterson! Dudes a punk.

[Sutsgold]

Spielman is good. I really believe his main target is defense. Like some of you already said, by tipping his hand like this it may create a run on wr's. Bingo. The more wr taken infront of the vikes, the less defensive specialty players will be taken. This leaves better quality defensive players for the vikes. Im guessing this is the direction we are going. Look for te o and a dl to be our top two picks.

[Texas Vike]

I would bet money on the target being Tavon Austin, if there is any legitimacy to this rumor.

[Pepper2Moss]

Agreed that Austin seems to be generating the most buzz. One of those elite guard prospects would be my target if I were moving up though. I feel like the Vikes have too many holes to trade away multiple firsts or their second... Needing a starting MLB & WR, along with DT, OG, & CB depth.

[UKno1VIKING]

Trading up just seems to me like we've lost out. Getting rid of Harvin for an unproven rookie just seems bad business. There are a lot of holes to fill, and some good prospects out there outside of the WR group.