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As the year is unfolding it is more and more obvious what a great job the Viking's "new" GM did with the draft.
Another year's draft like the last and a few key player additions then the sky might be the limit.

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2012/12/14 ... 2012-draft

Purple bruise wrote:As the year is unfolding it is more and more obvious what a great job the Viking's "new" GM did with the draft.
Another year's draft like the last and a few key player additions then the sky might be the limit.

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2012/12/14 ... 2012-draft

It was made a little easier, too, since he had a huge pile of picks to work with.

Rus wrote: It was made a little easier, too, since he had a huge pile of picks to work with.

He had a few that is true but not taking Blackmon and taking Kalil instead was very wize as well as moving back up into the draft to get Smith, who to me looks like he should already be in the PRO Bowl. Taking Walsh with a 6 th round pick was genius.

Rus wrote:It was made a little easier, too, since he had a huge pile of picks to work with.

What also made it easier was that they cleaned house before the draft and had a large number of slots to fill. So naturally, nearly every pick made the team.

The jury is still out, though, on many of the picks... Blanton, Cole, and Childs may not pan out. And Wright and Ellison could turn out to be nothing special. Ellison right now resembles Jeff Dugan a lot more than he does Jim Kleinsasser.

But overall, it has proved to be a good draft. Finding three or four immediate starters in a draft is great. Add another two or three solid contributors and you've done very well.

Rus wrote: It was made a little easier, too, since he had a huge pile of picks to work with.

This is true, but Spielman was partially responsible for increasing the number of picks as well by sowing the seed that the Vikings might NOT take Kalil in the draft thereby trading down one slot for extra picks and landing the guy we were going to take all along anyway.

Rus wrote: It was made a little easier, too, since he had a huge pile of picks to work with.

And high-round picks at that. Lets be honest, most of us called the first 3 picks or at least wanted those players here, they weren't truly difficult picks to make. Where Spielman makes his money is in the mid and late rounds. He's done well in those rounds, the 4th in particular.

I think he's shown a lot of improvement in the draft over his tenure and he's made some solid picks overall. Now he just needs to improve in free agency.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for next year. If he does as well next year we will be in terrific shape for years to come! QB not withstanding.

What kills me about Walsh is that he hit only 14 of 35 field goal attempts during his senior year at Georgia. I have to believe the Vikings' staff saw something in him that was correctable because he's been really dead-on. Even his misses have been very close.

He's also perfected this very high kickoff that doesn't go out of the end zone but goes about 5-7 yards deep. Down it, and it's the same as kicking it out of the end zone. Try to return it, and the Vikings have been routinely stopping it inside the 15. Most kickers with a big leg just blast it into the stands. Walsh has turned this kickoff into an art form.

J. Kapp 11 wrote:What kills me about Walsh is that he hit only 14 of 35 field goal attempts during his senior year at Georgia. I have to believe the Vikings' staff saw something in him that was correctable because he's been really dead-on. Even his misses have been very close.

He's also perfected this very high kickoff that doesn't go out of the end zone but goes about 5-7 yards deep. Down it, and it's the same as kicking it out of the end zone. Try to return it, and the Vikings have been routinely stopping it inside the 15. Most kickers with a big leg just blast it into the stands. Walsh has turned this kickoff into an art form.

I absolutely agree. As I said in another post, drafting Walsh came from some great scouting. The Vikings recognized not only Walsh's technique issues but his talent as well.

losperros wrote:
I absolutely agree. As I said in another post, drafting Walsh came from some great scouting. The Vikings recognized not only Walsh's technique issues but his talent as well.

Think about this scary thought. What if the Packers had drafted him in round 5? One of the primary weaknesses of that team is their kicker, and having a guy who was automatic from 55 in would have turned yesterday's 8 point victory over the Bears into a 17 point laugher (the two misses, plus the 46 yarder they chose not to kick).

In a normal year, he should be getting ROY consideration. Right now, I'm giving it to whichever rookie QB has the highest playoff seed (I'm betting on Seattle).

I am very optimistic about the way spielman is drafting. First and foremost it seems he is drafting gritty guys that love to be physical. Both of our first round pics have made the others around them better. I do not recall in the past decade a viking team that tackles as well as this one. I give credit to smith. Kalil has also added to our line. Whatever their strategy, I hope they keep it.

J. Kapp 11 wrote:What kills me about Walsh is that he hit only 14 of 35 field goal attempts during his senior year at Georgia. I have to believe the Vikings' staff saw something in him that was correctable because he's been really dead-on. Even his misses have been very close.

He's also perfected this very high kickoff that doesn't go out of the end zone but goes about 5-7 yards deep. Down it, and it's the same as kicking it out of the end zone. Try to return it, and the Vikings have been routinely stopping it inside the 15. Most kickers with a big leg just blast it into the stands. Walsh has turned this kickoff into an art form.

The funny thing is I used to do the same thing all the time when I played on Madden. Haha but anyways I noticed that too and its awesome! We found ourselves a diamond in the rough with Walsh, Kalil I think is one of the top vote getters for LT also and Smith has been outstanding. Josh Robinson was a good find in the 3rd round,

How about us snagging Everson Griffen in the 4th round a couple of years ago, 1st round talent with bad attitude, well hes turned that around and has been playing lights out when he is in!

John_Viveiros wrote:Think about this scary thought. What if the Packers had drafted him in round 5? One of the primary weaknesses of that team is their kicker, and having a guy who was automatic from 55 in would have turned yesterday's 8 point victory over the Bears into a 17 point laugher (the two misses, plus the 46 yarder they chose not to kick).

That's an interesting thought.

But you know, I think most Packer fans would have put Mason Crosby in the upper echelon of kickers prior to this year. His failures this season have been positively Steve-Sax-like (for younger fans, he was an all-star second baseman who suddenly couldn't throw the ball to first base and ended up having his career cut short).

In our game against the Packers, I remember him biffing the long field goal attempt right before the half, and then kicking off out of bounds to start the second. I said to my son, "Holy crap ... the guy just missed the entire field!"

Very strange.