@
supafreak84 said:
I've been gone all week at a training class for work and haven't been able to chime in on the draft, but these are my thoughts:
1. Darrisaw- I have zero problem with this pick and I think it's even more of a bonus that we were able to trade back and still get him. I am a little surprised they didn't go DE and I'm guessing were more then a little disappointed Jalen Phillips didn't slide, but Darrisaw is certainly one of the upper echelon players in this draft at a position of need. AVT was picked earlier but I had Darrisaw ranked higher because he's a true left tackle. He's nasty in the run game and solid in pass protection. He'll start immediately.
3. Mond- I'm thrilled we finally rolled the dice on a QB and if noting else upgraded the backup QB position. To me when I watch Mond he looks like a less athletic Colin Kaepernick to me. He certainly has some physical tools but will benefit from sitting a year or two behind Cousins. It's a great situation for Mond and the Vikings. I was a little disappointed Kyle Trask got selected just before our pick but it seems the Vikings have been on the Mond bandwagon for some time.
3. Surratt- I didn't understand this pick. Surratt is a nice player and I've watched him play a handful of times, but using this selection on a LB didn't make sense. Yes we lost Wilson, but Dye looked good last season and has the physical tools to start and be effective. Yes it added some depth and competition but I thought we certainly had more glaring needs
3. Wyatt Davis- Maybe my favorite pick of the draft. Will likely start immediately and will add some much needed physicality to the interior of our offensive line. As mentioned, played with a knee injury last season and only available at this spot because of that. Plug and play RG with Cleveland moving to the left side.
3. Patrick Jones- I like this pick. Physically he's what the Vikings want and Jones was a very productive college player who will come in and compete to start with DJ Wonnum.
4. Nwangwu- The biggest WTF pick of the draft for sure. He's a one cut size/speed guy who will hopefully give us some juice in the kick return game. A little similar to Latavius Murray in stature, speed, and playing style. By most accounts was picked two rounds too early.
4. Bynum- No real strong opinion one way or the other here. Gives us some depth at the safety position. Very smart kid by all accounts.
5. Robinson- Love this pick just from an athletic potential standpoint. Physical freak who underperformed at FSU. He's another piece to add to the mix for the Vikings who are going to totally reinvent that 3rd down pass rush package. Andre Patterson is going to have some interesting pieces to mold and none more so then Robinson.
5. Smith-Marsette- Never seen the guy play or heard of him. I'm surprised the Vikings waited this long before addressing the receiver position. Not sure what this guy can bring to the table outside of speed and some kick return ability. Sounds not very productive at Iowa and off the field issues. I would have taken the Stanford kid here instead.
5. Davidson- I know zero about this guy. Small school project with some athletic ability. Starting to get into the practice squad zone
6. Twyman- So prior to the Vikings signing Tomlinson I was doing a lot of study on the DT class. Twyman was a guy I watched a lot of and I'm shocked he dropped this far and don't understand why. Yeah he's a little undersized and got too heavy for his pro day, but this was a super productive kid. Sat out last year. When I watched him play he was a handful. Has a variety of moves but needs to work on counters and can get washed out on occasions. It's funny how the draft works because if you swapped the Twyman pick and the Nwangwu pick...I'd be good with it lol. Twyman might be our best interior pass rusher on the roster immediately and I can't wait to see what Patterson and Zimmer get out of him because the kid is going to be motivated like no other after falling that far in the draft.
I think overall it was a good draft for the Spielman and every one of the picks has a chance to make the roster. Darrisaw and Davis likely start immediately, Mond gives us hope as an upside-developmental backup, and we added three really intriguing defensive lineman. If Nwangwu and/or Marsette give us any juice in the kick return game then this draft is a home run.
Sounds like we need to get patterson some help as he has 3 new guy with lots of raw potential.
