Ok....this whole Viking draft experience has been weird

[StickyBun]

lol. I mean.....its just been trippy. I know there must be some kind of plan but it feels unplanned, if you get my drift. I'm really not sure what to think right now. In 2 years it might be fantastic. But at this point, I'm kind of numb. 

[Guest]

Yep. Way way way too early to call it either way and although they get paid the big bucks, I understand their being some bumps in the road when the bullets are flying and the clock is ticking. I’m trying to be sympathetic here even though I despise the Lions trade. 

What DOES concern me is some of the comments after the draft. I’ll highlight the 2 biggest headscratchers but there have been others too. 

KAM saying the Lions offer was “too good to pass up.” Seriously? Is he lying to himself, us, or does he actually believe this? Not sure which of the 3 options is worse. 

Second, our new guard getting asked about his old allegations and parrying the question with, “I’m here to focus on football.” This coming after the Vikings staff said they vetted the matter and are comfortable with the pick. Ok so the player isn’t denying anything— not great. Does that mean it happened and the Vikings are fine with it? I understand he’s not gonna say, “Yep, I did it and I’m sorry” for a million reasons, but did the Vikings seriously not prep him on what to say to assuage some fan concerns beforehand? Or if they did, that was the best they got? Idk. The whole situation with his past allegations has put a weird cloud over this class for me so far. Hopefully that will all change in the coming weeks and months once they get on the field.

Of the 4 selections, Booth is the one that feels the best to me, and he just had Darrisaw surgery. 

So yeah like Sticky I completely agree. Weird.

[Guest]

I think they should have hired the director of player personal from the Baltimore Ravens. Vikings seem like they are afraid of drafting anybody.

[Guest]

@StickyBun said:
lol. I mean.....its just been trippy. I know there must be some kind of plan but it feels unplanned, if you get my drift. I'm really not sure what to think right now. In 2 years it might be fantastic. But at this point, I'm kind of numb. 

That trade down in the first was certainly an acid trip. Made even worse for me by the fact that, once we traded down, I decided to lie down on the couch, ended up falling asleep and didn't know who we picked until I woke up six hours later, making it seem even more like Christmas morning.

But outside of THAT, the picks have been solid with no real surprises. Most of the mocks I saw on this board had us taking CB, S, ILB and IOL. And that's exactly what we've done.

We got the better of the Packer deal. And now that we know the '23 1st round offer from Detroit was internet myth, the only thing I have to complain about is the fact that we gave up our 2nd rounder in that deal. 

[Guest]

@pattersaur said:
Yep. Way way way too early to call it either way and although they get paid the big bucks, I understand their being some bumps in the road when the bullets are flying and the clock is ticking. I’m trying to be sympathetic here even though I despise the Lions trade. 

What DOES concern me is some of the comments after the draft. I’ll highlight the 2 biggest headscratchers but there have been others too. 

KAM saying the Lions offer was “too good to pass up.” Seriously? Is he lying to himself, us, or does he actually believe this? Not sure which of the 3 options is worse. 

Second, our new guard getting asked about his old allegations and parrying the question with, “I’m here to focus on football.” This coming after the Vikings staff said they vetted the matter and are comfortable with the pick. Ok so the player isn’t denying anything— not great. Does that mean it happened and the Vikings are fine with it? I understand he’s not gonna say, “Yep, I did it and I’m sorry” for a million reasons, but did the Vikings seriously not prep him on what to say to assuage some fan concerns beforehand? Or if they did, that was the best they got? Idk. The whole situation with his past allegations has put a weird cloud over this class for me so far. Hopefully that will all change in the coming weeks and months once they get on the field.

Of the 4 selections, Booth is the one that feels the best to me, and he just had Darrisaw surgery. 

So yeah like Sticky I completely agree. Weird.

I have gone back and forth about posting anything after Day 2.  I like the Booth pick with the health issue caveat -- better manipulation of the draft and the Vikes could have drafted a CB without such concerns.  Not crazy about the Cine pick because he is a 1st round safety.  I know they need to plan for Harry's downward play but a 1st rounder should be either an instant starter at a position of need or a clear incredible talent.  As I see it Cine will be competing for a starting position with the second best draft pick from last year.  Ingram to me is a head scratcher.  I know he is a highly rated pass blocker, yada, yada, yada, but I thought there was a lot more talent available at that time.  Moreover, and putting aside what Pattersaur mentions above, and even assuming the allegations are inflated, etc., I don't see how you draft someone with the poor judgement to get into a situation like that.  It reminds me of Gladney.  If you have bad judgement in your social sphere, it will come back and bite you.  Asamoah is okay; probably a bit of a tweener.  Frankly, I am not sure there is an immediate, walk on the field, starter out of the Vikings 4 picks in the first 3 rounds.  It also feels like the Vikings have given up on almost their entire draft from last year.  Then you throw in the trades.

Look, I get it, "winning" the draft is meaningless -- the proof is down the line.  But this draft does not move my optimism needle.  It just doesn't.

[Guest]

It's definitely different because the approach is so different. I am interested to see how it works out. I am also intrigued by the input of the different coaches and how it all came together. Change is not always easy and it is their first draft, I have to cut some slack but they will learn from it. It's a paradigm shift, it's outside the box and risky but something had to give. The old way wasn't working. 

[Guest]

I mean it's definitely put a sour taste in my mouth. The players we've drafted are just okay, but when you consider what we traded out of...to division rivals....for minimal compensation...I hate it. Kwesi can take his analytics chart and shove it up his ass if Jameson Williams and Watson turn out to be players that terrorize us twice a year into the future. 

[Guest]

@Vikergirl said:
It's definitely different because the approach is so different. I am interested to see how it works out. I am also intrigued by the input of the different coaches and how it all came together. Change is not always easy and it is their first draft, I have to cut some slack but they will learn from it. It's a paradigm shift, it's outside the box and risky but something had to give. The old way wasn't working. 

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

The most surprising thing to me is how much Kwesi is like Rick Spielman. Needs-based. Data and value oriented. Loves to trade down for value.  Highly predictable based on needs. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@Vikergirl said:
It's definitely different because the approach is so different. I am interested to see how it works out. I am also intrigued by the input of the different coaches and how it all came together. Change is not always easy and it is their first draft, I have to cut some slack but they will learn from it. It's a paradigm shift, it's outside the box and risky but something had to give. The old way wasn't working. 

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

The most surprising thing to me is how much Kwesi is like Rick Spielman. Needs-based. Data and value oriented. Loves to trade down for value.  Highly predictable based on needs. 

100% agree. All offseason it’s been this way. The culture had gone bad clearly so a change was necessary but still feels weird to hire a new guy to make pretty much the same moves that you just fired the old guy for, only now with inexperience.