Vikings tried to trade up for OT and DT

Good stuff. As with any team, you can't always get accomplished what you want to in the Draft regardless of even the best laid plans. And then sometimes somebody you want unexpectedly falls right to you. I didn't know Cleveland was such an athletic guy, he's a lot like O'Neill but maybe even a better athlete. Sounds like Ezra is a LT fit.

So: why did he slide? Or did he slide? Maybe this is where he should have gone? BTW, the Athletic is awesome.

@"StickyBun" said: Good stuff. As with any team, you can't always get accomplished what you want to in the Draft regardless of even the best laid plans. And then sometimes somebody you want unexpectedly falls right to you. I didn't know Cleveland was such an athletic guy, he's a lot like O'Neill but maybe even a better athlete. Sounds like Ezra is a LT fit.

So: why did he slide? Or did he slide? Maybe this is where he should have gone? BTW, the Athletic is awesome.

It's said he lacks aggression, not much killer instinct...pump some of Samia's attitude into him and he would be fine.

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Good stuff. As with any team, you can't always get accomplished what you want to in the Draft regardless of even the best laid plans. And then sometimes somebody you want unexpectedly falls right to you. I didn't know Cleveland was such an athletic guy, he's a lot like O'Neill but maybe even a better athlete. Sounds like Ezra is a LT fit.

So: why did he slide? Or did he slide? Maybe this is where he should have gone? BTW, the Athletic is awesome.

It's said he lacks aggression, not much killer instinct...pump some of Samia's attitude into him and he would be fine.

@"StickyBun" said:

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Good stuff. As with any team, you can't always get accomplished what you want to in the Draft regardless of even the best laid plans. And then sometimes somebody you want unexpectedly falls right to you. I didn't know Cleveland was such an athletic guy, he's a lot like O'Neill but maybe even a better athlete. Sounds like Ezra is a LT fit.

So: why did he slide? Or did he slide? Maybe this is where he should have gone? BTW, the Athletic is awesome.

It's said he lacks aggression, not much killer instinct...pump some of Samia's attitude into him and he would be fine.

He looks like a naturally sized 315 lb kid, unlike O'Neill who seems like he needs to eat 6 times a day to keep weight on.

3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or avoiding drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney in the second? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said:

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Good stuff. As with any team, you can't always get accomplished what you want to in the Draft regardless of even the best laid plans. And then sometimes somebody you want unexpectedly falls right to you. I didn't know Cleveland was such an athletic guy, he's a lot like O'Neill but maybe even a better athlete. Sounds like Ezra is a LT fit.

So: why did he slide? Or did he slide? Maybe this is where he should have gone? BTW, the Athletic is awesome.

It's said he lacks aggression, not much killer instinct...pump some of Samia's attitude into him and he would be fine.

He looks like a naturally sized 315 lb kid, unlike O'Neill who seems like he needs to eat 6 times a day to keep weight on.

I watched an interview with him.  He said he was up to around 320 now and feels great.  O'Neill is smart and knows what to do to keep his weight up.  Two good-looking bookends.

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

@"StickyBun" said: Good stuff. As with any team, you can't always get accomplished what you want to in the Draft regardless of even the best laid plans. And then sometimes somebody you want unexpectedly falls right to you. I didn't know Cleveland was such an athletic guy, he's a lot like O'Neill but maybe even a better athlete. Sounds like Ezra is a LT fit.

So: why did he slide? Or did he slide? Maybe this is where he should have gone? BTW, the Athletic is awesome.

Just one of those things I guess where teams are filling other needs. A lot of DBs, WRs and RBs went in round two. And not a single tackle before Ezra. One of the biggest myths about the draft is that teams take the best players available. They don't. They fill needs. That's why Rick could so easily look at the teams ahead of him and project a slide.

But Cleveland was definitely getting 1st round buzz. Brandt, who doesn't bother with scouting anymore, but who has a ton of connections in front offices, and ranks based on what he hears, had Cleveland at #23. McGinn, equally connected to GMs and scouts, had him going just after that top tier of tackles. So borderline 1st/2nd. So this was a legit steal at 58. 

Dantzler is a question mark because who knows how fast he is, but those first three picks were goddam gold.

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

@"BarrNone55" said:

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

You know we pull a helluva lot of players/snaps/contributers in the 7th, right?

@"BarrNone55" said:

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

You know we pull a helluva lot of players/snaps/contributers in the 7th, right?

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

@"Wetlander" said:

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

Maybe they tried and couldn't get any takers?  It takes two to trade...  I would find it very surprising if Rick sat on all those picks and didn't try to move up in the 3rd.

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or avoiding drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney in the second? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

I wouldn't call DT our biggest need, but it was definitely among our needs. Problem is that it's a bad DT class. And it doesn't get any better on day three. After that 2nd tier with Gallimore, Madu, Elliott and Blacklock, it falls off a cliff, with most of the remaining talent at 1-tech. So it's a shame we couldn't workout a trade up. There's like ONE guy left: Larrell Murchison. But, hey, Geno Atkins was a 4th rounder. 

@"Wetlander" said:

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

Maybe they tried and couldn't get any takers?  It takes two to trade...  I would find it very surprising if Rick sat on all those picks and didn't try to move up in the 3rd.

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"Wetlander" said:

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

Maybe they tried and couldn't get any takers?  It takes two to trade...  I would find it very surprising if Rick sat on all those picks and didn't try to move up in the 3rd.

Spielman noted that the Vikings tried to trade up in the third round before pick No. 89, but just couldn't find a suitable trade partner.
"It was all just trying to find a partner that wanted to trade with you," Spielman said. "We tried to be aggressive, we just couldn't get a trade partner to deal with us."

I found this from an article on "The Official Site of the Minnesota Vikings"...

@"kmillard" said:

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"Wetlander" said:

@"kmillard" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: 3T imo was our biggest need going into the draft. Wasn't sure how/when it would be addressed. So far it hasn't. 

Seems like it wasn't for lack of trying. Or just plain drafting for need and not going BPA. 

All that said, was this 3rd corner really that much better than the DL left? Or Gladney? 

I'm not a draftnik and cant answer that definitively. 

They could have traded up but rick covets his 7th round garbage too much. I bet they end up with even more 7th rounders before the day is over. I wanted no picks after round 5 and they had the ammo to move up into the 2 and at least the 3rd a few times. Quality over quantity.

Maybe they tried and couldn't get any takers?  It takes two to trade...  I would find it very surprising if Rick sat on all those picks and didn't try to move up in the 3rd.

Spielman noted that the Vikings tried to trade up in the third round before pick No. 89, but just couldn't find a suitable trade partner.
"It was all just trying to find a partner that wanted to trade with you," Spielman said. "We tried to be aggressive, we just couldn't get a trade partner to deal with us."

I found this from an article on "The Official Site of the Minnesota Vikings"...

I think that article has been written the last two years as well.

It amazes me how crazy fans will get without understanding what is going on in the background

I said several times last night you have to have a trade partner.  Just because the fans say trade up and possibly Rick agrees, it is not always that simple.  Takes two to tango.