Aaron Donald or Anthony Barr?
If you had a do-over???
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Donald and Joseph as our starting DTs would be unreal. I was surprised we didn't draft Donald. I'm a Barr fan, but it seems like getting playmaking, big, fast DTs isn't easy to come by.
Years later, I still think the pick should've been Donald.
Donald was the best player in that draft and should have been drafted by us. i chuckle in remembering at least one of the resident experts saying his arms were too short to be effective. Many others said there was no way we draft him with Floyd on the roster. Oh well, i really liked that flopped guard from Stanford we drafted a couple years back.
I predict Barr will sign with a different team as a FA as we will not open the purse strings too wide for him. Nice player, but underachiever
Barr is really good and is instrumental in our scheme. Donald is probably all decade, probably
looking at the HOF with some longevity.
I think you’d have to got Donald everytime, especially if you had the
foresight to see Floyd getting injured.
If we still had Floyd playing at a high level that would shift my
opinion a little.
@"medaille" said: Barr is really good and is instrumental in our scheme. Donald is probably all decade, probably looking at the HOF with some longevity. I think you’d have to got Donald everytime, especially if you had the foresight to see Floyd getting injured. If we still had Floyd playing at a high level that would shift my opinion a little.
Of course you take Donald in hindsight, but for the Vikings they had just drafted Floyd and never could have predicted a botched surgery that might end his career so there's no way they would have drafted Donald if they redid it.
even with Floyd, at the time I wanted Donald.
no offense to A Barr, but I wanted Donald.
Dunno, Barr is pretty special as well. He isn't making huge splash plays, but his size, his speed and especially closing speed is a big part of our excellent D.
Ask yourself this, would Donald have changed the layout of the NFCN? ;)
I'll play the hindsight game: good grief, yes, we should have taken Aaron Donald - us and all 12 of the teams that passed him in 2014. The presence of Floyd - coming off a modest rookie season - should not have deterred picking him. We run a 4-3, where defensive linemen, not LBs, are the key to our success. DLs also get hurt often, and they often don't work out, regardless of how high they were drafted - which this franchise should know damn well!! IMO the biggest error in drafting and planning player personnel is ASSUMING that some player will "take care of" a certain position and then cross that position off as a need. Vikings have done it often - some good offensive linemen have been passed because someone (like Mike Harris, Phil Loadholt, Matt Kalil...) was assumed to fill the position that an available player would take. Just stupid - if a great player is available, get him, regardless of having some other name penciled in to that spot.
Speaking of Floyd, picking him was very questionable, both in hindsight and at the time. Regardless of whatever he says now say, IMO Spielman was hoping to draft Xavier Rhodes and DeAndre Hopkins in 2013, but when Floyd slid (a reason to be cautious), he picked him, still got Rhodes, but missed Hopkins and pulled the trade back into round 1 to get Patterson. Still drives me nuts...
@"JimmyinSD" said: even with Floyd, at the time I wanted Donald.no offense to A Barr, but I wanted Donald.
@"greediron" said:
Dunno, Barr is pretty special as well. He isn't making huge splash plays, but his size, his speed and especially closing speed is a big part of our excellent D.Ask yourself this, would Donald have changed the layout of the NFCN? ;)
Awwww...thanks guys...
Funny. Guess I would have to ask, which position means more to a defense? To our defense? Tom Johnson is playing pretty well surrounded by all-pro talent. If we didn't have Barr, who would be playing? Gedeon? Lamur? A different draft pick likely. But to me, having Barr take away so much of the field means more on our D.
the rams and the vikings drafted pretty similar for a couple of years
both needed a cb in the 3rd round, they moved right ahead of us and drafted Trumaine Johnson, we got Josh Robinson
then it was late in the first, we needed dt and lb. it was olgetree or floyd, we took floyd, they took ogletree
the following year, since we had a dt we drafted Barr and since they had the LB they drafted Donald
i know it’s a bunch of what ifs, but imagine if we grabed Trumaine, Ogletree, and Donald to go with Xavier, Joseph. Hitman, Griff and Hunter. Scary good defense
This is a harder call than I thought...Does Donald play as effectively under Zimmer?...Maybe a different slant on this, who gets more out of the two: Zimmer or Phillips...I'm trying to imagine Barr playing for Phillips in that 3-4...Donald next to Linval might be illegal in the lower 48...
Donald and Linval would be freaking scary... With that said, I think I would prefer just how our defense shaped out. Dominant line while still getting Barr. Barr is pretty amazing and I think he fits what Zimmer preaches.
@"BsuZagVike" said:@"medaille" said: Barr is really good and is instrumental in our scheme. Donald is probably all decade, probably looking at the HOF with some longevity. I think you’d have to got Donald everytime, especially if you had the foresight to see Floyd getting injured. If we still had Floyd playing at a high level that would shift my opinion a little.
Of course you take Donald in hindsight, but for the Vikings they had just drafted Floyd and never could have predicted a botched surgery that might end his career so there's no way they would have drafted Donald if they redid it.
I can’t speak for everyone else, but Donald stuck out very
prominently as a game changer predraft.
I thought he looked head and shoulders above Floyd. I looked at it as an upgrade from good to
elite, like getting a John Randle or a Warren Sapp. I was really hoping for Mack or Donald. Barr came out of nowhere for me. I didn’t really know much about him. I thought he was an athletic guy that had all
the tools but was too inexperienced to take high, and I thought he was more of
a 3-4 edge rusher. Taking Donald, at
that time, would have been the better long term play, but worse in the short
term. We would have had a hole at LB
that season and doubled up at DT, but we would have filled that LB position at
some point. In the end it turned out all
right. Barr has played well and we’ve
gotten decent play at that position with guys that had less prestige.
One major difference between a stud DT and LB is that the DT is going to influence the secondary and elevate their level of play a lot. The less perfect coverages need to be, the more a guy like Trae Waynes might stand out...
@"BlackMagic7" said: One major difference between a stud DT and LB is that the DT is going to influence the secondary and elevate their level of play a lot. The less perfect coverages need to be, the more a guy like Trae Waynes might stand out...But if the middle of the field is open, then a quick passing game can eat up a pass rush. Guys like Barr and Kendricks are killing it, taking away the screens, quick passes and outlets. Other than Kendricks stumbling and letting the RB get loose last week, when have we seen much open in that area?
Drafting Donald would have changed our defense and future drafts. So it is hard to speculate. Barr is a unique LB. So tall and long with such burst. I have seen many quick penetration DTs, Floyd was one. Donald is at a different level, but I don't think he is so unique as compared to Barr.
both guys are gonna earn top 3-5 money at their position for the rest of their career. both are legit star players.
not sure its even a useful argument unless as usual our fans want to down play how good our own players are and heap praise on any other teams great players. very masochistic of fans. but par for the course
@"Vikeking2" said: both guys are gonna earn top 3-5 money at their position for the rest of their career. both are legit star players.not sure its even a useful argument unless as usual our fans want to down play how good our own players are and heap praise on any other teams great players. very masochistic of fans. but par for the course
its a fair question considering where both of them are at in their careers and where they were selected.
you say they are comparable... I say not really. at his current level Barr will retire similarly as Chad Greenway, he will be known league wide, he will be adored by Vikings Fans and will be a long time face of this generation of Vikings Defense, Ring of Honor guy, but thats where it will end for him in our 4-3 defense IMO. He doesnt make enough splash plays for him to really get the national recognition.
Donald could very easily be HOF when his days are done. but would they both have had the same career trajectories if the teams were reversed?
Since he was drafted there probably hasn't been a better player in the NFL than Aaron Donald.
We needed LB so bad for two straight drafts...yeah hindsight is 20/20...would take Donald, but happy with Barr.
Seen Donald single-handedly take over a game.
@"medaille" said:@"BsuZagVike" said:@"medaille" said: Barr is really good and is instrumental in our scheme. Donald is probably all decade, probably looking at the HOF with some longevity. I think you’d have to got Donald everytime, especially if you had the foresight to see Floyd getting injured. If we still had Floyd playing at a high level that would shift my opinion a little.
Of course you take Donald in hindsight, but for the Vikings they had just drafted Floyd and never could have predicted a botched surgery that might end his career so there's no way they would have drafted Donald if they redid it.
I can’t speak for everyone else, but Donald stuck out very
prominently as a game changer predraft.
I thought he looked head and shoulders above Floyd. I looked at it as an upgrade from good to
elite, like getting a John Randle or a Warren Sapp. I was really hoping for Mack or Donald. Barr came out of nowhere for me. I didn’t really know much about him. I thought he was an athletic guy that had all
the tools but was too inexperienced to take high, and I thought he was more of
a 3-4 edge rusher. Taking Donald, at
that time, would have been the better long term play, but worse in the short
term. We would have had a hole at LB
that season and doubled up at DT, but we would have filled that LB position at
some point. In the end it turned out all
right. Barr has played well and we’ve
gotten decent play at that position with guys that had less prestige.
you raise a good point here. if Barr was playing edge in Pittsburgh its possible he would be a perennial all pro, cant say for sure though. To me he seems to shy away from major contact amd seems alot more comfortanle chasing. The first point is why i think he will get paid somewhere else to play edge
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