Vikings go beyond the norm when evaluating draft prospects

– Vikings defensive line coach Andre Patterson has made it his practice in recent years to stick around for the linebackers' workout at the NFL combine, in case the group of prospects contained any potential NFL defensive ends.
Two years ago, a lanky linebacker Patterson knew nothing about caught his eye.
"He ran 4.5 something ," Patterson said in December. "I was like, 'Look at his frame — this guy could be a defensive end."
Patterson caught up to the linebacker when both were walking off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium and asked him if he'd ever played on the line of scrimmage. When Stephen Weatherly informed Patterson he'd been a defensive end his first two years at Vanderbilt, Patterson filed that fact away. Two months later, the Vikings snapped Weatherly up with a seventh-round pick.
"I looked at the D-line , watched them work out and that's why he jumped out at me," Patterson said. "I said, 'OK — if he's willing to put in the time, we might have something.' "
That last sentence might be as close to a manifesto as the Vikings have had in the draft in the Mike Zimmer era, when a focus on athletic players and a willingness to develop unrefined prospects have built one of the most imposing defenses in the NFL. In the Vikings' four drafts since General Manager Rick Spielman hired Zimmer, roughly half of their picks have posted 40 times near the top of their position groups at the combine, but it's particularly been on the defensive side where a focus on athletic upside and a belief in their coaching staff's ability to mold prospects have paid dividends.
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