Did the Vikings nail Day 3 of the draft?

Ask me in 3 years.

@"Wetlander" said: I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts?

Personally, I would have liked to see the Vikings draft a receiving/3rd down RB with one of those late picks.  I liked Justin Jackson and Akrum Wadley at the end of the 6th/early 7th.

My favorite picks were Carlson and Aruna.  Jalyn Holmes is a long, strong guy with some good athletic traits as well.  I thought they might look at him as a LDE for his run stopping ability, but it looks like he'll kick inside.

Knew nothing about Devonte Downs prior to the draft, but read an article that had him pegged as a sleeper.  Injured most of this year, but he was a tackling/turnover machine prior to getting hurt.  Looks good as a blitzer in the limited video I found on him.  Apparently the Patriots were heavily linked to him as well as the Vikings pre-draft.  Might make the team as a special teams player.

Anyone feel better about the draft now?  Or did it suck?

I'm still not sure that we accomplished the one thing we needed in this draft and that is a starting OLineman. I dont think O'Niel is ready to start and I don't think Hill at RT is the answer.

There isn't a single player they drafted that I've ever heard of before.  That really doesn't mean much though because I don't follow draft prospects hardly at all.  Also, I remember a few years ago they drafted some safety from Notre Dame named Harrison Smith that I never heard of.  I think that one worked out fairly well. B)

I'm surprised you didn't mention Colby Gossett. Guy was on a ton of sleeper/hidden gem lists. Might be my favorite pick in the draft. Of course that could be because I was so focused on OL.

I like the kicker pick. At least we got ONE starter from this draft. LOL. Really like the UDFA list as well, with Mata'afa, Holton Hill, Roc Thomas. According to Brandt we got the top DL and the top DB available. If you keep Hill away from the dealers after he gets paid, you might have a genuine steal. 

I like Hughes a lot, but I'm a little uneasy about O'Neill. He looked pretty bad in Senior Bowl practices, and that's not a good sign. Actually, Gossett looked better at the Senior Bowl than O'Neill. O'Neill is going to need some serious coaching and time in the weight room. Spielman says he's going to compete with Hill for the starting RT job, but he's probably a year away from winning it. 

It's still hard to get the image of taking a 4th corner over all those beautiful guards, but we'll see. Sometimes the draft just falls right for you (2015, 2017), and sometimes it doesn't (2016). I think that's what happened this year. Rick says they considered trading down, but there were 3 or 4 players they would stay at 30 for. Hughes was one. I'm guessing Wynn, Price and Ragnow might have been the others. If one of those had dropped, then the entire draft would've fallen differently.

Interesting, weird, promising, unsatisfying draft, followed by what looks to be yet another exceptional UDFA class. But the bottom line for me is this: a team on the verge comes away with just one starter...a kicker.

@"Wetlander" said: I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts?

Personally, I would have liked to see the Vikings draft a receiving/3rd down RB with one of those late picks.  I liked Justin Jackson and Akrum Wadley at the end of the 6th/early 7th.

My favorite picks were Carlson and Aruna.  Jalyn Holmes is a long, strong guy with some good athletic traits as well.  I thought they might look at him as a LDE for his run stopping ability, but it looks like he'll kick inside.

Knew nothing about Devonte Downs prior to the draft, but read an article that had him pegged as a sleeper.  Injured most of this year, but he was a tackling/turnover machine prior to getting hurt.  Looks good as a blitzer in the limited video I found on him.  Apparently the Patriots were heavily linked to him as well as the Vikings pre-draft.  Might make the team as a special teams player.

Anyone feel better about the draft now?  Or did it suck?

It was underwhelming.  They take Holmes who they project as an interior pass rushing TD when Hurst is sitting right there.

Then they panic (it seemed to me) and move up for Conklin who a lot of folks are saying is a "move" TE.  That 4.8 forty is not going to get much separation in the NFL.  But Brent Celek ran a 4.79 so maybe he might occasionally get open.  It will have to be sneaky cause he ain't running away from NFL defenders.

The kicker move was weird because I thought Forbath was good enough.  Carlson was 21 for 28 on field goals last year but of those misses were from 50+ yards.  Still has to be a bit concerning.

The best pick to me was Colby Gossett OG.  That saved the second day for me.

Aruna was a decent pick but another head scratcher with Weatherly, Bower, and Idenigbo on the roster.  Plus, I think Duke Ejiofor was better (his stats prove it) who they could have had in the 5th.  That could just be my own bias though.

I did not like the LB pick at all.  He was OK at Cal.  They brought in Quentin Poling for a visit and he was sitting there available.

Poling had 373 tackles, 18 sacks, 7 ints, & 15 pds.  He ran a 4.58 forty too.
Downs had 211 tackles, 8 sacks, 5 ints, & 2 pds. Don't know Downs time but nfldraftscout shows 4.72.

Leon Jacobs was there too and he is super athletic.

Getting Holton Hill as an UDFA saved it for me.  Gossett and Hill make day 2 passable for me.

I am not impressed with kickers or punters.  They can always be found after the draft and are overrated.

I think it was not good enough.  Mainly the quality O line problems and future starters are a big maybe.
 Dont get me wrong, I want to like Hughes and hope he works out as the nickle and special teams ace.  I hope he lights teams hair on fire returning kicks.  Oneil seems like a really interesting project.  I hope they do some TE stuff with him.  The guy is a freak but I really doubt that becoming a starting RT is in his future.  The NFL has its recipe for what works.  He doesnt fit the mold.  Maybe he breaks it and starts a new trend.  The guy reminds me of Shaq!  Bigger than anyone else and can still move.  They might have to nickname him Diesel.

What I really think is that this may be the beginning of the window closing.  I know it sounds premature...and it is.  But the biggest difference between teams who stay on top and those the go through steep cycles is their ability to consistently draft well.  Its doubly hard to do because you are usually drafting at the back of the pack.  Drafting well means getting your weak spots filled.  Vikes didnt do it.  It wont hurt this year but in 1-2 years they may not have that group of guys stepping up becoming starters.

There are things they can do to mitigate a bad draft like being active in FA to help fill selected holes. 
The other thing is to start stockpiling draft picks.  Its been discussed and its a tough subject but at some point they have to decide if they want to keep a guy and what the reality of the cap is.  Get it done early because if it doesnt work then you trade the guy for draft picks.  Its a tough business and a tough game to stay at the top year after year.  Bringing in good, high picks is part of the formula.  
Guys with big contracts will need to be flexible if they want to remain.  This is going to put more pressure on the upcoming Hunter/Barr/Diggs contracts.

None of us can really (or honestly) say whether or not the Vikings had a good draft or not.  As Jimmy said, we won't know that for at least a year or 2.  We were a Super Bowl contending team last year... so, obviously, there aren't going to be alot of holes to fill.  So, it appears we attempted to strengthen our depth.  I guess we'll see in a couple years whether or not this was a good draft.

I have no problem with the draft. I think the only OL they wanted in the first (not counting Nelson) were McGlinchey, Miller, or Wynn. That's it. None were there and a DB they wanted was - I preferred Josh Jackson but I'm not going to say that I know better. I wanted Hurst, but if he was off their board for medical reasons (after getting almost nothing from Sharif Floyd) I understand that judgment call.

I also wanted a RB, but we have 4 already. And now we got Pettway after the draft. If he can beat out Brown or Ham, that would be great.

I thought Ronnie Harrison went really late and would have been a nice pick, although not a great need. Of course, Jax takes him.

I liked the Auburn kicker pick. We need to stabilize that position for years at a time.

The UDFA class looks really good. If Hill is serious about an NFL career he will make this team.

Let the fun begin.

This staff/front office is confident in their ability to develop players, I don't see a reason to doubt it either.  You can't hit on all the picks and as was stated when you are a top team in the league you won't have a lot of holes.  The few holes they do have the draft didn't really come to them.  Everybody always says a sure way to fail is o reach for a need and they avoided that other than maybe the O'Neill pick-but he has the tools if they can coach him and he is dedicated.  O'Neill is like Kalil who could have been really good if he had a heart/desire-hopefully this kid has a heart and desire for the NFL.

I guess there is some logic if you are drafting for depth/the future in drafting guys with high upside that you feel you can develop.  They don't NEED anybody to start right away as it is right now.

@"JimmyinSD" said: Ask me in 3 years.

did we hit on day three draft from 2015?

@"HappyViking" said: There isn't a single player they drafted that I've ever heard of before.  That really doesn't mean much though because I don't follow draft prospects hardly at all.  Also, I remember a few years ago they drafted some safety from Notre Dame named Harrison Smith that I never heard of.  I think that one worked out fairly well. B)

One day I watched Justin Blackmon in the Sports Science Lab & was convinced he was the next Randy Moss. That didn’t work out fairly well

@"pumpf" said: None of us can really (or honestly) say whether or not the Vikings had a good draft or not.  As Jimmy said, we won't know that for at least a year or 2.  We were a Super Bowl contending team last year... so, obviously, there aren't going to be alot of holes to fill.  So, it appears we attempted to strengthen our depth.  I guess we'll see in a couple years whether or not this was a good draft.

Well obviously no one knows what the furure will bring.   Thats pretty obvious.  But there are other ways at guessing such as, did they get any possible starters?  And did they fill any of the teams most immediate needs?   I guess we can say it was very successful in that they got all of their picks in on time!  Whew Wooot!   Now that was some solid drafting!

At least the Gossett and Holmes picks seem like both sense and value.  OTOH we traded up for a kicker and didn't draft an RB when we only have 2 on the roster.  Akrum Wadley had 2 1,000+ seasons, catches passes and returns. Think he could have contributed.

@"AGRforever" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said: Ask me in 3 years.

did we hit on day three draft from 2015?

@"pumpf" said: None of us can really (or honestly) say whether or not the Vikings had a good draft or not.  As Jimmy said, we won't know that for at least a year or 2.  We were a Super Bowl contending team last year... so, obviously, there aren't going to be alot of holes to fill.  So, it appears we attempted to strengthen our depth.  I guess we'll see in a couple years whether or not this was a good draft.

That and the fact that I haven't watched hardly any college ball the last couple years and did almost no draft stuff this spring.... I really don't know of any of those guys except the kicker....and his story is a bit of a mixed bag.

I am not going to rail for or against this crop of kids until they have had their days in the sun....not sure why I got a thumbs down for my response above but to each their own.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"AGRforever" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said: Ask me in 3 years.

did we hit on day three draft from 2015?

I will say yes.  Getting 1 starter in 4 or 5 picks is pretty good imo for day 3.

@"Maple Surple" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"AGRforever" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said: Ask me in 3 years.

did we hit on day three draft from 2015?

I will say yes.  Getting 1 starter in 4 or 5 picks is pretty good imo for day 3.

I think Diggs makes it a yes Hunter makes it a bonus

our UDFA class looks like we could have killed it. In the NFL, players come up from all over. You either try too hard (Ponder) or overlook pure football players and they end up as late round or UDFAs. Hercules has such a quick burst and nose for the ball I think he will be a huge find if we can get him a position on the DL. Hill looks like another Richard Sherman if he can stay away from the hooey for a few days.
Our draft class doesn't give me goosebumps, but hey, if we are picking in the final 4 from now on... I bet it won't be full of big names for a long time. We will need to get used to guys like O'neill, Aruna, and Carlson who maybe "down the road" kind of guys. Hell, if Kirk can work, then the draft picks will too.

I think it was another solid and conservative draft for the organization.  
Some of The UDFA signings are intriguing:

WRs: Korey Robertson, Armanti Foreman, Jake Wieneke, Jeff Badet ALL have solid tape.
Why draft DJ Chark in The Second when you can sign a guy who run SUB 4.2 as an UDFA??

TEs:  The Tylers.  Conklin and Hoppes.  Both are receiving threats, but I think Conklin plays This Year.  I have a feeling Cousins and Conklin are gonna be a big time conneciton on game day.  I like Conklin as much as Goedert, and see them as athletically similar.

RB: Roc Thomas and Pettway will get legitimate chances.  The ability is there.

So, Day Three is the most fun for me.  They sign like 20 guys.

This Roster is going to be strong through the last practice squad member.

GM did his job.

So just doing a little more research on Colby Gossett. Just go to Twitter and search him. Now I know many of these are just fans and alumni of App State and not objective player evaluators, but I do this every year with all of our picks, and I'm not sure I've ever seen so much praise. By fan and analyst alike. They love Gossett. Most are convinced that Gossett's going to be one of the steals of the draft...

And there is reason to think they may be onto something. You don't find many guards in the 6th round that are 6-5, 311, 34-inch arms, solid 40, 32 reps, and actually finished among the top linemen at the Senior Bowl in 1 on 1 win percentage against drafted DL.

And before you say, "yeah, same was said about...fill in the blank." No, it wasn't. In fact, in most cases it was the opposite.

Jeff Baca's Shrine game showed a good run blocker who absolutely could not pass block. Chris DeGeare had good athleticism numbers but nothing else. DeMarcus Love had the worst Senior Bowl I've ever seen by anyone. To this day he was the pick that pissed me off the most. Several scouts HATED David Yankey, one called him "undraftable." Willie Beavers was the 2nd lowest graded tackle in college football, and the lowest graded offensive lineman at the Senior Bowl before we burned a 4th round pick on him. It's like we weren't even paying attention. But Elflein, Danny Isadora...and now Gossett. I wonder if we're turning a corner on these mid-to-late round OLs.

Who likes pancakes?