Don't be surprised if the Vikings pass on Cody Ford
Last year the Vikings could have taken Will Hernandez, but decided to pass. We all speculated that Hernandez was not an athleticism fit--a zone fit. That seems to have been confirmed by comments made recently by Mike Zimmer, who, referring to last year's draft, said something like "if he doesn't fit your scheme, he doesn't help you." It's pretty obvious that he was defending the Vikings choice to pass on Hernandez to the frustration of many fans, myself included.
Now we all know the Vikings have certain size and athleticism parameters for every position. I don't know what they are (maybe Geoff does?) But I know for offensive line, the 3-cone is typically the key metric. So how do the two compare?
Cody Ford
6-4, 329, 34-inch arms
40-5.21, BP-19, Vert-28.5, Broad-104, 3-cone-8.27, shuttle-4.87
Will Hernandez
6-2, 327, 32-inch arms
40-5.15, BP-37, Vert-24, Broad-104, 3-cone-7.59, shuttle-4.7
Just saying....might be a good idea to lock up your sharp objects on draft night.
Some very good cone and shuttle times: Bradbury, Dillard, Lindstrom, McGary, Risner. Some bad ones: Jonah, Ford, McCoy, Howard (last two surprised me).
“A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't." - Tom Waits
On the radio they were saying Brett Jones is athletic...I see something totally different on tape..he doesn't to me..Am I correct?
@"MarkSP18" said:@"SkolVikings44" said: I know he can be tough to read, but in my opinion the an area Arif Hasan hits home runs in is his thoughts on the Vikings threshold for drafting positions. He has done a couple this year already, including the o-line. It has all the info we are interested in. I have a subscription, but unfortunately he writes this on the Athletic. I dont think I will have time tonite, but Ill try to post some of the o-line stats that he thinks the Vikings look at. One thing Geoff mentioned that I know Arif discusses is the flying 30. Arif has been doing this kind of work for years. He really gets in depth in most of the pieces he writes. He did a long story (or stories) years ago about what the Vikings look for in each position when they draft. It was based on how they drafted and I believe on who visited as well. This is from 2018 ...As an athlete, Gossett is outside the Vikings’ traditional mold by a
small amount; they historically target guards with quick three cones and
short shuttles as well as a good broad jump.
This is from 2015 ...
https://vikingsterritory.com/2015/analysis/2015-minnesota-vikings-a-step-towards-analytics
The Vikings have strong tendencies that I feel are driven by this notion
of information gathering and study. They’ve drafted younger players,
and have not drafted a player 23 or older in the past three years, a
popular trend among NFL data analysts (at least according to
Pro-Football-Reference). They seem to maintain round values for
positions, like late-round guards, mid-round receivers and an abhorrence
of the second round for any position.
Pretty spot on with the guard observation.
The one scary thing about all of this is that their preferences have not produced very good results.
Since 2012, here is the year, round picked, & player ...
2012, 1, Matt Kalil2013, 6, Jeff Baca2013, 7, Travis Bond2014, 5, David Yankey2015, 4, TJ Clemmings2015, 6, Tyrus Thompson2015, 6, Austin Shepherd2016, 4, Willie Beavers2017, 3, Pat Elflein2017, 5, Danny Isidora2018, 2, Brian O'Neill2018, 6, Colby Gossett
... that is 12 picks since Spielman took over as GM.
Kalil was a good choice who just got hurt too much.Elflein is incomplete and based on last year, trending down.Isidora is still developing and may never become a starter.O'Neill has a good chance to be a hit based on one year.Gossett they allowed to be snatched from the PS.
I would have to seriously review what the preferences are and overhaul those completely.
Wow! When it’s broken down like that it’s eye opening how little investment of draft capital has been made for the oline. Just a single 1, 2, & 3 going back 7 years. Unless you hit on most of the free agents you sign it’s a tall order putting a good line together.On the original topic of Cody Ford, I’m a fan. I think he’d be the best guard we’ve had in some time the day he steps on the field.
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