The third pick ....

It's on Vikings.com.  They had him targeted for sure.

@"Wetlander" said:

@"supafreak84" said: I don't like the pick from the standpoint that its a RB heavy draft through the 4th and 5th rounds. Walter had Mattison as the 23rd ranked back in this draft with a 5th to 7th round grade. We needed to address the backup RB spot but it didn't make sense at that point and to me I think there are better backs going off the board now here in the 4th round and some guys that haven't even been drafted yet

And a number of other reputable sites had him as a late 3rd/4th rounder...  fans get too hung up on "value" based on where their favorite draft site had a guy ranked.

None of us have watched enough games of any of these guys to have an extremely strong opinion on them.  Even if you are a huge college football fan, I doubt you've seen more than a game or two of anyone beyond the top 100 picks...  And you probably aren't watching a specific player on that team.

@"Havoc1649" said: I think he really fit the scheme. His 1.51 10-yard split certainly didn’t hurt. I doubt they view him as a backup RB. He will be of course but I think he’s seen as a guy capable of starting in the league as a bell cow. He’s shown himself to be an every down type of back. 

Personally I think very little of Walt’s “analysis”. He’ll write something up on a guy in September and never change it before the draft. That’s how you end up wit a majority of scouts having a guy 3/4 and good old Walt at 6/7th. In fact I’d say he’s one of the worst out there. However, he has some insiders that seem to do a good job with mocks, rumors etc. Probably top 10 worst website designs out there too lol! Like stepping back to turn of the century.

Thank goodness someone else noticed this. Walter was great...4 years ago. His content has gone to shit NFL Draft-wise for a while now.

@"BarrNone55" said: I'm wondering if those that don't like the pick are solely basing their opinion on various draft boards of did they watch any film too?

I based it on not liking Albertsons Stadium field color.  

@"Havoc1649" said: I think he really fit the scheme. His 1.51 10-yard split certainly didn’t hurt. I doubt they view him as a backup RB. He will be of course but I think he’s seen as a guy capable of starting in the league as a bell cow. He’s shown himself to be an every down type of back. 

Personally I think very little of Walt’s “analysis”. He’ll write something up on a guy in September and never change it before the draft. That’s how you end up wit a majority of scouts having a guy 3/4 and good old Walt at 6/7th. In fact I’d say he’s one of the worst out there. However, he has some insiders that seem to do a good job with mocks, rumors etc. Probably top 10 worst website designs out there too lol! Like stepping back to turn of the century.

Also, my security tools light up every time I touch walterfootball.com - it's loaded with ads, popups, redirects to compromised websites, and adware (if not outright malware).
As for the 3rd pick, Mattison makes sense to me because I don't feel Cook has proven he is "the answer". Maybe he is, but we drafted him two years ago with 2 competent NFL RBs on the roster (McKinnon and Murray). We have lost one each year since and Cook has been more potential than proof so far.
I actually thought the Vikings needed a WR and liked the idea of drafting Hakeem Butler there - but they didn't put much into WR in either the draft or free agency, so I guess they feel OK with what they have (Treadwell, Jordan Taylor) behind Diggs and Thielen. I wonder if they will bring back Aldrick Robinson?

After listening to an interview with this kid, and hearing more about him, I kind of like the pick.  He fits the scheme the Vikings will be running this year and he is a high character kid.  Sounds like he comes from a great family and has zero red flags or any off the field issues what so ever.

I really wasn't crazy about this pick. That said I'll let it play out. He didn't draft himself is a phrase that comes to mind. 

@"Purple Haze" said: After listening to an interview with this kid, and hearing more about him, I kind of like the pick.  He fits the scheme the Vikings will be running this year and he is a high character kid.  Sounds like he comes from a great family and has zero red flags or any off the field issues what so ever.

Agree. The most eyebrow-raising pick at the time might just be the first jersey I've bought since Robert Smith. Love everything about this kid. Not just his size, power and running style, but his character and background. He's earned everything he's achieved and I'll be rooting for him.

Vikings clearly thought they would not be able to get him with their 4th round pick. Chances are they were right about that.

Danielle Hunter was another pretty surprising 3rd round pick back in 2015. They recently re-drafted that year's draft and Hunter went #1 overall and 5th rounder Stefon Diggs went #3 overall. So there's that. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"Purple Haze" said: After listening to an interview with this kid, and hearing more about him, I kind of like the pick.  He fits the scheme the Vikings will be running this year and he is a high character kid.  Sounds like he comes from a great family and has zero red flags or any off the field issues what so ever.

Agree. The most eyebrow-raising pick at the time might just be the first jersey I've bought since Robert Smith. Love everything about this kid. Not just his size, power and running style, but his character and background. He's earned everything he's achieved and I'll be rooting for him.

Vikings clearly thought they would not be able to get him with their 4th round pick. Chances are they were right about that.

Danielle Hunter was another pretty surprising 3rd round pick back in 2015. They recently re-drafted that year and Hunter went #1 overall and 5th rounder Stefon Diggs went #3 overall. So there's that.