Vikings 2019 Draft Class Review

[Pondering Her Percy]

1st- Garrett Bradbury- C/NC State

2nd- Irv Smith Jr.- TE/Alabama

3rd- Alexander Mattison- RB/Boise St.

4th- Dru Samia- OG/Oklahoma

5th- Cameron Smith- LB/USC

6th (1)- Armon Watta- DT/Arkansas

6th (2)- Marcus Epps- S/Wyoming

6th (3)- Oni Udoh- OT/Elon

7th (1)- Kris Boyd- CB/Texas

7th (2)- Dillon Mitchell- WR/Oregon

7th (3)- Olabisi Johnson- WR/Colorado St.

7th (4)- Austin Cutting- LS/Air Force'

UDFA (known so far)- Jake Browning- QB/Washington


Overall, I love this draft. I thought we landed some immediate impact players early on and got great value throughout the middle to late rounds. Guys keep barking about the trade downs but again, if they aren't in love with someone, why not go back and add one extra player to this roster. Blown away that Zim went offense with the first 4 picks. Either way, I give this draft an A. This is a draft that can improve this offense immediately. And given the value we got late, we very well could have filled some holes on defense.

[Maelstrom88]

Love Bradbury, Irv, Dru, and Boyd. The rest I'm wait and see on but all made sense. Wish they would have taken Tyree Jackson late but that's a personal issue.

[S197]

Went back and forth on this one but ultimately going with C+. Slightly above average in my opinion.

Bradbury was a good pick, I'm really glad they finally addressed the interior line. Only knock is if Rick loves accumulating picks, this seemed like a great opportunity to stockpile as there were a ton of lineman available. That's just being nit picky but takes the grade down a bit.

Smith pick was fine too although I would have preferred AJ Brown. Same with 3rd round, I would have gone McGovern instead of trading down, which means they wouldn't have had to take Samia in the 4th and could have grabbed Hooker.

After that who knows. Watta, Boyd, and Mitchell seem like the most likely to have a shot at the roster.

[PurpleKoolaid]

First pick A, and I still gave the overall draft a D. Only Ricky could manage that. But great picks and great value LOL.

[S197]

FWIW, PFF gave us a below average grade.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/d ... l-32-teams

A little harsh IMO. They have the Titans (drafted right after us) an excellent, which I've said several times was a much better draft than ours.

[PurpleMustReign]

I went with C... First two rounds and 4th I like, the rest of the draft, I am not impressed.

[VikingPaul73]

I give it a B-

1st round was great A
2nd ok B
3rd D reach
4th B+
5th - Gedeon 2.0. C I’m mean how many slow white LB who are “good tacklers “ can you have on a roster ?
6th &7th - who knows? They are 6th and 7th. If 1 or 2 make the roster as ST that is good. The S was a total reach. The CB seems like good value but he is more of a zone fit than a zimmer fit.

Outside of round 1 very.........meh

[CharVike]

I think he did good with the 1st pick. I'm not a fan of the small movement guys but he was considered the top center which is not bad for the spot we were in. I give him an A for that one. The H back in round 2 I'm not overwhelmed because of no size but he can run and catch. I don't see him as a Rudy replacement and Speilman said he is an h back, full back and slot guy. The rest is ok. Accumulating all those 6th and 7th rounders is a waster of time. To me this was a weak class anyway so I would give a C-. I really wanted Lock but he didn't trade up to get him. But Elway picked him so he might blow anyway.

[808vikingsfan]

I'd give a A-/B+.

I think the first 3 picks will make an immediate impact this year.
The others I see making the team are Samia, Boyd, Mtchell, and Cutting. 7/12 is pretty good.
I think Mitchell and Boyd will impress in camp. Boyd looks like he has a knack for playing the ball well. I can see Mitchell winning that #3 spot.

[Pondering Her Percy]

could only imagine where that D came from we could’ve landed 8 first round picks and there’s always a bitter fan. Can’t please everyone I guess. Some guys are really taking these trade downs to heart. Some of you guys do realize that if you trade down in the 3rd, there’s no way you get a first round pick in return right? We trade down to get our RB and use a pick we got in the trade down to move up to land Samia. Good move if you ask me

[PurpleKoolaid]

Wow, even PFF, the bible to some of the fans on this board, couldnt even muster an Average grade for Ricky and his 10,000 picks this year. A below average grade. My guess is the excuses from some will be rolling in. I also bet 5 years from now not one pick from the almighty 6th and 7th rd picks, will be remember by a single Vikings.

[YikesVikes]

Don't you find it funny that you agree with everything this FO does until it blows up. Like everything. They are always right to you. I get being positive but dude, you're way beyond that.

Trading down isn't the issue. You keep bringing that up. The issue is accumulating all these late picks and NOT drafting a bunch of D players, hoping one becomes an A. You had A players on the board in the 3rd. That's like taking your last 500.00 and spending it on lotto tickets hoping to win 400.00. Dude just keep the money. This draft is a C to me.

1st round - A+ - Fantastic pick
2nd round - B+ - Not a prime need but future pick
3rd round - D - Don't like the pick. Slower than a muh better bigger back. No one had him in that round and everyone has murdered us for this pick. We passed on Harris from Alabama, Armstead who is a bigger faster back than him, and Bryce Love and Hill better players. Reach and didn't get the better player at the position.
4th - A - Great pick. Him or Powers here is what I expect. Made the line better and added depth incase of injury. Fantastic.
5- C - We let Mack Wilson and Vosean Joseph go off the board in this draft to select a worst player later. With all the capital we aquired, to sit on those 4 picks were criminal. They guy we took is a smart but limited football player with injury issues. I suspect he will be our boom guy but at a position that won't see the field much.

6- C - The DT and S picks won't make this team and might be on practice squad. The Elon kid was worth a shot and was a good pick.

7 - D - Body was great value in the 7th. Waiting to address 3rd wr with this guys deserves us being fired. The Bears with 3 WRsaw the value in adding a 4 star before us. We don't have 3. Beebe should be a 4th. Unbelievable that in this draft, we came away with this at wr. Both won't make the team. A #### long snapper was the perfect pick...

UDFA - We just gave a record setting Signing bonus to a guy that no one wants, has injured both shoulders and has lost his arm strength. All on a team that's basically set at QB. We're a joke.

[PurpleMustReign]

Don't you find it funny that you agree with everything this FO does until it blows up. Like everything. They are always right to you. I get being positive but dude, you're way beyond that.

Trading down isn't the issue. You keep bringing that up. The issue is accumulating all these late picks and NOT drafting a bunch of D players, hoping one becomes an A. You had A players on the board in the 3rd. That's like taking your last 500.00 and spending it on lotto tickets hoping to win 400.00. Dude just keep the money. This draft is a C to me.

1st round - A+ - Fantastic pick
2nd round - B+ - Not a prime need but future pick
3rd round - D - Don't like the pick. Slower than a muh better bigger back. No one had him in that round and everyone has murdered us for this pick. We passed on Harris from Alabama, Armstead who is a bigger faster back than him, and Bryce Love and Hill better players. Reach and didn't get the better player at the position.
4th - A - Great pick. Him or Powers here is what I expect. Made the line better and added depth incase of injury. Fantastic.
5- C - We let Mack Wilson and Vosean Joseph go off the board in this draft to select a worst player later. With all the capital we aquired, to sit on those 4 picks were criminal. They guy we took is a smart but limited football player with injury issues. I suspect he will be our boom guy but at a position that won't see the field much.

6- C - The DT and S picks won't make this team and might be on practice squad. The Elon kid was worth a shot and was a good pick.

7 - D - Body was great value in the 7th. Waiting to address 3rd wr with this guys deserves us being fired. The Bears with 3 WRsaw the value in adding a 4 star before us. We don't have 3. Beebe should be a 4th. Unbelievable that in this draft, we came away with this at wr. Both won't make the team. A #### long snapper was the perfect pick...

UDFA - We just gave a record setting Signing bonus to a guy that no one wants, has injured both shoulders and has lost his arm strength. All on a team that's basically set at QB. We're a joke.

Who are you talking to at the beginning of your post?

[halfgiz]

1st- Garrett Bradbury- C/NC State

2nd- Irv Smith Jr.- TE/Alabama

3rd- Alexander Mattison- RB/Boise St.

4th- Dru Samia- OG/Oklahoma

5th- Cameron Smith- LB/USC

6th (1)- Armon Watta- DT/Arkansas

6th (2)- Marcus Epps- S/Wyoming

6th (3)- Oni Udoh- OT/Elon

7th (1)- Kris Boyd- CB/Texas

7th (2)- Dillon Mitchell- WR/Oregon

7th (3)- Olabisi Johnson- WR/Colorado St.

7th (4)- Austin Cutting- LS/Air Force'

UDFA (known so far)- Jake Browning- QB/Washington


Overall, I love this draft. I thought we landed some immediate impact players early on and got great value throughout the middle to late rounds. Guys keep barking about the trade downs but again, if they aren't in love with someone, why not go back and add one extra player to this roster. Blown away that Zim went offense with the first 4 picks. Either way, I give this draft an A. This is a draft that can improve this offense immediately. And given the value we got late, we very well could have filled some holes on defense.

Glad your so optimistic...I would grade this a C+ it could end up going either way.
I feel the reason Zim didn't go crazy on D was the AAF has created a bit of a pre-draft UDFA period without needing to use your rookie pool. The Vikings exploited this a bit by adding 5 defensive players...Thus the reason we went offense.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Don't you find it funny that you agree with everything this FO does until it blows up. Like everything. They are always right to you. I get being positive but dude, you're way beyond that.

All I know is, this front office know a helluva lot more than you or I do. They have plans for these guys that we don't even have a clue about. What kills me is that you're sitting there saying "they are a joke" because of this pick and "they should be fired" because of that pick. These guys haven't even hit the field yet!!! So who are you to sit there and say they are wrong about this or that? It carries about as much weight as me saying every player is going to be a stud. Nobody knows.

Trading down isn't the issue. You keep bringing that up. The issue is accumulating all these late picks and NOT drafting a bunch of D players, hoping one becomes an A. You had A players on the board in the 3rd. That's like taking your last 500.00 and spending it on lotto tickets hoping to win 400.00. Dude just keep the money. This draft is a C to me.

I keep bringing that up? Some guys continue to complain about it. They had "A" players on the board in YOUR opinion. You act like they had someone ranked as the #5 player in the entire draft and kept trading down and then passed on him. Clearly, your "A" players, were C players to them, and the rest of the league. I thought Michael Jordan was a stud and would go in the 2nd to early 3rd. He didn't go until the 5th. Shows you what I know. No different than you thinking Butler is the 2nd best WR in the draft, yet he goes in the 4th round. Clearly he wasn't everyone else's 2nd best WR. [/quote]

3rd round - D - Don't like the pick. Slower than a muh better bigger back. No one had him in that round and everyone has murdered us for this pick. We passed on Harris from Alabama, Armstead who is a bigger faster back than him, and Bryce Love and Hill better players. Reach and didn't get the better player at the position.

Again, FALSE regarding him being "slower than muh(any?) better bigger back" or being "slow" in general.

Mattison ran multiple times at his pro day and ran a top time of 4.52 and didn't have a run slower than 4.57.

Alexander Mattison- 4.52-4.57 (at pro day)
Leveon Bell- 4.60
Leonard Fournette- 4.51
James Conner- 4.65
Nick Chubb- 4.52
Mark Ingram- 4.53
Derrick Henry- 4.54
Marlon Mack- 4.50
Josh Jacobs- 4.52-4.56 (at pro day)
Melvin Gordon- 4.52
David Johnson- 4.50
Aaron Jones- 4.56
Kerryon Johnson- 4.54
Devonta Freeman- 4.58
Todd Gurley- 4.52 (analysts calculated with game tape since he didn't run)
Chris Carson- 4.58
Jordan Howard- 4.58
David Montgomery - 4.63

Thats 17 starters in the NFL. A few teams I didn't even consider because I don't know who their starter is (KC, Wash, TB, SF). Mattison is either faster than the guys above or near the same compared to them. And that's me addressing every teams NFL starter for the most part. Not just "better bigger backs". So you saying that he's slower than those guys or in general is also 100% false. Not sure why you and others keep fighting that battle.

6- C - The DT and S picks won't make this team and might be on practice squad. The Elon kid was worth a shot and was a good pick.

I'm nearly willing to bet money that Watts will make the team. He had 7 sacks as a DT in ACC competition. No less we are shallow for impact players at 3tech. Epps is a question mark.

7 - D - Body was great value in the 7th. Waiting to address 3rd wr with this guys deserves us being fired. The Bears with 3 WRsaw the value in adding a 4 star before us. We don't have 3. Beebe should be a 4th. Unbelievable that in this draft, we came away with this at wr. Both won't make the team. A #### long snapper was the perfect pick...

The bears also have a group of average WRs. We have two elite ones. I wanted a WR earlier too, but the Bears example isn't much of an argument.

UDFA - We just gave a record setting Signing bonus to a guy that no one wants, has injured both shoulders and has lost his arm strength. All on a team that's basically set at QB. We're a joke.

Again, it's a fricken UDFA. Why is this such an issue? How do you know nobody wanted him? My guess is, we offered him more money because someone else DID want him. Why would we give him more money for no reason? lol. But again, how is taking a QB in the 6th/7th any different than an UDFA? It's really not. If we took a guy in the 6th does that mean we ARE set now? But I guess we're a joke. You wanted a WR early, a QB early, and so on but you're complaining that we gained more picks. So should we have just ignored RB? The entire defensive side of the ball?

Bottom line is, I try to look at both sides of things and WHY they did this or did that. You had a melt down because they didn't draft Butler and it ruined the rest of the draft for you. I get it, you really wanted him. There were guys I really wanted too. But I'm not going to let it overshadow what they did in the late rounds. They found value IMO. Grades via NFL.com:

Day 1 grade: A
Day 2 grade: A
Day 3 grade: B+
Overall grade: A
Draft analysis: Bradbury is athletic and tough, considered one of the best center prospects to be picked in some time. Minnesota's offensive line was in dire need of improvement so this selection will make quarterback Kirk Cousins and running back Dalvin Cook extremely happy.

Smith is a move tight end who was a nice value. He could replace Kyle Rudolph as a receiver and throw his body around as a blocker. Minnesota needs to have a solid backup at running back due to durability concerns with Dalvin Cook, and Mattison is a durable power back who can handle those duties.

Epps is an athletic safety who likes to hit, something the Vikings needed to add in this draft. Watts is a disruptive guy inside who is just scratching the surface of his potential. They hit the OL again with Udoh, a good value in the sixth round. The Spielman residence should be harmonious with a cornerback not being picked until Round 6 (Boyd was also a good value). Johnson was overshadowed by Preston Williams at Colorado State, but he has a chance to make the Vikings' roster.