Vikings Message Board.Com

Pondering Her Percy wrote:

Smart move. When Teddy falls to the Vikes at eight you do not want to have made an earlier statement like "Teddy was not very impressive at his Pro Day". This way, when it comes time to trade down from picking him at eight, it won't impact his trade value. Those guys are always thinking ahead

dead_poet wrote: Over Bridgewater? I don't think so.

I'm just repeating what they said.

Bridgewater is the safest bet at QB this year, I still would not pick him at number 8. I don't see that much difference btw him and Geno Smith from last years draft.

I would only move up to draft Clowney. I think this kid can rip the NFL up in his rookie year the same way Randy Moss did in his.

I am not on the Khalil Mack bandwagon. We need LBs who can drop back and cover to make up for our 2 deep safties. At 4.65 x 40 dash. Not going to cut it.

If we stay at 8, I could only see Watkins, Mathews or Greg Robinson.

Failing these, I'ld say just move back to grab more picks.

I'm glad Bridgewater struggled at his pro day. I hope Manziel does too. This is the time of year when gym short guys like Derek Carr and Blake Bortles are going to shine. Scouts and GMs are going to marvel at how good they look and how well they throw the ball when they aren't under any pressure beyond that of the eyes watching them. So if the guys who actually get it done when the lights are on and the games count don't look so hot, that just means they are more likely to slip down the board to #8 where I hope Spielman will be smart enough not to pass on them because of a stupid single day throwing in shorts.

If Derek Carr can just go to one of the teams in the first 7 picks, that means the Vikings would have a much better chance of landing Bridgewater or Manziel. That would be a coup. So I'm rooting for Manziel to stink it up at his pro day too.

VikingLord wrote:I'm glad Bridgewater struggled at his pro day. I hope Manziel does too. This is the time of year when gym short guys like Derek Carr and Blake Bortles are going to shine. Scouts and GMs are going to marvel at how good they look and how well they throw the ball when they aren't under any pressure beyond that of the eyes watching them. So if the guys who actually get it done when the lights are on and the games count don't look so hot, that just means they are more likely to slip down the board to #8 where I hope Spielman will be smart enough not to pass on them because of a stupid single day throwing in shorts.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to draft one of these QBs "because of a stupid single day throwing in shorts" and for what it's worth, Carr and Bortles both did their share of producing "when the lights are on and the games count" too.

If Derek Carr can just go to one of the teams in the first 7 picks, that means the Vikings would have a much better chance of landing Bridgewater or Manziel. That would be a coup. So I'm rooting for Manziel to stink it up at his pro day too.

Drafting Manziel could be disaster or a coup. He's been a very exciting, productive college player but the more I look at his game, the more I'm concerned that his skill set and style of play isn't going to translate well to the pros. I understand that he's an appealing prospect but frankly, I don't think his chances of success in the NFL are significantly higher than some of the QBs people are aggressively against the Vikings selecting.

People often refer to the draft as a crapshoot and with this year's crop of QBs, that really seems to apply.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to draft one of these QBs "because of a stupid single day throwing in shorts" and for what it's worth, Carr and Bortles both did their share of producing "when the lights are on and the games count" too.

And the one guy that might have, is dead. RIP.

I understand that he's an appealing prospect but frankly, I don't think his chances of success in the NFL are significantly higher than some of the QBs people are aggressively against the Vikings selecting.

I think the thing that makes him appealing is that his ceiling is so much higher than those other prospects, even if his chances of actually success aren't. A lot of people start buying lottery tickets when that grand prize is high, even if their chances are the exact same of actually winning it. I think that's the intriguing part of Manziel. You're better $1 to win $1M at 1:100 odds, whereas the rest of these guys are more along the lines of betting $1 to win $100...at 1:10 odds.

Manziel could be a Brett Favre type, who raises the entire team around him (pokes Mothman with a stick), not sure anyone else in this draft has that type of character/attitude/intangibles. Even though any number of them might be capable of leading a good/great team to a super bowl and even winning, Manziel could possibly take a 2009 Vikings team and despite the year before and after, have them on the doorstep of greatness!

Is it worth the gamble? Considering how hard it is to hit on QBs, outside of the rare once or twice in a decade "sure things" that go #1 overall and don't have all that many questions, it might be. Especially when comparing him to the other QBs in this draft that have some pretty glaring weaknesses, and don't appear to have terribly high ceilings.

A noodle armed midget with character concerns, and he might just be the best QB option in the draft.

Personally I don't like any of these QBs at #8. I would prefer getting someone like Justin Gilbert or Darqueze Dennard at 8. Pretty much go defense the whole draft. maybe trade up into the first and grab a slipping QB or wait until the second or third and grab one.

My draft

first - Justin Gilbert
second - Trade up into end of first and get C.J. Mosley
third - Deonne Bucannon
second third - traded
fourth - traded
fifth - Jimmy Garoppolo
sixth - Terrance West (RB Towson)
seventh - Loucheiz Purifoy

(Projections for round drafted based on combo of Drafttek.com and walterfootball.com)

Demi wrote:I think the thing that makes him appealing is that his ceiling is so much higher than those other prospects, even if his chances of actually success aren't. A lot of people start buying lottery tickets when that grand prize is high, even if their chances are the exact same of actually winning it. I think that's the intriguing part of Manziel. You're better $1 to win $1M at 1:100 odds, whereas the rest of these guys are more along the lines of betting $1 to win $100...at 1:10 odds.

Manziel could be a Brett Favre type, who raises the entire team around him (pokes Mothman with a stick), not sure anyone else in this draft has that type of character/attitude/intangibles. Even though any number of them might be capable of leading a good/great team to a super bowl and even winning, Manziel could possibly take a 2009 Vikings team and despite the year before and after, have them on the doorstep of greatness!

LOL! Is that kind of talk just buying into the myth of the great college player and media-hyped Heisman trophy winner? It's hard for me not to think of Tim Tebow when I read that kind of stuff about Manziel's attitude, potential and intangibles. Admittedly, their playing styles are different and I think Manziel is definitely a better passer but the parallels seem obvious. Like Tebow, Manziel is a heavily hyped, highly productive, accomplished college QB whose skill set for the NFL looks very questionable. Sometimes, if the skill set doesn't transfer well, all that other stuff doesn't add up to much. I understand why you'd make a Favre comparison because Manziel has a similar enthusiasm and gunslinger mentality. I'm just not sure I'm buying that a $1 bet on him offers much greater odds for a payoff than a $1 bet on several of the other draft-eligible QBs. II'm not convinced his pro ceiling is really higher than that of the other QBs and college accomplishments aren't always indicative of what's to follow. A few months ago I felt differently but i think I was being too influenced by the hype.

A noodle armed midget with character concerns, and he might just be the best QB option in the draft.

NFL Draft Needs: Vikings

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/4 ... ds-vikings

Jeffbleedspurple wrote: I would have to say a LB is a bigger need than DB

They're really close. We have nobody proven outside of Rhodes at outside corner (especially when we're in nickel, which is often) and an argument could be made that Rhodes is far from a "proven" commodity as well. I wouldn't be upset if a corner was selected in the first two rounds (provided that corner turned out to be more Revis than Cook).

I'd say LB and DB are about equal in need. I would lean towards DB for a few reasons though. The DB's we have have been given opportunities and showed they need a lot of progress or they need to be replaced. Our Linebackers on the other hand have not been given that chance, besides Audi Cole and he played surprisingly well. I also Think a good linebacker is a lot easier to find later than a good cornerback, just because the specific skills cornerback requires is a lot harder to master than just running and tackling like linebacker. So i think naturally we'd be smarter to get help at a position we know we need help at and requires more skill than get help at a position we might be ok at with the guys we have. All that being said it really depends on the talent that's available. Here's what my plan of attack would be. All options are who I would pick and in that order.

round 1: Top 3 QB (Manziel, Bridgewater, Bortles) if they're gone trade back or take Gilbert and shut down high-powered passing games we face in the division.

round 2: If we didn't take QB, take (Derek Carr) if he falls, if he's not there wait again. If we took QB in first take one of (Calvin Pryor, Jason Verett, Kyle Fuller or Bradley Roby). If by some chance all of them are gone take one of (Kyle Van Noy, Ryan Shazier or Jimmie Ward).

Round 3 (early pick): If we still don't have a QB take (Aaron Murray, Jimmy Garrappolo, AJ McCarron). or one of these in order depending on whos available and what we've allready taken (Chris Borland, Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Deone Bucannon, Christian Kirksey, Keith McGill, Telvin Smith, Craig Loston, Shayne Skov, Christian Jones, Dion Bailey)

Anything after this is too far out to legitamately predict, even what I put together is likely to be pretty far off from what happens on draft day, but its just some insight into what i'd go for if i was GM.

I also wanted to show you guys something i came across that i thought was pretty cool. I'd love to see Kyle Van Noy in Purple could be a great pick if he falls to the second round.

also these for anyone who hasn't seen them

dead_poet wrote:NFL Draft Needs: Vikings

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/4 ... ds-vikings

Corners in Mike Zimmer's defense must be able to press at the line of scrimmage and re-route receivers. Zimmer prefers a true center fielder at free safety, and a thumper in the box.

I know I'm in the minority here but this is why I think Dennard is a better fit and overall better corner than Gilbert.

Loki wrote:also these for anyone who hasn't seen them

I sincerely, sincerely, hope that this team doesn't pass on Teddy Bridgewater. The guy is a good quarterback who had a bad pro day and now he is getting ostracized.