Where We Talk About The Best And Worst Value Picks Of The Vikings' Draft
by Christopher Gates on May 2, 2011 7:52 PM CDT
in 2011 NFL Draft
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PrintWith the 2011 NFL Draft finally in the books, it's time to take a look back and talk about what you, Viking nation, think were the best and worst value picks of the 2011 selection process for the Beloved Purple.
There were ten players selected by our favorite team in the draft. . .some of them were determined to be reaches, some were determined to be "value" picks. Well, by the experts, anyway. After the jump, I'll toss out the picks that I thought were the best and worst "values" for the Vikings in the 2011 Draft, and we can all discuss it in the comments afterwards.
Join me after the jump.
Best Value Pick: DT Christian Ballard, Round 4, #106 overall
Not that I generally base everything off of pre-draft magazines or anything like that, but I've got two of them next to me at my laptop right now, one from Lindy's and one from Pro Football Weekly. They have Ballard listed at two different positions. . .Pro Football Weekly has him listed as a defensive tackle, while Lindy's has him listed as a defensive end. For starters, that shows the sort of versatility that Ballard is going to bring to the Vikings' table. Both of them, regardless of position, had Ballard listed as a second-round value at worst.
For those of us that watch a lot of Big Ten football, we know that Iowa's defensive line is always beastly. One of their members this year, Adrian Clayborn, was the 20th overall selection in the draft, and in my opinion Ballard is every bit as good as Clayborn. He apparently tested positive for marijuana at the Scouting Combine, which contributed to his drop, but hey. . .the last guy we drafted with alleged marijuana issues has turned out to be okay thus far. Dinging guys that smoked pot in college is a little on the silly side, I think. With the potential departure of Ray Edwards and the impending suspension of Kevin Williams, Ballard is going to have a chance to make a big impact early on for this team, and getting him on the third day of the draft represents outstanding value.
Next Best Value: DeMarcus Love, Round 6, #168 overall
When you can get a guy that was all-SEC and has seen time at three different positions for a team that went to a BCS game this year, that's pretty darn good value.
Worst Value Pick: Stephen Burton, Round 7, #236 overall
Yeah, it might be a bit of a cop-out to call our last overall selection a "bad value," but I just think there were some other guys that could have been grabbed at that spot than a developmental wide receiver that has very little chance of making the Vikings' roster in 2011.
Now, that having been said, I hope like heck that he does make the team and does make an impact. I thought the Vikings had such a good draft that it's hard to find any picks that make you scratch your head, but that one is about as close as it gets, I guess.
How about you folks? Which selections do you think were the best and worst values for the Vikings in the 2011 NFL Draft?
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Tough call
My Sporting News draft guide had Ballard, Rudolph, and Homan all listed as 2nd rounders. So based solely on that you could say Homan, but based also on need I’d have to go with Ballard. Very solid pick. And I think it was a solid draft. Although I wish they would’ve taken a safety or Herzlich with their last pick.
by Siegfried59 on May 2, 2011 8:07 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
Nice post Chris.
You should have quotation marked “experts” instead of “value” though. You know more about value picks than some of ESPN’s d-bag analists. Great job, and look forward to the next post.
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on - Winston Churchill
by Alittlemore_cowbell on May 2, 2011 8:22 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
spelling
Love how you spelled “analysts”……not sure if you meant it that way but that gave me a very disturbing visual of Kiper an McShay. Gonna go throw up now.
Yes... um, I meant to do that
: )
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on - Winston Churchill
by Alittlemore_cowbell on May 2, 2011 10:02 PM CDT up reply actions
Only questionable calls I saw were 3 of the last 5
Mistral Raymond – The coaches obviously liked what they saw in him, but I think that he will only make an impact on special teams while there were a couple of safeties on the board that I thought could compete for starting jobs (not saying too much considering our safety play last year, but still).
D’Aundre Reed- Again, I thought there were better talents on the board at his position when we took him, specifically Cliff Mathews who is a more polished player and played full time last year while Reed split time all season. However, Reed put up good combine numbers, so the athleticism is definitely there for the coaches to work with.
Steven Burton – Same thing, I thought there were better receivers on the board in Toliver (LSU), Adams (Auburn) and Gurley (USC). I’ll defer to the coaches on this one and trust they made the right call.
Overall, if all I can complain about are 6th and 7th round picks then I think it was a pretty solid draft. I love the Rudolph and Ballard picks; I think Burton and Homan will be solid contributors and Love and Fusco could develop nicely in a year or two while providing good line depth this season.
Biggest regret I can think of
is to look to the names drafted between the pick we lost in the Randy Moss trade and our 4th round pick.
I can’t imagine how excited I’d be if we got a guy like Rackley/Casey/Hankerson/Bailey/Boling to go along with this class.
Boling, Hankerson, or Rackley in the 3rd
Would have made the draft an A+
"I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it."
Actually
As much as I would have loved to have added Will Rackley to our team in round 3, I almost feel like losing that pick was a blessing in disguise. Had we still had it, we might have traded up two spots for Blaine Gabbert, and I honestly think Ponder will be better.
Also, I second the above post that our last three picks were just meh. Should have been like this:
Tyler Sash in Round 6: Projected in the fourth round pre-draft
Greg Romeus in Round 7: Before back surgery (which is admittedly tough to com back from) was projected as a top-20 prospect. As a late round flyer, why the hell not?
Kendrick Burney or Ian Williams for our last pick: I saw both projected in the 5th, but they both went undrafted, so we could still grab them in theory.
by Zach_Bodenner on May 2, 2011 9:39 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm glad they went with Homan over Sash
I was a little surprised that Romeus was the pick. But Reed has a lot of upside. He really come on strong down the stretch. Plus he’ll be 100% when camp begins.
Kendrick Burney got a lot of attention during the Senior Bowl, but he was undrafted for a reason. He’s short and he’s slow. Not much of a future for a corner if you are short and slow.
Ian Williams was worth a look. I would have prefered Terrence Toliver myself, but as you mentioned, its still a possibility for him.
"I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it."
I think the injuries with Romeus were very troubling for most teams and he may never become the player he looked he would at Pitt.
Looks like Reed was just scratching the surface of his potential though.
I think Spielman, et al. believed that Reed has more upside.
Sturdivant/MLB pick #6-1 . Love #6-2 . Fusco #6-3 . Then Sash #6-4 .Ian Williams/NT #7-1 . Locke/RB #7-2 .
We could have built in areas that we needed . Then brought in the two NC DB’s as a package deal as UFAs . Along with the two TEs from the state of Iowa schools .
by gothicpurple on May 5, 2011 11:46 AM CDT up reply actions
What will really suck is if Mallett ends up being a better QB than Ponder
Being as he was picked with that Moss trade third rounder, that would really hurt.
by Bodysuit Man on May 4, 2011 11:00 AM CDT up reply actions
Mistral Raymond
was the big head scratcher for me. I had never heard of him, which is not a bad thing in itself. I am usually out of the loop with anybody who does not at least have a 3rd round grade. But some “expert lists” did not have him on their lists. Not even as a possible undrafted free agent. Throws up red flags when some one is not even listed. Maybe I need new “experts” or new lists for the later rounds.
Your fantasy football expert since Jerry Rice's rookie year.
Does anyone know anything about this kid?
I don’t and would love some info.
by NorthPoleNorseman on May 3, 2011 12:00 AM CDT up reply actions
Someone posted in one of the draft threads a pretty good write up about him. Long story short, he cant hit and tackle, but he is “eh” in pass coverage.
"When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth."
-Roberto
by blackjackfishtaco on May 3, 2011 12:40 PM CDT up reply actions
can**** hit and tackle
"When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth."
-Roberto
by blackjackfishtaco on May 3, 2011 1:04 PM CDT up reply actions
nickname skinny . Ellsworth Iowa Jr. College transfer . Benched 8 times !
by gothicpurple on May 3, 2011 11:18 PM CDT up reply actions
Mistral Raymond-I think the Vikes liked his attitude
Raymond was a JUCO transfer. He got other offers from other small Div.1 schools. He took USF as a non scholarship to be closer to family. While at JUCO, some people/punks mistakenly fire bombed his familys home. They were looking for a cousin(wrong home). He walked on to USF team. He then finally made it to play a little on special teams. The following year he makes starts at S/CB and gets scholarship. His final year he is named captain. Unfortunately, not to long before the draft, his sister was killed. Police think it was her boyfriend. So yeah, he might be raw and his skills refined but I think I would take a player like that on the Vikings. They need players that have character and commitment. Frazier is in, Chilly is out. New attitude I pray.
by Stromboly on May 10, 2011 10:27 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
I don't get this part
“…it might be a bit of a cop-out to call our last overall selection a “bad value,” but I just think there were some other guys that could have been grabbed at that spot than a developmental wide receiver that has very little chance of making the Vikings’ roster in 2011."
-————————————-
Have you seen the Vikings’ WR’s lately?
Berrian – can’t catch herpes in a whorehouse
Rice – gimpy and wants to test the market
Harvin – I’m getting a headache just thinking about it
haha
Um
Did you purposely leave out the single biggest reach in the entire draft?
The entire NFL community is laughing at us over the Ponder pick, and you are just going to pretend it didn’t happen by labeling a 7th rounder as our biggest reach?
Cheap, dude.
They may laugh at us...
But I firmly believe that he was going to Miami at 15 if we hadn’t taken him. I see a lot of upside to Ponder; the boy is SMART and that can overcome a lot. I’m willing to give him a shot…
I just really question the insistance of going for a QB high in this years draft. With the top three almost certainly to be gone before we picked, I seriously would have picked the best value for an area of need and maybe picked up a steal or a project later.
I just wish we would have waited until next year when I expect a stronger QB class…
by Loki Loves Purple on May 2, 2011 11:35 PM CDT up reply actions
new coach
new coach new qb kinda like peanutbutter and jelly. the way things go in the nfl .
The entire NFL community
Can kiss the fattest part of my ass.
If we hadn’t taken Ponder at 12, all of these same people would be saying “Derrrrrrrrrrrrrr, the Vikings should have taken a quarterback at 12,” because there’s no way that he would have been there again at 43 and we didn’t have the goods to trade back into the first round for him.
Ponder wasn’t the biggest reach of the draft. . .did you not see the part where Jake “ten games under .500 in college and barely completing half of my pass attempts” Locker went at #8?
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by Christopher Gates on May 2, 2011 11:48 PM CDT up reply actions
I think the Julio Jones trade was ridiculous
It wasn’t Atlanta’s offense that gave up a point a minute to the Packers. And for four picks? For one guy?
Really?
"Lord I pray for the eyes of an eagle, the heart of a lion and the balls of a combat helicopter pilot."
Somewhere Mike Ditka is agreeing with this trade…
"When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth."
-Roberto
by blackjackfishtaco on May 3, 2011 12:41 PM CDT up reply actions
And Mike Lynn laughs at only four picks
for one player.
"Lord I pray for the eyes of an eagle, the heart of a lion and the balls of a combat helicopter pilot."
And yet 'experts' still rated that an "A" draft
for Atlanta. Never mind the fact I never saw a game where Jones didn’t DROP as many balls as he caught.
by Shawn Gillogly on May 4, 2011 1:53 AM CDT up reply actions
Solder over Castonzo was a reach by the Pats...
Mouten in the 2nd round was a reach.
Wisniewski could have been had later than 48.
Baldwin at 26 was a reach by KC.
Not to mention super bust Cam Newton himself #1 overall. Carolina might as well have let the clock expire, not draft anyone #1, save cash, and wait for Andrew Luck in 2012.
"I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it."
I'm not laughing at the pick itself . I am laughing at the inability to move up and down the board in the opening round .
KC was the perfect partner . Jax to jump past NE would have worked . And so many others …
by gothicpurple on May 5, 2011 11:50 AM CDT up reply actions
Round 3 pick
It was worth a round pick to get rid of Brad C. If he was around TJ would still be touted as the QBOTF and we would stillb e running the DOA (Dead on Arrival) offense
Best value 7th round pick
S. Burton because I firmly believe the Dolphins were going to take him a few picks later.
Just joking, Ballard was the best value based on talent not brains.
Personally I think this kid that plays C, B. Fusco will be our starting center in 2012.
His only knock is that he played at a D2 school. Probably cause he was only 250#
Coming out of HS. Now he’s over 300# and was the best D2 Lineman in the country.
Played extremely well in the senior bowl against far superior competition.
by NorthPoleNorseman on May 2, 2011 11:58 PM CDT reply actions
Why not Mark Herzlich?
Potentially a GREAT linebacker, but a cancer survivor. What, does that make the guy untouchable? I’ll bet on his chances over some semi-prospect at wide receiver. Herzlich has a chance to be one hell of a football player in the NFL.
Only questionable picks for me
were Raymond in the 6th when we could have had Deunta Williams or DeAndre McDaniel (both guys who we could still pick up as UDFAs – Williams in particular was a first/second round prospect before he broke his leg) and Burton in the 7th when Mark Herzlich was on the board as well as the aforementioned safeties.
This looks sort of like
draft grading under the disguise of a “value” discussion! Now, Chris, I thought you didn’t believe in this pointless exercise.
"Believe me Delmar, woman is the most fiendish instrument of torture ever devised to bedevil the days of man."
Ponder
Why did Andy Dalton free fall? A bunch of teams with QB needs let him slide by. What did they know about him that kept them from selecting him? I don’t give a damn what the experts say about us reaching. I am sick and tired of the old QB carousel we have suffered through year after year. I trust Frazier and he knows a butt load more than we do. Finally a coach that wants to build through the draft. Chilly certainly F’d up our draft trying to save his job. He has put us years behind with using draft choices and trades for his all in 2010. Sure could of used Sapp last year. What a great time it is going to be watching a young QB develop.
Ponder is clearly the worst value. Pull your heads out.
We used the 12th overall pick to get a caliber of QB who is typically available at the end of the 1st round or beginning of the second round. That is obviously the worst value pick we got.
I think the Vikings did the right thing in their situation though. We needed to draft a top QB prospect plain and simple. Because of the heavy demand in front of us and behind us, we were forced to overpay. Supply and demand baby.
Don’t matter how good Ponder turns out to be. Don’t matter if you agree with the decision. Don’t matter if he’s actually “better” than most teams and analysts pegged him. Bottom line is we took a player most teams graded 30th overall at best and we took him 12th overall. That is a massively poor value. Why do you think the entire NFL is laughing at us?
In a way it could be a blessing in disguise though. Ponder is the most NFL ready QB in this draft and it will perhaps deter us from bringing in some chumbalone like McNabb. Ishy. Let’s get Bulger for our backup/mentor, continue to train Webb, and roll with Ponder.
Bah woo!
I can get that
That’s probably the same reason Tennessee took Locker at #8 because they figured Washington or US would want him. Other teams reach and kind of causes us to reach if we have the guy that we absolutely want. Sounds like we tried to trade back and that didn’t work. I think the Rudolph/Ballard picks made up for that big-time. Those are 2 starts in the 2nd and 4th rounds respectively and they will change how we work on both lines.
Skol!
Jason Cole gave our entire draft a D rating
WHAT???
I mean, I hate the Ponder pick, sure. But after that we more than made up for it. Rudolph and Ballard alone make up for it, not to mention Burton, Homan, and Love.
We deserve better than that, Jason, you ass.
When has Jason Cole
said a good thing about the Vikings?
by Shawn Gillogly on May 4, 2011 1:55 AM CDT up reply actions
Jason = pure ass
He’s not even worth reading anymore.
The D rating is pretty much based entirely on the Ponder pick. That’s pretty much all the grade was based on. Complete hack.
Dalton was a pawn
Plain and simple. We’re still left with the same questions we had before on these QBs. There’s obviously a reason Mallett dropped. Same with Dalton. Now, as far as Locker going #8 overall to Tennessee? Unbelievable. They must see something they really like in him. It’s almost like Jerry Jones . Al Davis . Bud Adams made that pick for them. There’s reasons people were drafted the way they were. The Vikings had to be very high on Ponder to pick him there. They obviously felt they would be a better FB team with Ponder on their team picked at #12, then not on their team and getting stuck w/ another QB or no QB at all.
Skol!
I gotta say
I’m a big fan of what I read about Fusco. I think we have our new legacy center. It may take him a year or two but he’ll be a good center for us. He sounds ornery.
Manna? More like Man o' war!!
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