The Minnesota Vikings are proud to select:

Adrian Peterson, running back, Oklahoma

There are several questions in life that really, truly, have no answer.  Questions such as, "Why, exactly, do Snickers bars taste better after they've been sitting in the freezer for a few hours?"  Or "How DID Wilder Valderrama manage to bag Lindsay Lohan?"  (Before Lindsay went to hell, I mean.)  And finally, "Should one draft for need, or should one take the best player available?"

The last one is the quandary I find myself in with this pick.  Certainly, the "sexy" pick that most people have the Vikings making here is Brady Quinn.  Does Quinn fill a pressing need for the Vikings?  In my opinion, no.  Just because the "popular media" wants to throw Tarvaris Jackson to the side after two starts doesn't make it the prudent thing to do.  Far from it.

Is Quinn the best player available at this point?  Again, no, he's not.  The best player in the draft at this point is Adrian Peterson.  And that's why he's now, at least in this mock draft, a Minnesota Viking.  In the Brad Childress offense, Peterson can spell Chester Taylor, he can be on the field at the same time as Taylor, he can be on the field with Mewelde Moore, he can motion out wide and catch passes. . .basically, he can add a dimension that this offense just doesn't have at the moment.  Between Jackson's inexperience and the lack of a quality WR corps, this offense simply needs some playmakers.  And outside of Calvin Johnson, Peterson is the guy in this year's draft that best fits that description.

In short, you don't pass on Michael Jordan to take Sam Bowie. . .you don't pass on Joe Mauer to take Mark Prior. . .and you don't pass on Adrian Peterson for the second coming of Ron Powlus.