Which College Players Are Future Vikings Week 3 Review and Week 4 Primer

The game of the week award goes to Alabama vs Texas A&M!

Utah vs Oregon State was also a good game.

Here are some of the top draft eligible performers stats ...

Derek Carr  QB  Fresno State  rSr  6-3  215  has completed 74 of 104 for 661 yards and 8 TDs and 1 INTs
Teddy Bridgewater  QB  Louisville  Jr  6-3  220  has  completed 62 of 88 passes for 1002 yards with 10 TDs and 1 INTs
Tajh Boyd  QB  Clemson  rSr  6-1  225  has  completed  for 32 of 53 for 439 yards and 3 TDs and 0 INTs
Keith Price  QB  Washington  rSr  6-1  202  has  completed 51 of 66 for 666 yards and 4 TDs and 1 INTs
Aaron Murray  QB  Georgia  rSr  6-1  208  has completed 37 of 52 for 632 yards and 4 TDs and 1 INTs
Johnny Manziel  QB  Texas A&M  rSo  5-11  210 has completed 63 of 89 for 984 yards and 11 TDs and 3 INTs
Marcus Mariota  QB  Oregon  rSo  6-3  214 has completed 49 of 82 for 889 yards and 7 TDs and 0 INTs
Brett Hundley  QB  UCLA  rSo  6-3  227 has completed 38 of 57 for 568 yards and 5 TDs and 1 INTs
Zach Mettenberger  QB  LSU  rSr  6-5  235 has completed 45 of 69 for 797 yards and 9 TDs and 0 INTs
Corey Robinson  QB  Troy  rSr  6-1  210 has completed 77 of 102 for 870 yards and 7 TDs and 3 INTs
Brett Smith  QB  Wyoming  Jr  6-3  208 has completed 81 of 128 for 942 yards and 9 TDs and 3 INTs

Lache Seastrunk  RB  Baylor  rJr  5-9  210  has 28 carries for 261 yards and 5 TDs
De'Anthony Thomas  RB  Oregon  Jr  5-9  178  has 42 carries for 338 yards and 6 TDs
Bishop Sankey  RB  Washington  Jr  5-10  200  has 60 carries for 369 yards and 3 TDs
James White  RB  Wisconsin  Sr  5-10  198  has 45 carries for 297 yards and 2 TDs
Roderick McDowell  RB  Clemson  rSr  5-9  195  has 30 carries for 175 yards and 0 TDs
Rajion Neal  RB  Tennessee  Sr  5-11  212  has 43 carries for 257 yards and 4 TDs
Jeremy Smith  RB  Oklahoma State  rSr  5-10  208  has 37 carries for 176 yards and 6 TDs
Kasey Carrier  RB  New Mexico  rSr  5-8  185  has 68 carries for 367 yards and 4 TDs
Marcus Mariota  QB  Oregon  rSo  6-3  214  has 15 carries for 262 yards and 4 TDs

Marqise Lee  WR  Southern California  Jr  6-0  195  has 17 catches for 221 yards and 1 TDs
Mike Evans  WR  Texas A&M  rSo  6-5  225  has 20 catches for 518 yards and 3 TDs
Sammy Watkins  WR  Clemson  Jr  6-1  205  has 9 catches for 146 yards and 1 TDs
Brandon Coleman  WR  Rutgers  rJr  6-5  220  has 12 catches for 139 yards and 2 TDs
Jordan Matthews  WR  Vanderbilt  Sr  6-3  205  has 24 catches for 395 yards and 2 TDs
Allen Robinson  WR  Penn State  Jr  6-3  205  has 23 catches for 405 yards and 3 TDs
*Paul Richardson  WR  Colorado  rJr  6-1  176  has 21 catches for 417 yards and 4 TDs
Devin Street  WR  Pittsburgh  rSr  6-3  192  has 11 catches for 221 yards and 0 TDs
Jared Abbrederis  WR  Wisconsin  rSr  6-1  188  has 16 catches for 271 yards and 3 TDs
TJ Jones  WR  Notre Dame  Sr  6-0  195  has 19 catches for 289 yards and 1 TDs
Eric Ward  WR  Texas Tech  rSr  5-11  206  has caught 16 catches for 186 yards and 0 TDs
Robert Herron  WR  Wyoming  Sr  5-9  187  has caught 14 catches for 263 yards and 1 TDs
Mike Davis  WR  Texas  Sr  6-2  195  has 20 catches for 223 yards and 4 TDs
Jalen Saunders  WR  Oklahoma  Sr  5-9  164  has 10 catches for 137 yards and 3 TDs
DeVante Parker  WR  Louisville  Jr  6-2  209  has 13 catches for 257 yards and 4 TDs
Ryan Grant  WR  Tulane  rSr  6-0  192  has 24 catches for 348 yards and 3 TDs
Tevin Reese  WR  Baylor  rSr  5-10  172  has 9 catches for 227 yards and 2 TDs
Donte Moncrief  WR  Ole Miss  Jr  6-2  226  has 11 catches for 173 yards and 2 TDs

On defense ...

Khalil Mack  OLB  Buffalo  rSr  6-3  248  has 14 solo and 9 assts with 4.0 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, 1 PD, and 1 INT
Ryan Shazier  OLB  Ohio State  Jr  6-2  226  has 20 solo and 4 assts with 5.0 TFLs, 1 .0 sacks, 1 FF, and 1 PD
Kyle Van Noy  OLB  Brigham Young  rSr  6-3  235  has 6 solo and 6 assts with 3.5 TFLs, 1.0 sacks, and 1 PD
*Jordan Hicks  OLB  Texas  rJr  6-2  235  has 15 solo and 13 assts tackles
Jonathan Brown  OLB  Illinois  Sr  6-1  235  has 17 solo and 21 assts with 2.5 TFLs, and 1.5 sacks
Kevin Pierre-Louis  OLB  Boston College  Sr  6-1  218  has 18 solo and 10 assts with 3.5 TFLs, and 1.0 sacks

A.J. Johnson  ILB  Tennessee  Jr  6-2  240  has 7 solo and 10 assts with 1.0 TFLs
Yawin Smallwood  ILB  Connecticut  rJr  6-2  244  has 9 solo and 21 assts tackles with 1 PD
Shayne Skov  ILB  Stanford  rSr  6-2  245  has 6 solo and 9 assts tackles
*Andrew Jackson  ILB  Western Kentucky  rJr  6-0  258  has 10 solo and 9 assts with 1.0 TFLs and 1 PD
Lamin Barrow  ILB  LSU  rSr  6-1  232  has 3 solo and 8 assts with 0.5 TFLs, with 0.5 sacks and 1 PD
Chris Borland  ILB  Wisconsin  rSr  5-11  248  has 12 solo and 12 assts with 1.5 TFLs and 1.0 sacks
Max Bullough  ILB  Michigan State  Sr  6-3  245  has 4 solo and 11 assts with 2.5 TFLs and 1 PD
Greg Blair  ILB  Cincinnati  rSr  6-1  252  has 8 solo and 13 assts with 1.5 TFLs and 2 PDs
DeDe Lattimore  ILB  South Florida  rSr  6-0  236  has 19 solo and 12 assts with 1.0 TFLs, 1 PD, and 1 INT

Louis Nix  DT  Notre Dame  rJr  6-2  352 has 6 solo and 2 assts with 1.0 TFLs
Ra'Shede Hageman  DT  Minnesota  rSr  6-6  312 has 6 solo and 8 assts with 4.5 TFLs, 1 sack, and 2 PDs
Timmy Jernigan  DT  Florida State  Jr  6-2  298 has 3 solo and 4 assts with 2.0 TFLs and 1.0 sacks
DaQuan Jones  DT  Penn State  Sr  6-3  333 has 15 solo and 8 assts with 5.0 TFLs and 2.0 sacks
Ryan Carrethers  DT  Arkansas State  rSr  6-1  328 has 11 solo and 11 assts with 4.0 TFLs and 2.5 sacks
George Uko  DT  Southern California  rJr  6-3  285  has 4 solo and 3 assts with 3.5 TFLs, 3.0 sacks, and 1 FF
Bruce Gaston  DT  Purdue  Sr  6-2  310 has 6 solo and 7 assts with 3.5 TFLs and 2.0 sacks

Bene Benwikere  CB  San Jose State  Sr  5-11  192  has 7 solo and 4 assts with 5 PDs, and 1 INT
Jason Verrett  CB  TCU  Sr  5-10  178  has 10 solo and 5 assts with 2.0 TFLs, 1 sack, and 5 PDs
Ciante Evans  CB  Nebraska  Sr  5-10  190  has 5 solo and 4 assts with 3 PDs and 3 INTs
Stanley Jean-Baptiste  CB  Nebraska  Sr  6-2  214  has 4 solo and 4 assts with 1.0 TFLs and 4 PDs and 3 INTs
Torin Harris  CB  Southern California  rSr  6-0  190  has 7 solo and 4 assts with 4 PDs and 1 INT
Darqueze Dennard  CB  Michigan State  Sr  5-11  197  has 7 solo and 9 assts with 0.5 TFLs and 5 PDs

Lamarcus Joyner  FS  Florida State  Sr  5-8  195  has 9 solo and 6 assts with 2.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, and 1 PD
Deone Bucannon  FS  Washington State  Sr  6-1  198  has 16 solo and 14 assts with 0.5 TFLs, 1 FF, and 1 INT
Dion Bailey  SS  Southern California  rJr  6-0  210  has 15 solo and 6 assts with 2.5 TFLs, 0.5 sacks, 2 PD, and 2 INT
Kenny Ladler  FS  Vanderbilt  Sr  6-0  205  has 18 solo and 6 assts with 1.0 TFLs and 1 PD

Now let's look at some upcoming games for week 4 and the Big 12

No. 3 Clemson at North Carolina State      Thursday, September 19 @ 7:30 PM
Tajh Boyd  QB  Clemson  rSr  6-1  225
Sammy Watkins  WR  Clemson  Jr  6-1  205
Brandon Thomas  OG  Clemson  rSr  6-3  305
Roderick McDowell  RB  Clemson  rSr  5-9  195
Chandler Catanzaro  K  Clemson  rSr  6-0  195
Quandon Christian  OLB  Clemson  rSr  6-2  226
Tyler Shatley  OG  Clemson  rSr  6-3  295
Darrell Smith  FB  Clemson  rSr  6-1  250
Spencer Shuey  ILB  Clemson  rSr  6-2  232
Darius Robinson  CB  Clemson  Sr  5-10  175
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asa Watson  TE  North Carolina State  rSr  6-3  237
Dontae Johnson  CB  North Carolina State  Sr  6-2  195
Rob Crisp  OT  North Carolina State  Sr  6-7  302
Quintin Payton  WR  North Carolina State  rSr  6-3  212
Darryl Cato-Bishop  DE  North Carolina State  rSr  6-3  266
Jarvis Byrd  FS  North Carolina State  rSr  5-10  183
Rashard Smith  WR  North Carolina State  rSr  5-9  176
Brandon Mitchell    QB  North Carolina State  rSr  6-3  239

No. 23 Arizona State at No. 5 Stanford      Saturday, September21 @ 7:00 PM
Will Sutton  DT  Arizona State  rSr  6-0  292
Marion Grice  RB  Arizona State  Sr  6-0  205
Carl Bradford  OLB  Arizona State  rJr  6-1  241
Junior Onyeali  OLB  Arizona State  Sr  5-11  240
Chris Coyle  FB  Arizona State  rSr  6-2  224
Alden Darby  SS  Arizona State  Sr  5-11  195
Osahon Irabor  CB  Arizona State  rSr  5-11  182
Evan Finkenberg  OT  Arizona State  rSr  6-4  296
Chris Young  OLB  Arizona State  Sr  6-0  233
Kevin Ozier  WR  Arizona State  rSr  6-1  200
Davon Coleman  DE  Arizona State  Sr  6-2  276
Kody Koebensky  C  Arizona State  rSr  6-3  290
Gannon Conway  DE  Arizona State  rSr  6-3  261
Steffon Martin  OLB  Arizona State  Sr  6-1  236
Darwin Rogers  TE  Arizona State  Sr  6-3  245
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trent Murphy  DE  Stanford  rSr  6-6  261
Ben Gardner  DE  Stanford  rSr  6-4  275
Shayne Skov  ILB  Stanford  rSr  6-2  245
Ryan Hewitt  FB  Stanford  rSr  6-4  246
Josh Mauro  DE  Stanford  rSr  6-6  282
Khalil Wilkes  C  Stanford  rSr  6-3  292
Tyler Gaffney  RB  Stanford  rSr  6-0  221
Anthony Wilkerson  RB  Stanford  Sr  6-0  214
Barry Browning  CB  Stanford  Sr  6-0  182
Kevin Danser  OG  Stanford  rSr  6-5  298
Usua Amanam  CB  Stanford  rSr  5-10  176

Louisiana Tech @ Kansas      Saturday, September21 @ 12:00 PM
Justin Ellis  DT  Louisiana Tech  rSr  6-2  334
D.J. Banks  WR  Louisiana Tech  rSr  5-9  185
IK Enemkpali  DE  Louisiana Tech  rSr  6-1  250
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Sims  RB  Kansas  Sr  5-11  202
Dexter Linton  FS  Kansas  rSr  5-10  195
Zackary Young  LS  Kansas  rSr  6-5  255
Charles Brooks  TE  Kansas  Sr  6-5  245

West Virginia @ Maryland      Saturday, September21 @ 3:30 PM
Charles Sims  RB  West Virginia  rSr  6-0  205
Darwin Cook  SS  West Virginia  rSr  5-11  203
Will Clarke  DE  West Virginia  rSr  6-6  273
Pat Eger  C  West Virginia  rSr  6-6  302
Curtis Feigt  OT  West Virginia  rSr  6-6  315
Shaq Rowell  DT  West Virginia  Sr  6-3  305
Brodrick Jenkins  CB  West Virginia  rSr  5-10  185
Ivan McCartney  WR  West Virginia  Sr  6-2  182
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dexter McDougle    CB  Maryland  rSr  5-10  196
Marcus Whitfield  OLB  Maryland  rSr  6-2  240
C.J. Brown  QB  Maryland  rSr  6-2  210
Dave Stinebaugh  TE  Maryland  rSr  6-4  250
Nick Klemm  OT  Maryland  rSr  6-5  305

Louisiana-Monroe @ #20 Baylor      Saturday, September21 @ 4:00 PM
Je'Ron Hamm  WR  Louisiana-Monroe  Sr  6-3  233
Isaiah Newsome  FS  Louisiana-Monroe  rSr  5-11  200
Josh Allen  C  Louisiana-Monroe  Sr  6-3  315
Kolton Browning  QB  Louisiana-Monroe  rSr  6-1  212
Tavarese Maye  WR  Louisiana-Monroe  rSr  5-11  183
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyril Richardson  OG  Baylor  rSr  6-5  335
Lache Seastrunk  RB  Baylor  rJr  5-9  210
Ahmad Dixon  SS  Baylor  Sr  6-0  205
Tevin Reese  WR  Baylor  rSr  5-10  172
Jordan Najvar  TE  Baylor  rSr  6-6  260
Glasco Martin  RB  Baylor  rSr  6-0  222
Jerod Monk  TE  Baylor  rSr  6-4  275
Kelvin Palmer  OT  Baylor  rSr  6-4  292
Eddie Lackey  OLB  Baylor  Sr  5-11  228
Joe Williams  CB  Baylor  Sr  5-10  190
Sam Holl  SS  Baylor  Sr  6-1  210
Zach Northern  LS  Baylor  Sr  6-1  290
Chris McAllister  DE  Baylor  rSr  6-2  255
Aaron Jones  K  Baylor  rSr  6-2  190
K.J. Morton  CB  Baylor  Sr  5-10  190
Stefan Huber  C  Baylor  rSr  6-3  290

Texas State @ #25 Texas Tech      Saturday, September21 @ 7:00 PM
D.J. Yendrey  DE  Texas State  rSr  6-3  273
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jace Amaro  TE  Texas Tech  Jr  6-5  257
Eric Ward  WR  Texas Tech  rSr  5-11  206
Terrance Bullitt  OLB  Texas Tech  rSr  6-2  221
Tre Porter  FS  Texas Tech  Sr  5-11  202
Kerry Hyder  DE  Texas Tech  rSr  6-2  280

Kansas State @ Texas      Saturday, September21 @ 8:00 PM
Ty Zimmerman  SS  Kansas State  rSr  6-1  205
Cornelius Lucas  OT  Kansas State  rSr  6-8  328
John Hubert  RB  Kansas State  rSr  5-7  192
Tre Walker  OLB  Kansas State  Sr  6-2  225
Andre McDonald  TE  Kansas State  rSr  6-7  278
Tramaine Thompson  WR  Kansas State  rSr  5-8  167
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jackson Jeffcoat  DE  Texas  Sr  6-4  252
Mike Davis  WR  Texas  Sr  6-2  195
*Jordan Hicks  OLB  Texas  rJr  6-2  235
Carrington Byndom  CB  Texas  Sr  6-0  182
Donald Hawkins  OT  Texas  Sr  6-5  312
Trey Hopkins  OG  Texas  Sr  6-4  302
Mason Walters  OG  Texas  rSr  6-5  320
Adrian Phillips  SS  Texas  Sr  5-11  201
Reggie Wilson  DE  Texas  Sr  6-3  259
Anthony Fera  P  Texas  rSr  6-2  220
Garrett Porter  C  Texas  rSr  6-5  315
Chris Whaley  DT  Texas  rSr  6-3  295

Utah State @ USC      Saturday, September21 @ 3:30 PM
Tyler Larsen  C  Utah State  Sr  6-4  312
Nevin Lawson  CB  Utah State  Sr  5-10  186
Eric Schultz  OG  Utah State  Sr  6-3  308
Devonta Glover-Wright  CB  Utah State  Sr  6-0  170
Maurice Alexander  FS  Utah State  Sr  6-1  212
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marqise Lee  WR  Southern California  Jr  6-0  195
Morgan Breslin  OLB  Southern California  Sr  6-1  250
Dion Bailey  SS  Southern California  rJr  6-0  210
Silas Redd **  RB  Southern California  Sr  5-9  200
Xavier Grimble  TE  Southern California  rJr  6-5  255
George Uko  DT  Southern California  rJr  6-3  285
Torin Harris  CB  Southern California  rSr  6-0  190
Kevin Graf  OT  Southern California  rSr  6-6  300
Demetrius Wright  FS  Southern California  Sr  6-1  195
John Martinez  OG  Southern California  rSr  6-2  305
Devon Kennard  DE  Southern California  rSr  6-3  260
Kevin Greene  OLB  Southern California  rSr  6-3  255
De'Von Flournoy  WR  Southern California  rSr  6-0  185


I will base my mock off the record each week. Since the team is 0-2, and there are 8 teams with that record, then I think #7 spot is good for now.

I think that the LBs and secondary will be an ongoing concern this year even moreso than Ponder's development.  I feel that Ponder can get a little better than last year and then that is probably going to be his ceiling.  Is that good enough to win a Super Bowl?  Maybe.  But that defense has to get better before that can even be considered.

I am of the opinion that the team should draft a QB each and every year until they find that elusive QBOTF.  It can be in any round and if it gets late then they could decide to bring in an UDFA instead.  Maybe MBT will continue to grow but that is a huge unknown.

Obviously there are some huge holes on the team some of which I wanted to see addressed via free agency.  I thought the free agent class of players was better this year than it will be next year.  I still think that way too.  But maybe there will be a couple of players available.  Getting them to come to Minnesota when they move outdoors could be even harder.

Players like James Anderson LB and Daryl Smith LB would have been nice pickups and are already playing well.  Desmond Bryant would have been good too although he signed a larger contract than I thought.  Glover Quin S and Louis Vasquez G would have been good signings too.

If the Vikings want Ponder be the QBOTF then I thought they should have tried to build an even better team around him.  This would have definitely made it necessary to address Jared Allen's contract.  My preference would have been a trade but maybe that would not have been possible?  Hard to say if another team would have given up a pick or two to get him.  Methinks Tampa may have been interested and they had the money.

So now going forward it is tough to tell right now which way they should go in the continued rebuild of the roster post Childress.  Obviously we need the season to play out to get a better idea of the current players.

Having said all that, I will proceed to do a mock using the #7 spot.


7. Brett Hundley  QB  UCLA  rSo  6-3  227
39. Louchiez Purifoy  CB  Florida  Jr  6-0  190
71. Jackson Jeffcoat  DE  Texas  Sr  6-4  252
90. DaQuan Jones  DT  Penn State  Sr  6-3  333
103. *Andrew Jackson  ILB  Western Kentucky  rJr  6-0  258
135. Cody Hoffman  WR  Brigham Young  Sr  6-3  215
167. Kenny Ladler  FS  Vanderbilt  Sr  6-0  205
199. Billy Turner  OT  North Dakota State  Sr  6-5  310

UDFA
Jabari Price  CB  North Carolina  Sr  5-11  198
Johnnie Farms  DT  Memphis  rSr  6-2  305
Kenarious Gates  OT  Georgia  Sr  6-5  327
Bryn Renner  QB  North Carolina  rSr  6-2  225
David Fluellen  RB  Toledo  Sr  6-0  215
Andrew Norwell  OG  Ohio State  Sr  6-6  320
Preston Brown  ILB  Louisville  Sr  6-2  260
Ciante Evans  CB  Nebraska  Sr  5-10  190
Chidera Uzo-Diribe  DE  Colorado  Sr  6-3  245
Jason Hendricks  SS  Pittsburgh  rSr  5-11  182

I realize that the mock draft part of this college football preview seems to be the main focus of the comments which is fine by me.  I am thinking that if the Vikings are really drafting that high (I am not saying they will but as of today they are) then getting another QB is never a bad thing  Worst case scenario is they move Ponder for some picks.  If Charlie Whitehurst and Kevin Kolb can get traded for picks then Ponder sure as hell can.  But again, I am not advocating trading Ponder.  I am just sayin'.

Well, there you have it.  Enjoy the games!