NFL Mock Draft: Vikings Tab Quarterback, Defensive End

The latest mock draft has been put out by the folks at the Mothership, and SB Nation's Matthew Fairburn has extended this mock to two rounds. In this mock, the Vikings take players at the two positions that you would expect them to.

With their first selection, #8 overall, the Vikings grab the quarterback that we seem to be talking about the most recently in Fresno State's Derek Carr.

Yes, we have repeatedly said Derek Carr is not a first-round quarterback. But that doesn't mean someone won't take a chance on him a bit too early. He had an impressive showing at the combine in interview sessions, and you shouldn't be surprised if a team falls in love with him between now and May. If Carr cleans up his footwork in the pocket and internal clock, he has the makings of a quality starter in the NFL. Vikings general manager Rick Spielman acknowledged his team's need at quarterback, so Minnesota could be a candidate to reach.

The definition of a "reach," whether it's mine, Matthew Fairburn's, or anyone elses, is pretty subjective. As I've said before, if the Vikings evaluate the quarterbacks and Norv Turner thinks that Derek Carr is the best fit for his offensive system, then the Minnesota Vikings are going to draft Derek Carr. Our friends over at Silver and Black Pride are reporting that the Raiders actually prefer Carr to Johnny Manziel, though we have to remember that we are in the season of smoke screens and misinformation and so forth. The Vikings are going to come out of May's draft with at least one quarterback, but nobody knows who it will be or when they'll be taken.

With their second selection at #40 overall, the Vikings turn to the defensive side of the ball and nab a defensive end in Oregon State's Scott Crichton.

After finding a quarterback, addressing the defensive end position should be a priority in Minnesota. Scott Crichton isn't the most dynamic athlete on the edge, but he's advanced technically and could at least hold up in run support early on.

I don't know a whole lot about Crichton, so I'm not going to criticize this selection too much one way or another. But with the Vikings being linked to pending free agent Michael Johnson (Zimmer's former player in Cincinnati) and possibly re-signing Everson Griffen to go with Brian Robison, defensive end might be a bit farther down on the list for the Vikings come draft day. Timmy Jernigan and Gabe Jackson were both available at that spot in Fairburn's mock, and both of them would have been nice grabs for Minnesota as well.

What do you think about the latest SB Nation mock draft?