Vikings Daily Mock 4.13

I have been doing mocks on a daily basis but have not had the time to post them here. I do believe the draft is very unpredictable and it usually goes in different directions than many draft "experts" believe.

By MarkSP18 Apr 13, 2014, 11:01am CDT

I have received some comments in previous mocks that my mocks were not "realistic". Naturally, I get upset about these comments mainly because the commenter does not offer a "realistic" mock that we all can consider and learn from. I do not know more than anyone else that is for sure. So when someone says the mocks are not realistic and then offers no alternative then what can we learn from that comment? I do not mind the comment in and of itself. I just want to see the alternative is all.

Let us look at last year's draft for example. I posted this already when I replied to some of the realistic comments.

If I would have done a mock draft last year where I had the Vikings getting Sharrif Floyd at #23, Xavier Rhodes at #25, and then trading #52, #83, & #104 to the Patriots for #29 and using that pick on Cordarelle Patterson, how many people would have said it was unrealistic?

I expect most will say that it was totally realistic. Yeah right.

Many people had Floyd going in the top 10. Rhodes and Patterson went about the right area but using all those picks would have surely been met with disdain (and in fact some people expressed disagreement with the move last year).

Consider the 2012 draft. Spielman trading down one spot in the 1st round and still got Kalil. Then he traded back into the 1st and got Smith. Then he traded a 5th round pick to the Lions (which some people said never happen between division rivals - also see 2010 Lions & 20008 Packers trades for reference) for the Lions 2013 4th round pick. Finally, he traded a 7th round pick to the Titans for their 2013 6th round pick which he subsequently used on AJ Jefferson (perhaps he would have been better off taking Alfonzo Dennard in the 7th round that year like many of us in the draft day thread were stating BEFORE the pick and trade came up).

Consider the 2007 draft where the 49ers traded their 4th round pick (#110) and their 2008 1st round pick to the Patriots for the Patriots 1st round pick #28 overall which the 49ers used on Joe Staley. I think that was an excellent trade for the 49ers no?

Consider the 2011 draft where the Redskins traded 5 times and all the way out of the 2nd round in 3 trades.

I am not sure why people think making a lot of trades is unrealistic. Will it happen? I do not know. But I do know it is possible and not out of the ordinary at all. I loved the trade up for Patterson last year! How could I not? It worked out good too. At the same time, who would the Vikings been able to select if they stayed put? There are countless possibilities but Keenan Allen in the 2nd, Barrett Jones in the 3rd, and Jesse Williams in the 4th would have not been bad. Still I loved the trade!

The next thing that bothers me is all this talk about how taking one of the top 4 QBs at #8 (usually only Carr though) would be a reach and some say huge. I cannot disagree more. The comparison to the Ponder pick is also ridiculous. Who would the Vikings have taken instead of Ponder? I had been all over Nate Solder prior to the draft that year as he was one of my favorites. Would they have taken Nick Fairly? How has he worked out? Better than Ponder or does he get more of a pass because he does not play QB? Robert Quinn would have been nice in retrospect but the Vikings already had Allen & Robison. When would Quinn play and would the Vikings already been thinking about moving Allen after only 2 years? Doubtful. What about Mike Pouncey, Ryan Kerrigan, Cameron Jordan, Price Amukamara, or Jimmy Smith? Would any of them be considered reaches back then? Is there anyone else that the Vikings should have considered instead that has actually played well? Hard to say really.

Will this year's draft play out the same way when we look back 4 years from now? Will some of the other prospects that people want the Vikings to take instead of a QB actually play well? And what will the Vikings do about a QB in that case?

Obviously taking Jake Matthews would be a great pick. Some say no but he can play all over the line. I think CJ Mosley would be a good pick too and could very well ultimately end up being the pick. Anytime you can get the Butkus Award winner it cannot be a bad thing no?

Well, there are a lot of things to consider when looking at the draft and for me, the possibilities are endless. Nothing is too far fetched for me.

I will continue to post these up until the draft as much as possible. I really have been too busy at work and home to be honest. The critical comments do not bother me at all and I look forward to more. But I will respond if I feel moved.

So after that preamble it is time to get on with it already. Geez.

I use the http://fanspeak.com/ontheclock/ site to do the draft. They have a premium feature that allows for trades and they are more reasonable than the ones at first-pick.com. They have 3 big boards you can choose to use for the player rankings (fanspeak, walterfootball, & optimumscouting).

In this mock I used the walterfootball big board.

Vikings Daily Mock 4.13

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