Minnesota Vikings Draft: The One Guy You Don't Want Is...

We do a lot of draft speculation here, because THANKS NFL FOR MOVING THE DRAFT INTO MAY...but I digress. In all of that speculation, we talk about who we want, and where said player would be a 'good value' pick, or what player might be a 'steal'.

For example, Jadeveon Clowney, on the 0.00000000001% chance he falls to the eighth spot, would be a huge steal, and most of us would be jumping for joy. On the flip side, if the Vikings were to do something like we talked about yesterday, there would be an outcry of rage and emotion we haven't seen in these parts since the Vikings infamously let the clock run out during the first round of the 2003 draft. Yeah, it's Khalil Mack, a guy I think almost everyone would be happy to see in purple, but not for that steep albeit hypothetical price.

But let's flip this discussion around a bit. We all know who we would love to see the Vikings pick at number eight, we're organizing our big board here, here, and here, and CCNorseman has the consensus rankings here, but among the guys that are considered the top picks, is there anyone you absolutely, positively, do not want?

The list of suspects is a long one. There are four quarterbacks, each with some promise, but each with some baggage. There are some guys that play positions the Vikings seem pretty strong at, and there are guys at positions of need that have some injury questions. Who is my pick? Well, if it's a guy from a pure positional 'need' perspective, it is:

Jake Matthews, T, Texas A and M.

Now, this is nothing personal, and I'm not here to bag on him. As a matter of fact, I thought I did a pretty good job in trying to make a case for the Vikings drafting him or Greg Robinson last week. Matthews is a really good tackle, and I think he'll be a very good pro. But, he's a carbon copy of a guy that's already a franchise tackle for the Vikings in Matt Kalil. They're almost identical in size, and their scouting reports are eerily similar. For the Vikings, with needs at a lot of other positions, and good players on the board to fill those needs, drafting Matthews would be about the most colossally stupid thing the Vikings could do with the number eight pick. At least with Robinson, you could make an argument to play him at guard, which is a position he's played in college, and it's a position that the Vikings need to fill, at least on the left side of the line.

As much as the old 'you can't have enough good players at position X' axiom is true, this is a team that has too many holes to fill, and there are a lot of good players in the draft that can solidify positions on both sides of the ball right away. This year, Minnesota can't afford to use their first round pick on a guy that won't start (or compete for a starting job) right away.

Now if it's a guy that just makes me cringe because there's a natural dislike, like a lot of people have for Johnny Manziel, I really don't have that feeling for anyone this year. That's admittedly unusual for me, because there's almost always one guy in the draft I'm not a big fan of. But this year, I think the Vikings brain trust is in as good a shape as it's been in a long time, and I'm going to trust whoever they take. Mike Zimmer is a smart defensive guy, and if the Vikings go to that side of the ball in round one, whoever they pick is a guy that will be a fit for what Zimmer wants to run, and will probably do well.

On offense, NORV! Turner has a really good track record with quarterbacks, so if they get a guy that isn't Manziel or Teddy Bridgewater, guys I am a big fan of at that position, I won't freak out, like I probably would have if the old coaching staff were still around.

So this year, other than Matthews, and that's based solely on the position he plays and the zero need for the Vikings there, I don't have anyone I'm reflexively against the Vikings drafting.

What about you guys? Anyone you just do not want on the Vikings, for any reason?