Vikings Get Hosed In Fake Drafts

In order to show exactly how completely out of hand this whole draft thing has gotten with things being pushed into early May, we have a couple of slightly off-the-wall drafts that we can take a look at.

The first one was done by the folks from ESPN's "SportsNation," which did a draft of movie and television-based football players with this year's draft order. For some reason, rather than taking one of the numerous movie quarterbacks that football movies have centered around, they decided they'd go with a running back for our favorite football team, as they had the team select Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights.

I mean, seriously, Paul Crewe was right there, folks. Even Adam Sandler's version of Paul Crewe (though, obviously, the Burt Reynolds version would be the superior get). Even Lattimer from The Program would have been a preferable selection, obvious ramifications from violations of the substance abuse policy notwithstanding.

Now, one that has a slightly higher basis in reality. . .but only slightly. . .NFL.com is doing an "All-Time Draft." Basically the rules for their draft look like this:

• Teams will select historic NFL players in the order of the 2014 NFL Draft
• No player on a current NFL roster is eligible to be drafted
• In this scenario, each player is 22 years old and has just finished college
• Picks are made solely based on need and players' college careers, rather than their NFL production.

Here are the players that were already off the board when NFL.com got to the Vikings' selection at #8.

Houston Texans - John Elway, QB, Stanford
St. Louis Rams - Jim Brown, RB, Syracuse
Jacksonville Jaguars - Lawrence Taylor, LB, North Carolina
Cleveland Browns - Dan Marino, QB, Pittsburgh
Oakland Raiders - Jerry Rice, WR, Mississippi Valley State
Atlanta Falcons - Reggie White, DE, Tennessee
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Anthony Munoz, OT, Southern California

NFL.com lists the Vikings' needs as quarterback, safety, and. . .offensive line? (Yes, really, that's what they have.) Basically, outside of Elway and Marino, the guys at NFL.com could have taken any quarterback that's ever been drafted into the National Football League that isn't currently on an NFL roster. So, who did they select for Minnesota?

Why, Joe Namath, of course.

Yeah. . .that was kind of my reaction, too. There had to be a better selection, quarterback or not, than Joe Namath, didn't there?

Well, that's where you folks come in. Given the scenario above, who would you have taken for the Minnesota Vikings in an all-time draft? Someone like Ronnie Lott (think of teaming him up with Harrison Smith) or a linebacker like Mike Singletary? A different quarterback, perhaps? There are plenty of possibilities. . .feel free to discuss them below.

Oh. . .and could the real draft get here soon, for crying out loud?