Hi kids, how was the weekend?
Finally, it's draft week. In less than 100 hours, the Minnesota Vikings, along with the rest of the NFL, will hold what is officially called the Annual Selection Meeting, and the futures of teams and players will be shaped over the course of three days. Can I be a grumpy old man for a minute and say I miss the Saturday-Sunday format of the draft? Heck, I was even cool with the first round going to Friday, but this three day format kind of blows.
Format aside, the draft is still a critical part of building a successful team...or watching your team slip into ruin. A good draft class cements your roster and will help make you competitive for the foreseeable future, but a bad draft class...or a whiff on a first round pick...can take years to recover from.
With that backdrop, we take questions from you, the fine commentariat of The Daily Norseman. It's you guys and gals that makes this site so great, so answering your questions is important to us. If you missed submitting a question this week, hop on Twitter, find me @purplebuckeye, and ask me a question using the hashtag #DNMaibag in your tweet.
If you're not on Twitter, email me at tglover47d@gmail.com, and ask me your question.
Let's get to it. Mah Kull is up first:
@purplebuckeye #DNMailbag How far down does Jack have to fall before you think it would be worth trading up to get him?
— Mah Kull (@call_me_kelso) April 25, 2016
I will answer that question with another question...is there anyone in this draft, any position, worth trading up for? The Rams and the Eagles did, and paid a steep price for it, but also...LOLOL Rams and Eagles. Wait, let me ask another question--is Miles Jack so much better than every other LB projected in the first round (Darron Lee, Leonard Floyd, Reggie Ragland, Noah Spence, depending on scheme) that trading up is worth it? My answer to both those questions is no, at least in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, if he falls I would love to see him in purple, and three UCLA guys in the middle would be kind of cool, especially if you're a UCLA fan...but I don't see a scenario where the Vikings would trade up, even a couple spots. And not just for Miles Jack, but for anyone. If anything, I expect the Vikings to trade down, if possible, nab an extra third or fourth round pick, and go from there.
Ladies and gentlemen, the #1 Iowa basketball team fan...I'm assuming in the whole world...gets out of his hoops lane to ask a football question, and it's a good one:
@purplebuckeye why do fans seem so opposed to spending a lot on a 3rd LB but are cool with a backup DT at similar value?
— #1IowanBballTeam Fan (@Moldy78) April 25, 2016
I'm not sure. The only thing I can think of is that fans are focused on the fact that the Vikings are in the nickel defense so much, which drops the number of linebackers on the field, but they'll always have two defensive tackles on the field. And if they get a guy at DT that can push for a starting job, he could, conceivably, be on the field more than a linebacker would. I don't see it, but that's my theory.
PShughart is next, with a question about wide receivers. And let's face it, there are lots of questions about that position group:
@purplebuckeye do you think teddy will finally have a solidified wr1 wr2 this year. #DNMailbag
— PShughart (@patrickshughart) April 25, 2016
Two? No, not this year. I think he'll have two guys that have the potential and ability, but not necessarily the experience. I'm a really big Stefon Diggs fan, and you should be, too. he really blew up last year, but tailed off once teams started focusing on him. I think he'll be the primary target on the outside for Teddy Bridgewater this year and be a good WR2, but I'm not sure there will be a guy opposite him that can command the same respect, at least right away.
I do believe the Vikings will nab a WR or two this weekend, but it's a tall order to step right in and become a legitimate WR1 or WR2 in year one. This isn't a jab at any of the WR's in the draft; but it's simply a fact that a Dez Bryant or a Randy Moss don't grow on a WR tree. Most guys need a year to develop, and I think that will be the case with whoever the Vikings draft. I think long term the position will be fine once the draft has ended, but there will be some growing pains.
Hey, it's Mah Kull again!
@purplebuckeye #DNMailbag Week 1 we play Mariota and the Titans, are you concerned at all about his lightning fast release? Should I be?
— Mah Kull (@call_me_kelso) April 25, 2016
No, not really. His lightning fast release is predicated on guys being open, and I'll take the Vikings corners over the Titans receivers. If he hesitates just a bit, now his porous offensive line will be hard pressed to protect him, and I am of the belief Mike Zimmer's double A gap defense will overwhelm him. Also, a good friend of mine knows a guy that can gets us 40 yard line seats, 10th row for that game in Nashville. For free. I'll be there. Yes, feel free to be jealous.
Staff writer and Twitter rabble rouser Di Murphy is up next. Miraculously, she's not mocking me, and gives us a good question:
@purplebuckeye #dnmailbag What voodoo should we expect Slick Rick to perform Thursday night?
— Di (@DiMurphyMN) April 25, 2016
I'm not sure, except that Cleveland should be quaking in their boots. Seriously, I don't see a trade up scenario unfolding right now, at least early. What I could see happening is a trade down in the first, accumulate a 3rd or 4th round pick, then use that extra pick and their second round pick to move back into the first round, with maybe back to back picks, like 28-29. That would be pretty cool, and very typical Rick Spielman.
Hey look kids, it's another staff writer, Skol Girl!
@purplebuckeye how likely do you think it is that Spielman surprises us and goes defense in the first round? #DNMailbag
— Allison M. (@skolgirldn) April 25, 2016
I don't think it would be a surprise, for a couple reasons. As we all know, Mike Zimmer is a defense minded coach, and the transformation of the Vikings defense in two years has been nothing short of miraculous. Keep in mind I say this with the knowledge that to me, wide receiver is the biggest need going into the draft.
HOWEVAH...
In a draft that I think has better defensive players overall than offensive players, there's a chance a bigger 'impact' player on defense is on the board at 23, whether it's a linebacker, defensive back, or defensive lineman. Combine that with the fact that the difference in talent between the top 6-7 wide receivers is pretty close, I can see the Vikings doing one of two things:
1) Taking a defensive guy at 23, and then going WR in round 2.
2) Go defense in round one, and then try to trade up into the end of round one, or early second round, to get a wide receiver if it looks like the top guys will all be gone.
Holy crap, a third writer checks in. Draft guru Mark SP18 wants to know:
Mark, un-protect your tweets, man. Taking a screen shot of your tweet, making it a picture, and then posting it in the story is way harder than just copying the embed code of an unprotected tweet. Like legitimate pain in the ass, my man.
Also, no, there isn't. At least, not a big jump. Rick Spielman will trade up, but only if it doesn't cost him the third and/or fourth round. As the Vikings stand today, he doesn't have the ammo to make a substantial move without sacrificing a 2, 3, or 4, leaving him empty in one or more of those rounds. Until he can get additional picks, I think he stands pat.
Connor Jon is up next. This is a clever way to hide the fact that he is Jon Connor, savior of mankind in the future. But until he has to fulfill his destiny, Jon's a Vikings fan...which sets him up well for a post Apocalyptic, bleak ass future fighting cyborgs for a meager survival. Anyways, his question:
@purplebuckeye @eric_j_thompson #DNmailbag what are the chances my favorite team can somehow snag Karl Joseph and Laquon Treadwell?
— Connor Jon (@CoNjOn23) April 25, 2016
It's doable, but it depends on how the draft unfolds. There are players that are always surprise picks early, there are positions that have an early run, and trades always become a factor. That said, the value/predictions for both Treadwell and Joseph are right in line with where the Vikings currently pick in the first two rounds, so the point I'm trying to get across is..
Brett Stott, who does some stellar Vikings-related work for the website Draft Tek, has a question that makes me wonder how the hell he got his Draft Tek gig, if we're being completely honest:
@purplebuckeye Dear Ted, why do you keep picking those awful players from Ohio in your mocks? Find prospects from better schools #DNmailbag
— Brett Stott (@DrafttekVikings) April 25, 2016
Hey, quick bit of trivia. Did you guys know that when you translate 'Brett Stott' from Icelandic, it equates to 'bitter hater that has a black, soulless heart'? No really, that's what Google translate said.*
Brett, Brett, Brett...it's Ohio State. Actually, it's THE Ohio State. And they're better than everyone ever. I hope, when it's all said and done, the Vikings draft class is nothing but OSU guys, and you will be forced to love them. All of them, and then you will be forced to write super nice things about them on Draft Tek. And I will RT and cross post all your nice words all over social media, and I will randomly tweet the word schadenfreude to you, and it will be funny, at least to me.
*Doesn't really translate to that. Brett's a good guy, irrational Ohio State hatred aside.
Hey Brett, Chef Mike, he gets it. He's embraced OSU, and the fact that they're awesome and the Vikings roster should be full of Buckeyes.
#DNmailbag who is the most likely Buckeye to be drafted by the @Vikings
— Chef Mike (@ChefMike45) April 25, 2016
I give Brett a hard time, but there's no guarantee any Buckeyes get drafted by the Vikings. However, if they're looking at someone from OSU in the first two or three rounds, I would think it would be Michael Thomas, Taylor Decker, Vonn Bell, Darron Lee, or Braxton Miller. Yeah, Joey Bosa and Ezekiel Elliott, sure, but those two guys will probably be long gone by the time the Vikings pick. In the late rounds of the draft, Tyvis Powell and Jalin Marshall are names you should be looking out for.
Alex Goble, you're up:
@purplebuckeye Noah Spence is still available at 23. % chance he goes to the Vikings? #DNMailbag
— Alex Goble (@Ulaeron) April 25, 2016
Wow, great question. You can make the case that Spence might be the best edge rusher in the draft this year, but the Vikings have a pair of good bookend rushers in Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter. Brian Robison has more days behind him than ahead of him, though, and a guy like Spence (who I would so count as an OSU player on the team you guys) would form one heck of a d-line rotation and would set up nicely as Robison's eventual replacement. Yeah, WR is a bigger need, but do you pass up a guy like Spence here? I don't know about percentages, so what I'll say is that it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Vikings drafted him.
Sir Gunnar of Viking World Order gives us a statement, not so much a question. That's because we don't question VWO, we just get our marching orders and move out smartly:
@purplebuckeye #DNMailbag I think slick Rick moves up and takes a LB, Or CB/Safety Skol!
— Sir Gunnar VWO (@vikingdav) April 25, 2016
In all seriousness Gunnar, I don't see it, at least not with his initial first round pick. Like I said earlier, moving up costs too much, and really cripples them for rounds 2-4 in one way or another. Now, I do see a scenario where they trade back in round one, accumulate a couple picks, and then move back into the last couple spots in round one to get a guy they like. In that scenario, a LB, CB, or S would be a definite possibility.
Okay, that wraps up the mailbag. We'll be here Thursday night, and all through the weekend, covering the draft from every angle.