Wednesday Open Thread: April 28, 2021

Merry draft-day-eve, everyone!

That’s right, the NFL draft is only another day away, plus a little change. I’m more excited this year than I’ve been for most drafts, and much more excited than I thought I’d be when last season ended. When the 2021 off-season began, the team no cap space, and they had several position groups that were depleted. It looked bleak, and I don’t think there was much optimism among the Viking fan base. The team managed to do more than most fans expected during the free agency period, and I think a lot of fans are excited to see if Rick and Company can put together a solid draft. In my opinion, the team has been putting together drafts which have improved in quality and consistency during the Spielman/Zimmer tenure, and one would expect them to contnue to improve. Let’s hope they can hit a grand slam this year, because they’re going to need to have a quality draft in order to further strengthen their roster, especially with another tight cap year to look forward to in 2022. Git ‘r done, Rick. SKOL!

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Arif is back with Norse Code Podcast Episode 371: Trolling Arif with Justis Mosqueda.

wludford lays out some Vikings First-Round Trade Scenarios.

Chris is helping you stay up-to-date on Vikings draft-related news with the Minnesota Vikings 2021 NFL Draft Tracker.

Other Vikings/NFL news and random oddities and annoyances:

Hey, it’s a salt block special! This Sports Illustrated piece believes that Kyle Shanahan may have hinted that the 49ers are planning to select Mac Jones.

This NFL.com story speculates that there will be fewer than normal first-round trades in this year’s draft. If that were true, it would be good for the Vikings if they’re planning to try to trade up. If demand is down, the price will be lower. I don’t know, there have been two very big first-round trades already, so I’m not sure how much lower than normal it could be this year.

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

-No discussion of politics or religion
-No feeding of the trolls
-Take the gender hatred elsewhere, it won’t be tolerated
-Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
-If discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
-No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
-If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
-While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm.

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up & tie one on, don’t forget to tip the cows, and settle in, it’s starting to get exciting.