Secondary Concerns

The Minnesota Vikings have had fifty-two drafts. They have drafted a defensive back in the first round of only three of those drafts. That's an incredibly small number. That lack of attention is easily seen in some really sad secondary play for too many seasons. The secondary has rarely been seen as a primary concern by the Vikings. Ha! USC safety Joey Browner was taken in the first round in 1983. North Carolina St corner DeWayne Washington in 1994. In this past draft, the Vikings traded into the bottom of the first round to select Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith. Browner was fantastic. If his career wasn't sadly cut short by injuries, he'd be in the Hall of Fame. He was a dominant football player. Wahington was a solid corner but unfortunately for the Vikings he spent the majority of his career in Pittsburgh. Let's hope that Smith is more like Browner. Except for the injury part.

It's difficult to say that all positions should be treated equally in the draft. There are so many factors that impact each selection. Immediate need, available players, draft position, etc. Still, in more than a half century of drafts you'd expect a team to select more than three players at positions that cover more than a third of the defense. By comparison the Vikings have selected sixteen defensive linemen in the first round in those fifty-two drafts. As a result, the team has regularly fielded a very good to amazing line. One reason for the huge difference in attention is that the defensive line has always been a critical area. Secondary importance has increased in recent years as passing the ball has passed running the ball as the preferred mode of offensive transportation. You have to be able to stop the pass in today's football. The Vikings have spent more time and money in free agency to improve the secondary. They've had to as drafting has routinely failed to supplement those positions. In the last decade they've tried to keep the pass defense afloat by signing Corey Chavous, Antoine Winfield, Fred Smoot, Darren Sharper and Madieu Williams. Some of those additions have worked. Some have been a disaster. Either way it's always been a patchwork back there. With general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Leslie Frazier, a cornerback in his playing days, in charge there seems to be greater attention paid to the secondary. Corner Chris Cook was taken with the first pick of the second round in 2010. That's almost the first round. In this past draft, Harrison Smith was taken in the first round, corner Josh Robinson in the third and safety Robert Blanton in the fifth. The Vikings future secondary may soon be covered by Cook, Smith, Robinson and Blanton. In would be the first time in decades that the Minnesota Vikings secondary was made up of their own draft choices. It's a nice sign and a reason for hope.