Fifteen years ago the Minnesota Vikings selected Randy Moss after a draft day freefall. Yesterday the Vikings selected Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd after a similar fall to #23. He was was expected to be off the board before we hit pick #5. His difficulties in his youth seemed to be a thing of the past. I'm not sure why it would come back to haunt him on the day of the draft. Those bad days of the past turned into a great day for Floyd and the Vikings yesterday. Floyd will learn from one of the best in Kevin Williams. The Vikings got real lucky with Sharrif Floyd. Lucky that he was there and lucky that he could be playing with a chip on his shoulder.
Two picks later the Vikings looked to defense again with the selection of Florida St. corner Xavier Rhodes. At 6'2" and 210lbs, Rhodes is a big corner. With similar-sized Chris Cook the Vikings can now better match up with big NFC North receivers like Detroit's Calvin Johnson and Chicago's Brandon Marshall.
Just when it seemed like the Vikings were through for the night they were on the clock again at #29. They traded pretty much the rest of their draft (2nd, 3rd, one of their two 4th's, and one of their three 7th's) to New England to get one of the most explosive offensive players in the draft. That's the cost of moving up nearly an entire round. Tennessee receiver Cordarrelle Patterson will fill much of the playmaking lost when the Vikings traded Percy Harvin to Seattle. Patterson can return kicks and turn slants into long touchdowns. He even ran from the backfield and threw the ball a time or two in college. If not for some maturity issues, Patterson could have been a top-15 pick. He's a top-10 talent. The Vikings brought in free agent Greg Jennings for his receiving skills as well as for his leadership and mentoring. Jennings may be as important to Patterson's development as Cris Carter was to Randy Moss fifteen years ago.
The Vikings had a first round haul of Sharrif Floyd, Xavier Rhodes, and Cordarrelle Patterson. Incredible. There were moments this offseason when all three were expected to be selected in the top third of the first round but things always shake out differently as the months go by.
Last year, the Vikings traded back into the first round to select Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith at #29. Smith had an excellent rookie season. Here's hoping that a trade to #29 works out as well again.
The Vikings have tomorrow off. They won't pick again until pick #23 in the fourth round. They still have five picks left so they didn't trade their entire draft to get Patterson.
I guess that the Vikings weren't interested in Manti Te'o. They passed on him three times.
I really don't see how anyone can boo a draft pick. Some of the responses are brutal. Nice greeting before these kids even step on the field. No one knows the player that these kids will become seconds after they are drafted. It's a mystery as to how New York Jets fans could find a reason to boo the selection of Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. He's a beast.
I'm surprised that tackle-hungry teams like San Diego and New Orleans couldn't come up with a better trade than the one that Oakland accepted from Miami to move up ten spots to #3. That was the last spot to get one of the top three tackles. Oakland was desperate for more picks so they would have taken pretty much anything. They did. Only a second. That's all it took to move those ten spots. That was far less than St. Louis gave up to Buffalo to move up eight spots to #8.
All offensive linemen and pass rushers through through seven picks. The most explosive player in the draft, West Virginia receiver Tavon Austin, broke that run when the Rams made that trade to jump to #8. Six offensive linemen were taken in the top eleven picks. Big guys ruled the top of the draft.
I was fairly shocked to see the top defensive tackles drop a little. Sheldon Richardson was the first to the Jets at #13. Then Star Lotulelei to Carolina a pick later. Sharrif Floyd happily dropped into the Vikings lap.
I really like the New Orleans Saints selection of Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro. He might have been the safest pick outside of the offensive linemen. I think that he's going to be a terrific player.
49ers traded up for a nice safety too. LSU's Eric Reid. They probably had to get ahead of St. Louis at #22 to have a chance at Reid. Nice move.
First QB? Florida St.'s E.J. Manual. The Bills selected Manual with the 16th pick. I think that West Virginia's Geno Smith, USC's Matt Barkley, Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, and North Carolina St.'s Mike Glennon will have a better day today.
Clemson's DeAndre Hopkins was one of my favorite receivers in this draft. As Mike Mayock said, watch the Clemson-LSU bowl game. He took over that game. The Houston Texans got a fantastic receiver to line up opposite Andre Johnson.
After about a hundred first round trades last year there were only five yesterday.
I like seeing the big guys get a lot of attention on draft day. They rarely get much once the games start. There were only four offensive skill position players selected. West Virginia receiver Tavon Austin, Florida St. quarterback E.J. Manuel, Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert, and Tennessee receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.
Good luck to all 32 brand new NFL players.
Good luck to all those still waiting. Once the games start it doesn't matter when you were drafted.
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