Sorta Final Draft Thoughts

Welcome back to the 2013 NFL Draft Minnesota Vikings.

I liked Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly's presence as draft analyst on NFL Network. I saw him at the AT&T Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach this past February. He looks like a little leprechaun. It's funny how some of these coaches that seem to be such a presence on the sideline are actually quite small. Kelly is the perfect coach for Notre Dame.

LSU coach Les Miles followed Kelly on the set. There's something a little shady about Miles.

Stanford coach David Shaw joined the panel in the fifth round. He had to sit next to Miles but he brought some sanity to the set. I like Shaw a lot. It's a damn shame that he has to be coaching at Stanford. The NFL will be calling on him.

USC quarterback Matt Barkley had to wait through the first two days of the draft. He didn't have to wait long on the third day. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the first pick of the fourth round.

Quarterbacks Ryan Nassib of Syracuse and Tyler Wilson of Arkansas followed Barkley in the fourth round. This wasn't a friendly draft for quarterbacks.

I was so pleased to see South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round. It's the perfect pairing. Lattimore is recovering from a brutal knee injury. With the 49ers terrific talent and depth there's no rush to get him on the field. He may be ready by the start but he doesn't have to be. Lattimore is the most talented back in this draft. Some might say that's not saying much seeing as there were none taken in the first round. Lattimore would be the most talented back in most drafts. He's a tremendous football player. He's also one of the good guys in sport. When his leg went where it shouldn't  this past season against Tennessee, BOTH benches emptied to see him off the field. It was an incredible moment. One that I've never seen. When Lattimore did what he could at his Pro Day, the coaches and scouts in attendance gave him a standing ovation. He has the respect of everyone that meets him.

I think that the 49ers really scored in the fourth round. Before they drafted Lattimore they added Louisiana Tech receiver Quinton Patton. His presence in the fourth round was a real surprise to me. I thought that he could be selected as early as the second. Patton was one of the most pro-ready receivers in the draft. Like USC's Robert Woods, Cal's Keenan Allen, Clemson's DeAndre Hopkins, pretty much the only thing that Patton can't do on the football field is run real fast. Like those other receivers, he's fast enough. Nice picks for the 49ers.

The Green Bay Packers depend on the amazing throwing skills of quarterback Aaron Rodgers to win games. The little running that they do to move the ball has been pieced together by a seemingly endless parade of backs. Whenever one gains some momentum he's injured. The last consistent running presence in Green Bay was found with Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung. The Packers made some real nice moves in the draft to change that trend. They drafted Alabama power back Eddie Lacy in the second round. For a change of pace they added UCLA back Jonathan Franklin a couple of rounds later. Lacy doesn't have a lot of moves but he provides a real push in the right direction. As a Cal fan, I'm not disappointed at all to see Franklin in the NFL. As a Vikings fan, I am disappointed to see him play his professional games in Green Bay. With Rodgers, the Packers will always be a passing team but they may now have a threatening running game.

I've long been a big fan of the name Barkevious Mingo. I'm now a fan of Jamoris Slaughter. And, he's a safety. Perfect. Both are now football players for the Cleveland Browns.

With their selection of UCLA punter Jeff Locke in the fifth round, the Vikings kicked off a run on punters and kickers. The specialists are getting more respect in the draft than they ever have before.

Congratulations to tackle Ryan Jensen. He was selected by Baltimore at the end of the sixth round. I thought that I had heard of every NFL player-producing school there is, even D-II schools. I've never heard of Colorado St.-Pueblo. Jensen wasn't invited to the Scouting Combine. That was due more to the level of competition that he faced than his level of play. Still, Jensen was on the mind of NFL scouts. Obviously, since he was drafted.

What goes around comes around. The Vikings traded their sixth round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In return the Vikings received the Bucs' sixth and seventh round picks. That seventh round pick was part of the bushel of picks that the Vikings sent to the New England Patriots way back on Thursday night for the pick that brought Tennessee receiver Cordarrelle Patterson to Minnesota. The Vikings used that boomerang pick to select Florida St. defensive tackle Everett Dawkins. The Vikings started the 2013 NFL Draft with a defensive tackle from Florida, Shariff Floyd, and ended it with a defensive tackle from Florida St.

The Vikings entered the draft with a great need at middle linebacker. I think that they might have filled that hole in the seventh round with Penn St. linebacker Michael Mauti. I knew that he had much of his college career wrecked by three ACL injuries. I knew that he was a talented player that couldn't stay on the field. I really didn't know a thing about Michael Mauti. After seeing some video, I'd like to see Mauti lead the Vikings defense for the next decade. He's a leader and the way that he kept leading a Penn St. program that was rocked by an unthinkable disaster was simply inspiring. He had such an impact on the Nittany Lions that when he was out with his third ACL injury this past season the team wore "42" decals on their helmets to honor their leader. He can play some terrific football too. If Michael Mauti can stay healthy, the Vikings got a  steal in the final round.

The SEC produced about a quarter of the 254 drafted players.

The conference also produced 2/3 of the Vikings first round selections.

Congratulations to all the new NFL players. Special congratulations to Mr. Irrelevant Justice Cunningham.  Tight end. South Carolina. Now an Indianapolis Colts professional football player

It's not over for those that weren't drafted. It's now Undrafted Free Agent time. A bunch of players will still have that shot at the NFL. John Randle took that path. He's in the Hall of Fame.