Top 30

Each NFL team is allowed 30 non-local draft prospect visits to their facility prior to the draft. Each team approaches this differently. I first became aware of this 30-visit rule about the same time that I became aware that the Minnesota Vikings used most of their 30 visits in one big meet and greet. Their Top-30 Event! The 2014 event was held last week. At first, I thought that this was a ridiculous idea. How can you find out anything about the guests with so many guests? I've since learned that one of the reasons that the Vikings do this is to see how these prospects interact with each other. It's a psychological/social event. I've also learned that the "top-30" title is a bit of a misnomer. Last year, Appalachian St. punter Sam Martin was part of the Vikings event. No offense intended but it takes a real special punter to be considered among the top-30 in any draft. Martin was taken in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. That's pretty good for a punter but far from the top-30. The Vikings don't use all of their 30 visits in this one event. They'll have some individual visits throughout the way-too-long draft evaluation months. The number of prospects on the invite list to the big event varies each year. As far as I know, the Vikings never release an official list of the draft prospects in attendance. The media and the curious usually piece the list together as best they can from the comments of those in the know. It's always interesting to look back at these lists to see if any of the invited players actually became Minnesota Vikings football players. Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and Tennessee receiver Cordarrelle Patterson were in attendance last year. Both were selected by the Vikings in the first round. They even traded back into the first round to select Patterson. Their other first round pick, Florida St. corner Xavier Rhodes, wasn't part of the event. So, you can't really tell the Vikings preferences from the invite list. It's just part of the process. They are certainly curious about all of the prospects invited but it's no guarantee of genuine interest. As far as I can gather of the invites to the Minnesota Vikings 2014 "Top-30" Event, the following prospects were at the team's facility last week:

Teddy Bridgewater  QB  Louisville
Terrance West  RB  Towson
Lamin Barrow  LB  LSU
Preston Brown  LB Louisville
Brock Vereen  S  Minnesota
Deone Bucannon  S  Washington St.
Kahlil Mack  LB  Buffalo
Lavonta Freeman  RB  Florida St.
Anthony Barr  LB  UCLA
Demarcus Lawrence  DE  Boise St.
Luke Bowanko  C  Virginia
Keith Wenning  QB  Ball St.
Billy Turner  T  North Dakota St.
Bryn Renner  QB  North Carolina
Tom Savage  QB  Pitt

If I understand the local/non-local visit criteria correctly, Vereen's visit may not count against the 30 total. The attention paid to Bridgewater by the Vikings is becoming very interesting. Not only was he at this event, he was at the Vikings facility earlier in the week. A stay that was supposed last a couple of days turned into three. If I understand the visits criteria correctly, the Vikings used two of their 30 visits on Bridgewater. Add that to the attention paid to the quarterback at the Scouting Combine and his Pro Day, the Vikings are spending a lot of time and effort on Teddy Bridgewater. I think that it's too much time and effort to be a smoke screen. They are very much interested in him. While I'm not convinced that quarterback is the best choice at #8, I am fairly certain that the Vikings will have to use that pick on Bridgewater if they are sold on him as a franchise quarterback. I don't buy this nonsense that he falls out of the first round. As for some of the other invites to this big event, I wouldn't mind seeing Bucannon and Turner on the Vikings next year. I would absolutely love to see Kahlil Mack be available to the Vikings but that is just a dream. A beautiful dream.