Finally. The 2014 NFL Draft is today.
This has become a very big day. They even made a movie about it. The NFL Draft is a monster. It's shocking to think back to the days that it was held in near secrecy on a Tuesday. It wasn't even in prime time. It wasn't secret to be secret. It was secret because no one really cared. I cared and it was impossible to find any Minnesota Vikings draft news as it happened. I had to wait for the next day's newspaper.
Today, we have two network's televising the draft. ESPN and NFL Network. For me there is no choice. NFL Network is the one. Rich Eisen, Mike Mayock, Marshall Faulk, Charles Davis, Daniel Jeremiah, even Michael Irvin. Fuhgeddaboutit!
NFL Network even sent Albert Breer to Minnesota to report straight from the scene. I like Breer. He's a huge Ohio St. fan. He might lose his mind if the Vikings draft Buckeye linebacker Ryan Shazier.
Maybe it's simply my optimistic nature but I think that new head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman are going to get along famously.
I think this every year. It would be an absolute gas to be in the draft room of the Minnesota Vikings. An absolute gas.
The Vikings pick at #8. If they are not on the clock by 6:10pm PST, I will lose my mind.
Of the players at the top of the draft, picking an offensive tackle (meaning Greg Robinson, Jake Matthews, and Taylor Lewan) is pretty much the only pick by the Vikings that would disappoint me. The talent in this draft and the number of Vikings needs, especially on defense, make pretty much any choice a good one.
If offensive coordinator Norv Turner, head coach Mike Zimmer, and general manager Rick Spielman are sold on Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel, or Blake Bortles at #8, so am I. Personally, I like Bridgewater best.
I wish that Turner and his offensive coaches had more time to see what they have in quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Christian Ponder before the draft. Damn CBA. They've had three days of on-field work. They wouldn't have had even that if it weren't for the fact that the Vikings have a new coaching staff. Thank you CBA.
Beyond the quarterbacks, I like these defensive players at #8
Aaron Donald DT Pitt
C.J. Mosley LB Alabama
Anthony Barr LB UCLA
Ryan Shazier LB Ohio St.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix S Alabama
Darqueze Dennard CB Michigan St.
Justin Gilbert CB Oklahoma St.
Calvin Pryor S Louisville
Perhaps, even in that order.
For a while, I had a strong hunch that Anthony Barr would be the Vikings top pick. That hunch has mellowed a bit. Now, I'm beginning to think that Ryan Shazier will be the Vikings choice. #8 is thought to be a little early for Shazier but who really knows.
Donald is probably the most likely on the above list to be selected in the top-10. For that reason, a trade down could be the ideal move for the Vikings. If they were to do that, I wouldn't want to see the move beyond the midpoint of the first round. A move down like that would likely add, hopefully, a second round pick.
Spielman has traded back into the bottom of the first round each of the past two drafts. Each move has been excellent, adding safety Harrison Smith and receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. If Bridgewater does fall, as many have speculated, I would love to see Spielman make it three in a row. The last third of the first round might be the best spot in the entire draft to grab a quarterback. Moving up to that part of the draft for any of the top six or seven quarterbacks, even if that quarterback isn't Bridgewater, might be a nice move. If the Vikings want one of those quarterbacks, I don't think that they can wait for their second round pick, 40th overall.
Ryan Shazier, Aaron Donald, and C.J. Mosley are three of my favorite players in this draft. I'd like to see all of them on the Vikings. I don't want to see any of them on the Vikings' rivals in the NFC North. Donald has been linked to the Chicago Bears in most mocks. I doubt that he's still on the board when the Bears pick at #14. Good thing. Shazier and Mosley have been linked to the Green Bay Packers. Hopefully neither one makes it all the way to #21.
This is the sixth time that the Vikings have picked in the top-10 since 2000. It's nice to have a high pick on draft day. You just don't want to go through the season that puts you there. The Vikings earned five of those spots. The sixth they got as a result of the 2005 trade of Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders. I hope that the 2014 NFL Draft is the last time that the Vikings earn a spot in the top-10.
Is it 5:00 yet?
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