It's hard to believe that the 2014 NFL Draft was a week ago. The build-up to the draft has always felt like an eternity. The idiotic move to a May draft made it excruciatingly long this year. Here's hoping that never happens again. Time has simply whizzed by since Roger Goodell put the Houston Texans on the clock last Thursday night. Time flies when you're having fun and not waiting for a May draft. Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman has made the first round quite fun the last three years. He's made the first round his little playground. Winning in the NFL is easier with high-end talent spread across the roster. The Vikings have been thirsty for that sort of talent. They had a very talented roster that peaked in 2009. That talent had been draining away ever since. Enter Spielman.
The Vikings hired Rick Spielman following the 2006 NFL Draft. He was officially the Vice President of Player Personnel. That's basically a person with a general manager's responsibilities without a general manager's final say in team decisions. The Vikings had a clunky decision-making machine that seemed to be run by head coach Brad Childress. It can't be denied that Childress put together a talented football team. That team was about a play from the Super Bowl in 2009. It just fell apart fast and it cost Childress his job. Spielman's role grew once Childress was no longer in the building. While still a VP in name, Spielman was more of a GM for the 2012 NFL Draft. He was officially named the Minnesota Vikings general manager in 2013. He's been in charge of the last three drafts. The first rounds of those drafts have been a blast. All have been in prime time and it would have been a mistake to turn in early if you were a Vikings fan.
The top talent in any draft is found in the first round. No surprise there. Rick Spielman has apparently made it a goal to grab as many of those players as he can. He's managed to trade back into the first round in each of the last three drafts. The Vikings have seven first round picks from those three drafts. In 2012, he drafted USC tackle Matt Kalil with the fourth pick. Not content with improving only the offensive line in the first round, Spielman found a willing trading partner in the Baltimore Ravens. The Vikings moved into the Ravens #29 spot and selected Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith. In 2013, the Vikings entered the draft with two picks in the first round. The extra pick came from the Seattle Seahawks in the Percy Harvin trade. Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd was supposed to be a top-10 pick. When he was still on the board for the Vikings first pick at #23, they changed their draft plans. They selected Floyd. At #25, the Seahawks pick, the Vikings selected Florida St. cornerback Xavier Rhodes. Spielman was doing a quick post-picks press conference when he was suddenly called back to the draft room. He has made it standard practice to probe teams picking at the end of the first round for any trade interest. It's clearly worked. Last year, the New England Patriots were interested. The Patriots traded their #29. With the pick the Vikings selected Tennessee receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. It's my understanding that the Vikings intended to select Rhodes and Patterson at #23 and #25. When Floyd was still on the board those plans changed. They still wanted Patterson and found a way to get him. Could it happen three years in a row? It couldn't. It did. Last Thursday, the Vikings selected UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr with the #9 pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. Again, they started probing for potential trade interest among teams picking at #20 and later. There were reports that they had a shot at the Philadelphia Eagles pick at #22. The Browns beat them to that pick. The Vikings finally found a taker in the Seattle Seahawks at #32. With that pick, the Vikings selected Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The result of Rick Spielman's first round dealings has brought seven first round picks to Minnesota in the last three years. That's an influx of talent that the team has greatly needed.
Matt Kalil
Harrison Smith
Sharrif Floyd
Xavier Rhodes
Cordarrelle Patterson
Anthony Barr
Teddy Bridgewater
Kalil and Patterson have already played in a Pro Bowl. Smith and Rhodes look like two of the top young defensive backs in the game. After a season in the defensive line rotation, Floyd is penciled in as starter for this season. If everything goes as planned, Barr is the opening day strong-side linebacker. Of course, everything revolves around the quarterback. Bridgewater was drafted to be the franchise quarterback. These seven players are franchise cornerstones for the next decade. It's still way too early for a final grade but, right now, Spielman's first round dealings look terrific. He's also pulled off these deals often enough that they are probably expected now. I know that last Thursday night I was eyeing the icons at the bottom of NFL Network's telecast expecting the little Seahawks helmet to switch to a little Vikings helmet as an indication that Rick Spielman had done it again.
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