2012 Draft Revisted

The Minnesota Vikings 2012 NFL Draft was the first draft that general manager Rick Spielman could call his own. Before that, he was part of an often clunky decision-making process. In 2012, he was promoted to general manager and final personnel decisions were his. The Vikings 2012 Draft intially looked great. Having two first round picks helped. Going into the third season since the players were selected, the draft looks even better.

Minnesota Vikings 2012 NFL Draft
1a. Matt Kalil  T  USC
1b. Harrison Smith  S  Notre Dame
3.   Josh Robinson  CB  Central Florida
4a. Jarius Wright  WR  Arkansas
4b. Rhett Ellison  TE  USC
4c. Greg Childs  WR  Arkansas
5.   Robert Blanton  S  Notre Dame
6.   Blair Walsh  K  Georgia
7a. Audie Cole  LB  North Carolina St.
7b, Trevor Guyton  DE  California

Ten players drafted. 8 players still on the team. Guyton was the only player drafted in 2012 to be released in the cut-down to the 53-man roster. Childs had one of the more unusual and brutal injuries in his first training camp. In the first team scrimmage of that 2012 training camp, Childs went up for a pass reception and came down with a torn patellar tendon in each knee. He severely injured both knees by simply jumping up and coming down awkwardly. He has busted his ass over the past two seasons in an effort to come back. Last March, the Vikings decided that his return to the field was probably never going to happen and released him. The Jaguars gave him a tryout but wasn't offered a contract. He's now in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts still trying to get back to the player that he was in college. Childs' story is a sad story in that he was simply a victim of horrible luck. The talent and effort to make it in the NFL was there. His knees simply didn't hold up.

The eight players that remain have all made an impact. Some have made significant impacts. Matt Kalil and Blair Walsh both made the Pro Bowl following their rookie seasons. Kalil had some difficulties last season, perhaps due to injuries, but he has the talent to be one of the best tackles in the game. Harrison Smith will soon be a Pro Bowl regular. Josh Robinson had a solid rookie season but followed that with a rough sophomore season. If head coach Mike Zimmer and secondary coach Jerry Gray keep doing what they're doing, Robinson could be an impact corner. His interception just before the half in week one against the St. Louis Rams turned the game. Wright has had some great moments. Whenever the ball has gone his way he's made plays. Rhett Ellison is a key offensive performer in all of the ways that don't show up in the box score. A tremendous blocker. He can make an offense go without touching the ball. Robert Blanton earned the starting safety spot opposite Smith this year. Audie Cole lost the battle for the middle linebacker spot to Jasper Brinkley. He's still a key contributor on special teams and a solid back-up.

Years from now, the Vikings 2012 Draft could be looked upon as the start of something pretty great. The overly optimistic may already look at this draft as the start of the best years of Vikings football. Especially when one considers the possibility that the 2013 and 2014 Drafts might end up being even stronger drafts. Pretty much everything that Rick Spielman has done since he was elevated to general manager in 2012 has been looking pretty positive. No one can say that any of the decisions are truly successful until some Lombardi trophies are brought back to Minnesota. One thing that is known is that, on paper, Spielman had an 80% success rate in the 2012 NFL Draft. That's rare.