It's been two weeks since the Minnesota Vikings kicked off their 2017 Draft with the surprising selection of Florida State running back Dalvin Cook in the second round. The pick was only a surprise because Cook wasn't supposed to be there. With two weeks of pondering, theorizing, analyzing, debating, and many other such things here's a better than knee-jerk look at the Vikings' picks.
The 11 players that the Vikings selected in the 2017 NFL Draft.
2. Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
3. Pat Elflein, C, Ohio State
4. Jaleel Johnson, DT, Iowa
4. Ben Gedeon, LB, Michigan
5. Rodney Adams, WR, South Florida
5. Danny Isidora, G, Miami
6. Bucky Hodges, TE, Virginia Tech
7. Stacy Coley, WR, Miami
7. Ifeadi Odenigbo, DE, Northwestern
7. Elijah Lee, LB, Kansas State
7. Jack Tocho, S, North Carolina State
NFL Media Draft Analyst Lance Zierlein recently posted his best and worst picks for each team. He chose Pat Elflein as the Vikings best pick and Ben Gedeon as the worst pick. With the tremendous need on the offensive line, it's not wrong at all to tap Elflein as the the top pick. Even over Cook. The He has the talent, smarts, and work ethic to be a decade-long starter. The Vikings have been looking for a lineman like that for too long. Even if he's a safe pick he's an easy pick. The choice of Ben Gedeon as the worst pick wasn't a surprise either. Many fans weren't too fond of the pick either. In Zierlein's words, "Gedeon has decent quickness but might lack the speed necessary to play in the NFL. If the Vikings were just looking for a backup with special teams ability, I might have waited another round." I tend to look at the Vikings' drafts more optimistically than most. Mostly because their decision-makers know these players better than me. There's no way for me to know whether any of the players that I like best truly fit into the schemes and plans of the Vikings. That being said, I had become a big fan of Utah guard Isaac Asiata through the draft process. I would've been elated if the Vikings had selected Asiata with the second of their two fourth round picks. He ended up being selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round. Asiata, by the way, was Zierlein's choice for the Dolphins' best pick. The Vikings did address the guard position in the fifth when they chose Danny Isidora. If Asiata had been the pick in the fourth, the second fifth round pick could've been used for a safety such as Nebraska's Nate Gerry. While I really like Asiata, I was fine with Isidora. As the long draft evaluation process shook out I began to really like the guards that were projected to go in the 4th- and 5th-rounds. It was a group led by Asiata, Isidora, and Nico Siragusa and a group that I actually liked better than those that were projected to be drafted earlier.
As I think more about the Vikings' draft I like it more. Cook and Elflein could/should be Day 1 starters. Jaleel Johnson should play a prominent role in the interior defensive line rotation. With the uncertainty surrounding the knee of defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, he might even end up as a starter. Isidora will compete for the right guard job. Rodney Adams is probably first up for kick return duties. Stacy Coley will compete with Adams for return and receiver opportunities. Bucky Hodges will probably have an immediate role in the red zone. His length and speed could be a nightmare matchup for defenses. Ifaedi Odenigbo is a developmental defensive end. Jack Tocho will be part of a very crowded competition for safety duties next to Harrison Smith. A very optimistic look at the Vikings draft can find starters/eventual starters in Cook, Elflein, Johnson, Isidora, perhaps even Tocho and prominent situational players in Adams and Hodges.
Then there's the two linebackers. My own view of the perfect linebacker to replace the retired Chad Greenway is a speedy, sideline-to-sideline playmaking, big safety, smallish linebacker sort of player. Actually, a player much like seventh-round pick Elijah Lee. In fact, Lee was a part of nearly every one of my Vikings mock drafts in the final weeks before the draft. It's difficult to accept but the Vikings might not be looking for that sort of linebacker for their base defense. They might be looking for a linebacker like Ben Gedeon. A player that packs a wallop against the run in the team's base defense. NFL defenses are becoming more situation-based with each passing season and Gedeon, with his "limited speed," has the tools to be effective in certain situations. Imagine that, a team picking the sort of player that can play a role in their defense. I do think that the perfect Vikings weak-side linebacker is some combination of Gedeon and Lee. That sounds like the singer for Rush.
I liked this draft immediately. I like it even more with a couple of weeks to ponder it. But that's only on paper. All of the 11 players will get their NFL shot this spring and summer.
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