1. I miss Kyle Rudolph. I enjoy the strategy and the process of NFL team building. I hate the business of it. I know that the decision to release Rudolph was as much about football as it was about money. Rudolph and the Vikings had very different opinions as to where he is in his career. His role in Minnesota’s offense was going to diminish. He felt that it should expand. I’m going into my sixth decade as a fan of the Vikings. So few of the team’s great players during that time have played their entire career in Minnesota. Mick Tingelhoff and Matt Blair come to mind from those early years. Jim Kleinsasser and Chad Greenway from more recent years. Kyle Rudolph meant so much to the team and the community. I hoped that he’d play his entire career in Minnesota. I miss him and he has yet to play a football game in another uniform.
2. It looks like Pro Football Talk is doing it’s rumor-mongering best to push a Russell Wilson to Chicago offseason. “Bears are prioritizing a run at Wilson.” Great. And the Vikings are prioritizing a run at Patrick Mahomes. I love football’s offseason but I hate this “hot take” shit.
3. Welcome Back Stephen Weatherly. When the Carolina Panthers released him a few weeks ago I hoped that the Vikings would bring him back to Minnesota. I’m not sure that he’s the team’s answer to start opposite Danielle Hunter on the defensive line. He should be a strong contributor in the line’s rotation. Nearly as much as I like his return to the Vikings on the field I like his return to the locker room. He’s a bright, interesting, quirky individual. During his first four years in Minnesota I think that his teammates considered him weird. It’s a good weird.
4. ESPN Draft Analyst Mel Kiper listed his ten highest-graded quarterbacks. He’s been evaluating draft prospects professionally since 1979. He’s graded a lot of quarterbacks. Here’s his Top 10.
1. John Elway, Stanford, 1983
2. Andrew Luck, Stanford, 2012
3. Peyton Manning, Tennessee, 1998
4. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson, 2021
5. Jim Kelly, Miami, 1983
6. Andre Ware, Houston, 1990
7. Drew Bledsoe, Washington State, 1993
8. Ryan Leaf, Washington State, 1998
9. Troy Aikman, UCLA, 1989
10. Josh Allen, Wyoming, 2018
I’ve never understood the great pre-draft love for Ryan Leaf. I never understood the debate over Leaf and Peyton Manning for the #1 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. In my mind, there was no debate. Manning was the easy choice. I would’ve selected Charles Woodson or Randy Moss before I considered Leaf. Hell, I would’ve selected Alan Faneca before I considered Leaf. I don’t like my quarterback to be a douche. And Leaf had a very high douche quality to him. Despite not caring at all for Leaf in 1998, he’s had one of the most impressive and inspiring personal transformations I’ve ever seen. It took him a while to get there but Ryan Leaf is no longer a douche.
5. A highly graded quarterback not on Kiper’s list that really intrigued me at the time was Steve McNair. The Vikings had the 11th and 24th picks in the 1995 NFL Draft. There were many nights that spring I dreamed that the Vikings used those picks to trade up to select the Alcorn State quarterback. Dennis Green went through a pile of quarterbacks in the 1990s. He had Warren Moon at the time. It would’ve been a beautiful situation to have McNair get up to NFL speed for a season while Moon continued to throw darts around the field. My spring dreams never became real and the Houston Oilers selected McNair at #3.
6. The Vikings are sure to look at all options before making a decision on offensive tackle Riley Reiff. One thing that the team’s decision-makers must be looking at is the offensive tackles that could be available to them in the 2021 NFL Draft. There will be 13 players selected before the Vikings are on the clock.
4 quarterbacks should be among those picks.
3 receivers should be among those picks.
1 tight end should be among those picks.
At least 1 cornerback should be among those picks.
The top of the offensive tackle rankings look something like this:
Penei Sewell, Oregon
Rashawn Slater, Northwestern
Alijah Vera-Tucker, USC
Christian Darrisaw, Virginia Tech
Any of the four would be a first-year starter for any team that drafts them. While I believe that it’s unlikely that either Penei Sewell or Rashawn Slater is available at #14, Alijah Vera-Tucker and Christian Darrisaw should be. Who knows? Maybe a measurables-centric team prefers Darrisaw or Vera-Tucker to the less than ideally sized Slater. Slater would look beautiful on the left side of the Vikings offensive line. If the Vikings do re-structure Reiff’s contract, they have their current left tackle for a couple more seasons. He did have perhaps the best year of his career last year. That would allow the Vikings to focus on other pressing needs at #14. If they do look to their first pick for the answer at left tackle, they’ll have excellent options.
7. My current preferences for that #14 pick probably look something like this:
Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern
Alijah Vera-Tucker, OT, USC
Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Christian Barmore, DT, Alabama
Kwity Paye, Edfge, Michigan
Trevon Moehrig, S, TCU
8. A player that’s rising in my draft thoughts is Alabama interior offensive lineman Landon Dickerson. If he hadn’t torn his ACL in the SEC Championship game he might’ve a top 10-15 selection. He still might be. A couple months removed from the injury he’s already doing some freaky work on that leg. Still, selecting a player in the first round that suffered a torn ACL five months earlier is a gamble. Dickerson’s the sort of player and person that might be worth the gamble.
9. Some Vikings fans and those that cover the team lost their minds when Daniel Jeremiah mocked Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith to their team. It’s funny to see people amped up over a late February mock draft. Jeremiah knows his stuff. Unlike most doing mocks he’s actually done the work. It’s still a mock draft. And it’s February. While I believe that their first pick is better used on a player at another position I wouldn’t be disappointed if Smith is the Vikings pick. This team has many needs. Does the order in which they address those needs in the draft really matter? If Smith is the best player on the board, fine. If the choice is between Rashawn Slater and DeVonta Smith, I’m picking Slater.
10. This should be a busy week of contract work for the Vikings front office.
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