Thanks to a Day 1 trade that brought two third-round picks, the Minnesota Vikings came to Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft loaded with picks. Four picks. All in the third round. They had no second-round picks. It was assumed that Rick Spielman would use a couple of the four third- and three fourth-round picks to move into the second-round. The Vikings couldn’t possibly sit out the entirety of the second round. They did sit out the entirety of the second round. They did use all four of those third-round picks. No trades. Seeing Spielman not trading on Day 2 was a remarkable a thing. The Vikings added four new players to their roster on Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Minnesota Vikings Draft Day 3 Selections
3(66) Kellen Mond, QB, Texas A&M
3(78) Chazz Surratt, LB, North Carolina
3(86) Wyatt Davis, OG, Ohio State
3(90) Patrick Jones II, Edge, Pittsburgh
In the lead up to the draft I suppose I thought once or twice about the Vikings selecting a quarterback earlier than the seventh round. When I thought about that quarterback he was usually Kellen Mond or Stanford’s Davis Mills. Kirk Cousins is only 32, turning 33 in August. More significantly, Cousins is getting very expensive very quickly. The Vikings needed to add a quarterback more promising than a seventh-round flier. They needed a quarterback option before Cousins needed a new contract. Mond looks to be that quarterback. He isn’t ready for the NFL but he might be when the Vikings need him to be. The curious situation with Mond is that he’s a quarterback that requires some refinement. He comes to a team that has an offensive coordinator in his first year (Klint Kubiak) and a quarterback coach (Andrew Janocko) in his first year. Everyone is new to their job. Not only that, getting Mond ready for the NFL isn’t the present primary focus of Kubiak or Janocko. It’s going to be fun. By fun, I mean annoying. Come training camp, Kirk Cousins might be the second most talked about Vikings quarterback. Everyone loves a new quarterback. A question now is if Kellen Mond, and not a slightly more pricey veteran, is the backup to Kirk Cousins. The Vikings can’t stash their rookie quarterback on the practice squad. Unless he’s injured, Mond’s on the roster. If he’s not the backup, the Vikings are carrying three quarterback.
A criticism of Kellen Mond is that he has the robotic stiffness often found in Jimbo Fisher-coached quarterbacks. The same criticism was planted on every quarterback that Jeff Tedford sent to the NFL. It can be argued that a reason Aaron Rodgers dropped to the Green Bay Packers in the 2005 NFL Draft is Akili Smith and Joey Harrington. Did Kellen Mond drop to the top of the third round because of Christian Ponder and E.J. Manuel? Who knows? I don’t. I do know that I’ve never been surprised by Rodgers’ success in the NFL. I expected it. He was one of the best college quarterbacks I’ve ever seen. NFL teams should realize that they are drafting a football player and not necessarily the player created by their college coaches. Aaron Rodgers wasn’t solely a Jeff Tedford and Kellen Mond isn’t solely a Jimbo Fisher creation. Both are simply quarterbacks that were given an NFL opportunity.
Enough about the quarterback. The Vikings selected three more players in the third round.
Chazz Surratt has been a draft evaluation curiosity for me. He went to North Carolina as a quarterback and started his career there as a quarterback. He switched to linebacker after a couple years and quickly took to the position. He took to the position quick enough that he was drafted with the 15th pick of the third round. His best linebacker days are clearly in front of him. Until then, I expect Surratt to be dynamite on special teams.
I’m penciling Wyatt Davis in as one of the starting guards. The Vikings not only needed to improve the talent on the offensive line. They needed to add some size, strength, and power to the offensive line. I really like first round pick Christian Darrisaw and Davis joining Brian O’Neill, Garrett Bradbury, and Ezra Cleveland on the offensive line. I like the potential of that offensive line. I finally see promise in the Vikings offensive line.
My curiosity of Wyatt Davis reached another level when I learned that he’s the grandson of Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis. I wish that grandpa was around to see grandson head to Minnesota.
The Vikings need a passing rushing threat opposite Danielle Hunter. I was thinking Oklahoma’s Ronnie Perkins or UAB’s Jordan Smith with the 90th pick of the draft. The Vikings went with Patrick Jones II. I’m a Jones fan now. He’ll compete with Stephen Weatherly, D.J. Wonnum, Jalyn Holmes, Kenny Willekes and others for snaps. With the exceptional defensive line teachings of Andre Patterson, I can’t help but imagine raw talented pass rushers like Wonnum and Jones turning into another Danielle Hunter.
It was an interesting Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft. A quarterback, a linebacker that was once a quarterback, a guard, and a defensive end. The latter two weren’t surprising. The first two were a little surprising. Wyatt Davis is the standout pick of Day 2. I expect that he’ll be a Day 1 starter. Mond is intriguing in the long run. I wouldn’t be surprised if Surratt ends up being the surprise of this draft. There’s something about that kid. Jones is a raw, talented pass rusher. The Vikings have a strong track record of making those players better.
The Vikings have the following picks today:
4(119)
4(125)
4(134)
5(157)
5(168)
6(199)
Receiver? Safety? Cornerback? Defensive tackle? Kicker!
No comments:
Post a Comment