Luft’s Locker Room

Posts Tagged ‘NFL Draft’

There really aren’t that many spots open on the roster from this team that almost [and should have] won the NFC Championship in 2009. Did the Minnesota Vikings and improve the team for the short term and for the long term? That is the questions need to be answered coming out of 2010 NFL draft held for the first time on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The new format of having round one in prime time on Thursday followed by rounds two and three on prime time on Friday was a little different to get used to things felt dragged out. But the anticipation going from one day to the next, especially after the Vikings traded down out of the first round with Detroit, was palpable. Here are my impressions of what came of it.

The picks…

2 – Chris Cook, CB, Virginia (6-2, 212)

2 – Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford (6-0, 231)

4 – Everson Griffen, DE, USC (6-3, 273)

5 – Chris DeGeare, G, Wake Forest (6-4, 325)

5 – Nate Triplett, LB, Minnesota (6-3, 250)

6 – Joe Webb, WR, UAB (6-3, 223)

7 – Mickey Shuler, TE, Penn State (6-4, 245)

7 – Ryan D’Imperio, LB, Rutgers (6-1, 244)

In that second round and in the second position the Minnesota Vikings selected Virginia cornerback Chris Cook. He is 6’2” 212 pounds and ran a 4.49 40 during the combine. He is reported to have good skills and fit perfectly into a cover two defense. He may not be as aggressive as Cedric Griffin or Antoine Winfield but should do well to learn behind them. I am anxious to see how he does against the tall receivers of the NFL. His long arms should be great at batting down incoming passes. He will definitely get his chance practicing against Sidney Rice.

My favorite pick in the draft came next. The Vikings rolled up their third round draft choice to move up and select Toby Gerhart, running back out of Stanford. This is a guy who ran for over 1800 yards last season and emulates his running style after Adrian Peterson. Talk about a 1-2 punch of a power running game. Toby can easily spell Adrian and get those close up yards needed during a game. His only question mark is whether he can catch the ball well, because he didn’t have to do a lot of it in the Stanford offense. On top of his aggressive running, what I like is that he is not afraid to take on the block and can easily stand a man driven him up and drive him back.

After no sexy picks in the first round, and waiting 24 hours, Cook and Gerhart taken in the second round will definitely see playing time.

As part of the trade with Detroit on Thursday, the Vikings moved into the second selection position at the start of Saturday’s continuation of the draft. With that pick they selected the first-round talent of USC’s Everson Griffen, a defensive end. This might very well be the steal of the draft. The young man had question marks around his commitment level and attitude, but I believe coach Carl Dunbar will rectify that just as he did with Jimmy Kennedy. With Ray Edwards feeling a little disgruntled over his restricted free-agent tender level, I could see Ray pressing to leave again next year and Everson and Brian Robison will be battling for the starting position on the left side. This high value selection will definitely contribute to the D line rotation this year.

The Vikings tried to bolster the offense in line by selecting Chris DeGeare, a guard out of Lake Forest that can play guard and tackle and will hope to compete on the right side. I would suspect however his chance to make the team will be as a backup, because offensive linemen take a while to develop. With that in mind, the biggest non-draft news coming out of the draft was that the New York Jets released former Pro Bowler Alan Fanaca. If there is any possible way that the Vikings can seduce Allen to come rejoin Brett Favre and move to the right guard position, the Vikings would have the best offensive line in the NFL. Imagine that in front of Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart.

The remaining four selections in the draft of Nate Triplett, Joe Webb, Mickey Shuler, and Ryan D’Imperio we’ll have to make their names known on special teams. Nate is a local boy that played for the Gophers, and should work his way over the next couple years into his starting position possibly replacing Ben Leber. Until that time, he will need to focus himself as a special teams ace in the mold of teammate Heath Farwell.

Joe Weber was a quarterback at the University of Alabama Birmingham, but was drafted as a receiver. His chances at making the team are on his special teams play, his versatility could also make for another weapon in the Wildcat formation. Mickey Shuler, a 6’4” 245 pound tight end out of Penn State, is in a prime spot to earn a spot on the roster and maybe replacing Jimmy Kleinsasser in the future. He will have a lot of work to do to make that third tight end spot knowing that Visanthe Shiancoe and Jimmy have the first two. Ryan D’Imperio was a linebacker at Rutgers but it was reported that the Vikings had him doing some fullback drills at his workout. It will be interesting to see which side of the ball Ryan will play the most on, pushing Naufahu Tahi for the starting FB position or being a special teamer on all 4 special teams.

Shortly after the draft, the Minnesota Vikings win on their undrafted free agent acquisition spree and signed 10 additional players and even more trying out next weekend for the rookie OTA. They are…

R.J. Archer, QB, William & Mary

Thomas Austin, OG, Clemson

Matt Hanson, OT, Midwestern State

Tommy Hernandez, C, UC-Davis

Aaron Rhea, Stephen F. WR, Austin

Terrell Skinner, SS, Maryland

Ray Small, WR, Ohio State

Kelton Tindal, WR, Newberry

Angelo Williams, CB, Ferris State

Marlon Winn, OT, Texas Tech

With hard work, a lot of study and a little bit of luck, these fine young men can keep their NFL dreams alive. They will definitely be camp fodder, they may be cut just to be picked up somewhere else, but if they make enough of an impression they can make the practice squad and stay a member of the organization.

I would like to welcome these newest members of the Minnesota Vikings in this 50^th season of passion that we greatest of all fans are celebrating, and hope they contribute to the goal of the first Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl victory.