Vikings Sign Two More Draft Picks

Vikings sign two
Photo courtesy of Vikings.com

The Vikings’s busy Wednesday continued with the signing of two more draft picks: second-round pick Mackensie Alexander and seventh-round pick Stephen Weatherly. That makes four players signed for the day, after the deals reached with tight end David Morgan and safety Jayron Kearse earlier.

For Alexander, it was a four year deal worth $4.3 million, with a $1.34 million signing bonus, per Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.

The Vikings took Alexander with the 54th overall pick, though many had him rated higher. He was 16th on the Vikings Territory big board, and SI’s Doug Farrar had this to say about the pick:

[quote_box_center]How Alexander dropped to the end of the second round is a mystery, except to say that a lot of teams have biases against 5′ 10″ cornerbacks when they shouldn’t. Alexander is the best man coverage cornerback in this class, and he’ll be a perfect fit in Mike Zimmer’s aggressive defense. In the slot or outside, Alexander is at least a round better than this pick would indicate.[/quote_box_center]

There was also this from Walter Football:

[quote_box_center]Wow, what a steal. Mackensie Alexander would’ve been a first-round pick if he didn’t have the sort of character concerns that Tony Pauline reported about a week ago. Alexander doesn’t fill an immediate need, but he was just way too talented to pass up. Also, it should be noted that the Vikings will have some corners hitting free agency after 2016, so Alexander could step in and start in 2017.[/quote_box_center]

Alexander is best known for being a terrific cover corner who didn’t have a single interception in college. The VT readership was overall happy with the pick; 52 percent of you graded the pick an “A,” versus just over 3 percent who gave it a “D” or “F.” According to Pro Football focus, Alexander allowed only 33 percent of the passes thrown his way to be caught in 2015, best in the draft class.

For Weatherly, it was a $2.42 million deal over four years.

Weatherly is an excellent athlete with lots of upside, but he didn’t put it together at Vanderbilt. At 6’4″, 267 lbs, he played primarily linebacker in college, but Rick Spielman said the team expects to use him as a defensive end:

[quote_box_center]”Andre Patterson went all the way back to his freshman year in 2013 and pulled all his plays as a defensive end and I think it was about a 65 play clip so we sat there and watched him as a potential edge pass rusher because he has the length, he has size, and he has the speed,” Spielman said. “We will need some refinement from a technical standpoint, but he has a lot of upside as a pass rusher in a 4-3 defense.”[/quote_box_center]

Along with sixth-round pick Moritz Boehringer, that makes five out of eight total draft picks who have signed. The Vikings’ rookie minicamp starts Friday, and they’re expected to have the entire draft class in attendance.

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