Ian Rapoport of NFL Network set the rumormill on fire this morning when he indicated that the Chicago bears like linebacker Manti Te’o so much that the Vikings will have to leapfrog them in the first round if they really covet him, and then Rapoport said that’s what the Vikings plan on doing.
Now, we haven’t seen a whole ton of “smoke” coming out of Winter Park leading up to the Draft thus far, but I have a feeling that some games are being played here and Rapoport is simply a pawn.
We’ve been saying all offseason that Manti Te’o makes sense for the Vikings, and the Vikings make even more sense for Manti Te’o, but I am not sure this is the type of year the Vikings should be sacrificing multiple picks to trade upwards in the first round. This wouldn’t be the first time these two teams have engaged in some gamesmanship this offseason, as evidenced by the inflated contract Phil Loadholt signed during the opening days of free agency.
We’re only a few hours from speculation becoming reality (or fiction), but the Manti Te’o situation is certainly the one to keep a close eye on as the evening progresses.
I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve just about thrown in the towel on the whole mock draft thing this year.
It isn’t for a lack of preparation. It isn’t a lack of confidence in my evaluations. It isn’t for a lack of reading “this will 100% happen” or “there is no way that happens” from various media outlets or from fans. It certainly isn’t for a lack of caring.
I just find this draft class to be so incredibly unpredictable. The lack of quarterback talent will test teams with the need for a new one. The incredible depth at the defensive line and secondary positions makes it very hard to stack the talent with any conviction. With the Vikings now having two first round picks to work with, and a roster with plenty of needs, their draft possibilities seem even more endless than usual.
Setting all that aside, however, I now present you with my final 2013 NFL Mock Draft with just hours to go until the real thing goes down tonight.
When it comes to the NFL Draft I am pretty sure even Pinocchio would attempt to float a lie or nine if he were in charge of a war room.
Vikings G.M. Rick Spielman has been giving his obligatory pre-Draft interviews and anyone that knows anything about how this whole thing plays out knows you shouldn’t read too much into the what he says. Heck, last year he not only convinced a good number of fans that he might pick someone other than Matt Kalil, he convinced the Browns to move up one spot in exchange for a few picks.
This year Spielman is saying that he is unlikely to move up in the first round of the draft and has received numerous calls about the possibility of moving backwards from either the #23 or #25 spots. Some cynics (anybody know one?) might take his words to mean that he wants to move up in the first round and has received absolutely no interest from other teams about the possibility of trading back.
The thing about that, however, is this year Spielman’s comments actually make enough sense that you can’t help but believe him. The Vikings have enough needs on the roster that sacrificing quantity in an effort to move forwards in the first round doesn’t pass the smell test, and the way the quarterback class is shaping up this year could indeed mean he has already received genuine interest in his current picks from teams drafting at the top of the second round.
One thing I certainly don’t buy is Spielman’s insistence that he would feel comfortable heading into training camp with Erin Henderson as his top choice at the middle linebacker spot.
“No, that’s flexible,” said Spielman. ”That depends on what happens in the draft. If we go outside, Erin can slide inside or if we go inside Erin can play outside. That’s what is great about this linebacker thing. We have the flexibility to go either way.”
I know Henderson provides them with some flexibility, and has some experience at the position, but the Vikings just simply cannot have him starting anywhere other than on the weakside if they want to call this offseason a success.
The Vikings have been handing out clues to registered fans regarding their new on-field look leading up to their Draft Party unveiling scheduled for Thursday. The website UniWatch, decided not to make fans wait and leaked a picture of new NFL uniforms a couple of days early.
I’m in full blown Draft mode, and certainly no fashion designer, so I won’t get into this much at all and instead just link to the leaked photo and let you discuss the changes as you please.
The Vikings still plan a more ceremonious unveiling on Thursday.
Pat Williams will go down in history as one of the great all time undrafted players to make it in the NFL.
He played 14 seasons in the NFL, much of which was with the Vikings as part of the formidable ”WilliamsWall.” Following the 2010 season, however, the Vikings opted to move on from Pat and he was unable to catch on with any other team. It is now being reported that Williams will sign a one day deal to officially retire as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.
Congratulations to Pat on a fine career that should eventually land him a place in Minnesota’s Ring of Honor. The team has yet to find someone capable of filling his shoes after two and a half offseasons, which is only one of many ways we can point out just how great he was at what he did.
The NFL Draft has the same allure as a record Powerball jackpot.
Men (and some women) from around the globe converge onto the internet for about 11 and a half months to try an predict, analyze, and grade the next year of fresh prospects. We follow their every move, chart their plays, scour police blotters, and argue about their potential all the way up until their names are called… and then some more.
I’m not going to say that analysts, bloggers, or fans know nothing about these prospects. They know quite a bit, actually, and it really is impressive how much more the common man knows about Tyrann Mathieu’s pee than he knows about… oh, we’ll go with Darfur here in order to maintain my long and proud tradition of being completely cliche.
While we know quite a bit about these prospects, and know even more about the rosters that make up our favorite teams, the truth is that the ultimate reality show that is the NFL Draft process gets it’s appeal from the fact that it is almost completely, utterly, 100 percent unpredictable. Outside of some obvious top three picks, the only thing that is predictable about the NFL Draft is that it will be unpredictable (see, cliche after cliche, I can’t help myself).
Now, I have been predicting all offseason long that the Vikings would aim to select Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o in the first round of this week’s Draft, and wavered on that prediction only momentarily between Percy Harvin’s departure from Minnesota and Greg Jennings’ arrival.
That is why I was shocked to see someone much older, much more experienced, and someone that is supposed to be much wiser than me make a bold and perhaps foolish statement.
[Note: Want to see a list of every player featured in our "Draft Target" segment? Click here to visit the Offseason Tracker where there will be a list of all these players. Check back often as there are plenty more to come!]
Alabama defensive tackle Jesse Williams has become one of the more divisive prospects in this class that doesn’t have any known drug test fails, arrests, or fake girlfriends. Many draftniks consider Williams to be a top 20 talent while others view him as an average talent, such as NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock who ranks Williams at #97 on his big board.
I’m more in the middle of these two sets of opinions, with Williams currently #64 on our VT Big Board, and Williams certainly possesses some traits that should be desirable to the Vikings front office.
Williams is a mammoth of a man at 6′ 3″ and 323 pounds and displays incredible strength, posting 30 bench press reps at the Combine and also reportedly capable of benching 600 pounds. He uses his brute strength on the field to manhandle opposing blockers, play two gaps at a time, and fairly consistently pushes the pocket in a disruptive manner. With some NFL coaching helping to clean up his fundamentals, he may end up having one of the most feared bull rushes in the NFL. He has the versatility to play multiple positions in just about any defensive scheme and has experience to prove it.
Despite his versatility, my main concern with Williams is that he seems very one dimensional and will be strictly a two-down player. He lacks the speed, range, and pass rushing arsenal to be much more than that. He wasn’t even an every-down player in college, and seemed to get very quiet for Alabama as games wore on, which suggests that conditioning could be a significant issue especially since motivation and hustle do not seem to be the problem.
Pat Williams is someone the Vikings have yet to adequately replace, and a lot of that has to do with just how unique of a player Pat was, and I don’t see Williams being of a similar ilk. He could eat up space and double teams on running downs, and his strength could cause him to make the occasional splash play, but he would certainly be part of a rotation as more of a role player. That role, however, is one that is very important to the Vikings defense and one he will surely succeed at playing.
The Australian-born Williams started out by playing for a junior college in Arizona before deciding to jump to Alabama in 2011. He then started all 13 games as a five-technique defensive end and notched 24 total tackles, four of which were for a loss.
Last season he moved to the full-time starting position at nose tackle where he started all but one game, having to sit one out because of concussion symptoms, which of course is a concern in this modern-day era of the NFL. He was more productive in this role, however, and managed 37 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, two half sacks, a blocked kick, and numerous reps as the lead blocker in Alabama’s goalline plays.
I see Williams as a run stuffing rotational player that is both physically limited and in possession of untapped potential at the same time. He still has room to improve on the things he is proficient at, as his football experience isn’t as extensive as American-born prospects, and the Vikings could certainly stand to benefit from him falling to them in the second or third rounds.
CalVkg (887)
B. Grant (803)
bjohnny (689)
Purple Charlie (683)
Tomb... (602)
Fran the Man (588)
Skol12 (532)
Norseman66 (481)
c.carterhof (457)
wtfvikesfan (449)
Recent comments