NFL Draft 2012

Reviewing Spielman’s Track Record With KAB

April 1, 2013, by 22 comments

[Note From Adam:  One of my favorite sources of Vikings analysis and opinion comes from the "Kick Ass Blog" run by Darren Campbell.  Check them out often (they are on our blogroll forever)!  Darren was kind enough to provide us with a guest post outlining the successes and failures experienced in the NFL Draft since Rick Spielman has been with the Vikings.  Enjoy!]

Rick Spielman is in his eighth season with the Minnesota Vikings. He first joined the team as the club’s vice-president of player personnel. One of his jobs was preparing for the NFL’s college draft, which is something he continued to oversee after being named the Vikings general manager in 2012.

Up until he became GM last year, Spielman didn’t have full control over who made the Vikings roster. However, it’s fair to say he still had considerable influence on the process and over whom the team did and didn’t pick in each of the six drafts he’s been a part of.

This April’s draft will be Spielman’s seventh with the Vikings. And as it is April 1, I wanted to drill down and take a closer look at the players Minnesota has picked since 2007 and when they’ve picked them. Here is what I found.

1st round (#23 and 25th overall in 2013 draft)

Draft picks: Adrian Peterson (2007); Percy Harvin (2009); Christian Ponder (2011); Matt Kalil and Harrison Smith (2012)

Commentary: Your first round picks should be the ones you get right the majority of the time and that’s been true under Spielman. The Peterson and Harvin picks (even though things turned sour with Percy) were masterstrokes and though it’s still early, Kalil and Smith look like exceptional selections also. And let’s not forget the Vikings used their 2008 first round selection to help take defensive end Jared Allen (74 sacks in 80 games with Minnesota) off Kansas City’s hands. The only first rounder during Spielman’s tenure who looks iffy is Ponder- and this would be a huge whiff that could set the franchise back several seasons if CP7 can’t cut it as a starter. Still, given Spielman and the Vikings track record since 2007, there’s an excellent chance they will get some good players if the team keeps both the #23 and #25 overall selections. Spielman has chosen well in this round regardless of whether he’s had a top 10 pick – Peterson (#7) and Kalil (#4)  -or a late first rounder like Harvin (#22) or Smith (#29).

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Links Of The Week: First Wave Of Free Agency Is Over

March 21, 2013, by 26 comments

Well, the first wave of free agency has come and gone, and there were some fireworks involving our favorite team.  Percy Harvin was traded, Antoine Winfield was released, Greg Jennings and Matt Cassel were signed, and a lot of Vikings were retained.  Now it is time to put a nice exclamation point on this first wave as we wade closer into the second, and else edge towards the Draft.

 

How Well The Vikings Are Armed

January 12, 2013, by 28 comments

There will be plenty of discussion starting very soon about how the Vikings can attract, afford, and accumulate more talent throughout their roster.  First, let us take a look at how well armed the Vikings are in their quest to improve upon 2012.

First, Tom Pelissero writes that the Vikings should begin this offseason with about $12.3 million in cap space, a number that is above average for NFL teams.  These projections include deductions for earned incentives for players such as Antoine Winfield, as well as a bump stemming from cap violation penalties placed on the Redskins and Cowboys.

The team will probably want to start spending that cap space by retaining some of their 14 free agents, each of which are discussed here, before considering just who they might target when free agency opens up.

They may also increase their cap space depending on how they decide to proceed with veterans such as defensive tackle Kevin Williams, defensive end Jared Allen, cornerback Antoine Winfield, tight end John Carlson, and wide receiver Percy Harvin.

The Vikings are also armed with eight picks in the 2013 NFL Draft.  They have no picks in the sixth round, but two in both the fourth and seventh rounds.  Each of the other rounds, they have one pick in each.  While the official Draft order has yet to be released, the Vikings appear to be solidified as having the 23rd pick in the first round.  That is, of course, a full 20 spots lower than where they sat when Draft Day rolled around in 2012.

With plenty of cap space and Draft picks, this should be an exciting offseason to pay attention to, as Rick Spielman has plenty of fire power to keep building this team into one that can win a championship.

Grading Spielman’s First Offseason: The Second Half Of The 2012 Draft

January 11, 2013, by 34 comments

While the Vikings made an unexpected run at the playoffs I embarked on a quest to provide grades to each of Rick Spielman’s offseason moves to help us understand what happened, how it worked out, and what we might have to look forward to this coming offseason.

The part about free agency can be found by clicking here.  Meanwhile, you can click here to see my grades for the first picks of the 2012 Draft.  Now, we move into the lower half of the 2012 Draft to see exactly how things played out.

4.39 Greg Childs, WR:  The Vikings wanted to pair up Childs with fellow Arkansas teammate Jarius Wright, hoping to jump start their passing game by infusing some youthful talent.  Unfortunately, that strategy got derailed when Childs suffered a freak injury during the preseason.  He tore both of his patellar tendons in one shot and his rookie season was over before it began.

Injuries caused Childs to fall to the fourth round which has some critics pointing out that you cannot expect much more when you take a guy with red flags about his health.  No NFL player has ever returned from this injury, but Childs remains devoted to his rehabilitation and sounds very confident that he will.

The Vikings got no production out of this selection in 2012 after an impressive training camp, but there may still be some hope for the future.

GRADE:  C

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I Couldn’t Help Myself… Mock Draft 2.0

January 7, 2013, by 48 comments

If your team loses early in the postseason, and you have your own blog, then the reward is being able to turn your gaze towards the NFL Draft.  So, with the Vikings getting a slap upside the head from Green Bay last weekend, I couldn’t help but update my mock.

Last time around I assigned Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson to the Vikings.  Since then, however, the Vikings success meant they worked themselves all the way down to the 23rd selection and the more I looked at Richardson the more I am convinced he will be long gone by that point.

I ended up taking Richardson off the board at the 11th spot (Chargers) and had to see how things worked themselves out by the time the Vikings were “on the clock” in my mock.

A number of interesting option still existed at 23, which is a good sign for when the real deal actually rolls around, and I was awfully tempted to consider North Carolina State quarterback Mike Glennon.  While I think some quarterback-needy team might trade up to this point and try to grab Glennon, I just don’t see the Vikings realistically spending their first rounder on the quarterback position unless the coaching staff is suddenly and surprisingly dismissed… which won’t happen.

The Vikings will likely target a quarterback at some point in the Draft, but I highly doubt it’ll be that early, as they remain committed to developing Christian Ponder.

I did select someone on the offensive side of the football, however, and could help Ponder in his efforts to improve what has been a very lackluster passing game.

At #23, with USC’s Robert Woods the only other receiver selected prior, I assigned Tennessee product Cordarrelle Patterson to the Vikings.  The rest of the mock can be looked over by clicking here.

He has great size at 6’ 3” and 205 pounds and impressive elusiveness and has helped quarterback Tyler Bray lead an impressive passing game.  He has also contributed significantly by taking handoffs, returning punts, and returning kicks.  Sound familiar?

He is a physical receiver capable of out jumping most defenders, and possesses the ability to consistently make any catch he can get his hands on.  The only knock on Patterson is that he is still raw and needs to work on his route running, which is completely coachable.

For those unfamiliar with Patterson, here is a nice little highlight reel to get you familiarized.  At the very least, take note of how his legs never stop churning… despite the ridiculously long strides this guy take:

2013’s Opponents Are Known

January 1, 2013, by 27 comments

It feels wrong to already cast a gaze towards next season with a playoff game only four days away, but I wanted to point out that next year’s opponents are known.

Home: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers

Away: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals

There are a few things that jump out to me about this schedule.  First, it should be noted that the “home” game against the Steelers will indeed be played in London.  Obviously, that means home field advantage will not be at its normal heights and, in fact, the international stardom that the Steelers possess could mean the crowd is affecting the game in their favor.

Second, I can’t help but notice the plethora of mobile quarterbacks that will (most likely) face the Vikings.  Jay Cutler and Aaron Rodgers will of course be on the schedule twice.  Outside of them is RGIII, Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Romo, and Russell Wilson.  I’m not including Michael Vick because he is likely to be out in Philadelphia and I have no idea where he’ll end up.

Mobile quarterbacks have been an issue for the 2012 Vikings.  They lost games to Rodgers, Cutler, Andrew Luck, RGIII, Josh Freeman, and Wilson.  For the mathematicians in the group, all six of the Vikings losses were delivered by these shifty signal callers.

Of course, more recently, the Vikings have found success against Cutler and Rodgers at home, but otherwise their victories came against quarterbacks that aren’t really considered major flight risks.

The 2013 schedule pits us against running quarterbacks in nine matchups and I suspect this will need to be a point of emphasis this offseason, both in coaching current players and deciding which ones to add.

I suspect that Antoine Winfield, if he decides to continue playing, will be paid his $3 million salary without question from the Vikings.  They will also need to bolster the middle of their defense with smart and athletic players that can play instinctively against these quarterbacks, and have the range to shut down their attempts.

I already thought that defensive tackle, linebacker, and strong safety were needs this upcoming offseason.  After seeing this schedule, I am even more sure that upgrades will be needed.

Grading Spielman’s First Offseason: Top Half Of 2012 Draft

December 25, 2012, by 22 comments

Last week I took a trip down memory lane to see just how well, or as the case may be not well, Rick Spielman fared in his first attempt at free agency as the General Manager of the Minnesota Vikings.  That article and the grades can be found by clicking here.

Even more important than free agency, at least for a rebuilding franchise, is the NFL Draft.  In 2012 the Vikings made 10 selections and I want to take a look at the first half of those.  Here are the individual breakdowns:

1.4 Matt Kalil, LT:  One goal of the 2012 offseason was all too obvious to anybody that paid the least bit of attention.  Upgrade at the left tackle position, kick Charlie Johnson inside, and keep Christian Ponder healthy for 17 weeks.

Mission accomplished.

As a rookie Matt Kalil has not only impressed, he has dominated in a way that shoots him to the top five of anybody’s rankings of NFL left tackles.  Christian Ponder has survived an entire season, in large part because of Kalil’s near-perfect protection, and Kalil has also contributed plenty to Adrian Peterson’s incredible year.  Kalil is the type of player, barring major injury, that the Vikings can look forward to sending to the Pro Bowl year after year.

Oh, and they traded back a spot for extra picks just before selecting him.

GRADE:  A+

1.29 Harrison Smith, S:  The trade back to number four gave the Vikings some extra firepower for the remainder of the Draft and it didn’t take long for Spielman to cash some of that in and grab Notre Dame’s stud safety Harrison Smith.

Smith was a welcomed sight for Vikings fans that had simply had it with watching mediocre-at-the-very-best play from the team’s safeties ever since Darren Sharper stopped being a good football player.

Smith has added quite the spark to this defense and is already making his mark in Vikings lore with 98 tackles, a sack, 11 broken up passes, three interceptions, two touchdowns, a forced fumble, plenty of fines, and an ejection.

Smith isn’t always perfect, but no safety ever is, especially in a cover-2 defense.  Smith could improve his follow through on tackling a bit, and has a few other areas to refine, but the kid is just plain exciting to watch.  A bruiser with ball skills was just what this Vikings defense needed to hang with the likes of Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall and [insert any cheese curd receiver here].

This pick has, at least this year, been a major success despite the added cost of trading up.  The only argument against this move of any merit is that the Vikings could have drafted cornerback Casey Heyward, who is having a Rookie of the Year type of season for Green Bay, by simply staying put where they were in the second round.

GRADE:  A

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