Mock draft madness

[Malte]

I read somewhere in the comments about a vikings Mock Draft for the first 3 rounds by the readers of Vikings Territory.
I though it could be a fun experience and therefore here it goes:

My mock draft of the Minnesota Vikings and their picks for the first 3 rounds:

1. round 3rd overall pick.
Matt Kalil, OT, USC.
Why: I think this is close to a no brainer. He is BPA and a need at the same time. We are not kidding anyone, C. Johnson is not a left tackle as should move inside to gaurd. Morris Claiborne will be an attractive option, but I think Kalil is the better prospect and I think we might be able to land a corner later in the draft.

2 round 35 overall pick:
Stephen Hill, WR, Georgia Tech,
why: I think he fits the mold on exatly what the vikings wants in a WR. Fast and good hands. (had some concentration problems, but snagged the ball fine). Shows great work ethic while working with Calvin Johnson and others preparing to get to the nfl.

Other options if he is already taken that I would like the vikings to get (listed in order of most wanted):
Stephon Gilmore, Zach Brown, Harrison Smith,

3. round 66 overall pick: Jayron Hosley
Why: I think it's time to add a player to the secondary and Jayron Hosley is a very good corner who could be avaliable at this spot.

Other options if he is already taken that I would like the vikings to get (listed in order of most wanted): Alfonzo Dennard, Kendall Reyes, George Iloka

There is my mock draft of the top 3 rounds..
Of course this is close to a dream scenario for me and it's not very likely to happen. But I think that atleast some of the options I've writen will be there..
So whats your take?

[Big Johnny]

Ok Malte here goes,

1st round= Kalil
2nd round= Claiborn
3rd round= Blackmon

Hey a guy can dream can't he? Lol!

[Brett A.]

Sweet! Like your mock, Malte! I like yours more though, Johnny!

This is a good idea. You guys should try and get some of the other readers to come over here and post their thoughts/mock.

[Skol12]

I figured I'd make a mock draft for the vikings round 1-7 based on the current walterfootball.com mock draft avalabilities.

1.03 Matt Kalil : Obvious I shouldn't even need to write here

2.03 Harrison Smith : Was a tough choice between Smith and Janorius Jenkins but I had to go with the former due to need and potential. I see Smith as a safer pick who fills a bigger need.

3.03 Mitchell Schwartz : Yeah, I did it. 2 tackles in the first 3 rounds, Kalil will anchor the left side for 10+ years and Schwartz will do the same for the right. Loadholt is a terrible pass protector, ponder needs help and there are no other prospects I like at this current pick debated on Criner but figured 3.03 was too early for him.

4.03 Chase Minnifield : The end of the third ate up all the players I wanted here, Minnifield has potential and comes from Virginia like Chris Cook, could be a decent combo in a year or 2.

4.33 Ryan Broles : Wr out of Oklahoma. The kid has talent and can stretch the field. I like him a LOT and think he has a lot of potential but was slowed down with injury and double teams.

4.39 Tommy Streeter : Picking up another huge talent at wr. Streeter is raw and a physical freak, just what the vikings seem to like in later rounds.

5.03 Vontaze Burfict : Burfict's draft stock has been dropping faster than (insert smart comment here). He was viewed as a top 20 pick not even 3 months ago, now some are saying he won't even be drafted. I think he would be a steal in the 5th round, look at our past 5th rounders (Burton, Triplet, Degeare, Brinkley, Guion, David Booty, Aundre Allison) not too much to brag about so Burfict is worth the risk here.

6.05 Tyler Nielson : The MLB from Iowa, the kid is solid and a good player. He will never be a big playmaker LB but could be a solid starter who never misses tackles, he is a poor mans Greenway and is by FAR the BPA.

7.03 Garth Gerhart : Lets get the Gerhart brothers together, we lost 2 interior linemen this year, and only moved charlie johnson, that means we have room for one more.

7.16 Greg Zuerlein : Why not grab the best kicker in the draft with our last pick. Bye Ryan.

I think this would address some large needs (LT, S, CB, WR, LB) and add depth at thin positions. Streeter and Burfict are my big gambles I see both with probowl potential but also see both potentially working at sports authority in 2014. Mitch Schwartz I know would be a heavily scrutinized pick but I think he could be a great RT and I believe Loadholt has to go for Ponder to grow, look what Loadholt did to Favre's ankle. Plus we could have 3 brothers on the OL in the future(Gerhart, and the Schwartz brothers)! The position I feel I neglected is DT but the vikings need a big NT not a smaller DT which is all I see in this draft after the third round.

Our starting roster would be
LT: Kalil
LG: Johnson
C: Sullivan
RG Schwartz
RT: Schwartz
WR: Harvin, Jenkins, Broles
TE: Rudolph, Carlson
QB: Ponder
RB: Gerhart (sorry AP your not back yet)

DE: JA/B Rob
DT: K Will/Guion?
LB: Henderson/Brinkley/Greenway
CB: Winfield/Cook/Minnifield
S: Smith/Abdullah

[adammwarwas]

Good stuff guys! In Johnny's mock, Claiborne should have gone in the 4th... to match his Wonderlic score.

Skol12... let me get your take on something... who would be the casualty of drafting 2 early OT's? We are currently faced with that very question at MockFour and plenty of people seem to think Demarcus Love was "redshirted" his rookie season but still has a high ceiling. What is you take?

And NO to Burfict in the 5th... or 6th... or 7th... or as an undrafted FA! The guy is a loon!

[Skol12]

Good stuff guys! In Johnny's mock, Claiborne should have gone in the 4th... to match his Wonderlic score.

Skol12... let me get your take on something... who would be the casualty of drafting 2 early OT's? We are currently faced with that very question at MockFour and plenty of people seem to think Demarcus Love was "redshirted" his rookie season but still has a high ceiling. What is you take?

And NO to Burfict in the 5th... or 6th... or 7th... or as an undrafted FA! The guy is a loon!

I know Burfict has issues but I think hes worth the gamble simply because hes so talented.

I hadn't thought about the 2 early tackles until yesterday, but I like the depth of tackles early in this draft. Since 2009 I have thought Loadholt needed to go, I think 2 early tackles would solidify our line for years. It would cost us a Wr/cb in the third but there are quite a few in the late third/fourth that look good. I believe Phil Loadholt has 1 year left on his contract sowe'd need a replacement anyways, if Love is good, we'd have 3 great OT's one could move to guard as well. I see no real downside besides drafting a CB/WR one round later. Another thing I like about Schwartz is that him playing in MN could cause his brother to stay past 2012.

In your mockfour draft I think it would be even better because Martin isn't as sure of a thing as Kalil so we would be safer if he pulls a Jason Smith. This 2 early tackle thing is growing on me more as I type.

As for demarcus love, I think hes a backup at best. The last player we drafted and "redshirted" because of his high ceiling was Tavaris Jackson.

[Malte]

let me get your take on something... who would be the casualty of drafting 2 early OT's? We are currently faced with that very question at MockFour and plenty of people seem to think Demarcus Love was "redshirted" his rookie season but still has a high ceiling. What is you take?

Honestly I don't think vikings will give up on loadholt unless he has a bad season this year.. I'm pretty sure they will let him play his contract year out and then decide if it's worth keeping him. - He could play better with an offseason and more coaching with new OL coach.

[brendan]

Round One: Matt Kalil, OT
Ricky better not screw this one up..

Round Two: Reuben Randle, WR
I really like Randle and think he has the ability to be the downfield receiver the Vikings need. He didn't have a great combine which may have hurt his stock a bit, but I'd rather have him over Jeffery and my next pick should eliminate Harrison Smith.

Round Three: Brandon Taylor, S
I would love to see us trade back a bit in Round 3 and target Brandon Taylor. The kid is a vicious hitter, he's fast and has great instincts. He's also a leader on and off the field and would be a perfect addition our secondary.

Round Four: Chris Givens, WR
Possibly the best route runner in this class and has 4.4 speed. If he was a couple inches taller, would definitely be a first round pick. Reminds me of a poor man's Mike Wallace

Round Four: Senio Kelemete, OG
Will need time to develop, but could be a future starting LG. At worst, should make a good backup at 4 positions across the line.

Round Four: Nick Jean-Baptiste, NT
Would love us to find a true NT in this draft, and if NJB is still around at this point, we shouldn't hesitate at all.



Final thoughts: I don't know if all players will necessarily be available at said points, but if so, I would be very happy with this draft. I couldn't find a point when a CB made sense in the first three rounds, and as they passed, I didn't think a 4th round CB would have much impact (if he even made the team).

[Skol12]

I like Brandon Taylor, but I think he would fall to us in the forth or we could trade up into the late third and grab him. Kelemete could work but I like a few versatile G/OT prospects in the fourth more than him(namely Potter/Boise State and Schwartz/Calif). I don't know how much I like Reuben Randle, to me this is just a bad draft for field stretching WR's. I don't know much about Chris Givens but a poor mans mike wallace sounds good to me!
I am pretty sure Nick Jean-Baptiste won't be a viking they haven't shown the level of interest as some other 3/4 teams altho he would fill a need.

[brendan]

I don't think Taylor falls all the way to the 4th, and honestly, if we don't take Harrison Smith, I wouldn't want to risk it. That's why I think trading down to the mid 3rd and picking up a 3 next year would be perfect. I also like both Potter and Schwartz more, but I don't think either would be available when it comes to our comp picks. I think given time, Kelemete could develop into a solid starter in this league.

As far as Randle, I was in between him and Harrison Smith. I'm not a huge Harrison Smith fan, but I wouldn't be completely against drafting him and Brandon Taylor.

Also agreed Baptiste is unlikely to be a Vike, but at that point it was more of who I think they should target, not who they likely will.