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Brett’s Vikings Mock Draft
v4.0 / Posted by Brett Anderson / Last updated April 25, 2012
A little about this mock draft:
- This mock draft takes into consideration free agent signings as of April 25, 2012.
- This mock draft includes all trades as of April 25, 2012.
- The approach I took was generally looking at what each teams’ predominant needs were while keeping in mind the best player available.
- This particular mock I did not include pick analysis due to time constraints and pushing to get this published before the actual draft.
- This is the final version of my 2012 mock draft.
So, with that said, enjoy the mock draft below! Would love to hear your opinions, criticisms, [praise!], etc… in the comments.
Also, make sure to check out the below links for tons of other great mock drafts.
| Pick | Team | Player Selected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Indianapolis | Andrew Luck QB / Stanford |
| 2 |  | Washington (from St. Louis) | Robert Griffin III QB / Baylor |
| 3 |  | Minnesota | Matt Kalil OT / USC |
| 4 |  | Cleveland | Trent Richardson RB, Alabama |
| 5 |  | Tampa Bay | Morris Claiborne CB, LSU |
| 6 |  | St. Louis | Justin Blackmon WR / Oklahoma State |
 |
|||
| 7 |  | Jacksonville | Michael Floyd WR, Notre Dame |
| 8 |  | Miami | Ryan Tannehill QB / Texas A&M |
| 9 |  | Carolina | David DeCastro OG / Stanford |
| 10 |  | Buffalo | Riley Reiff OT / Iowa |
| 11 |  | Kansas City | Fletcher Cox DT / Mississippi |
| 12 |  | Seattle | Melvin Ingram DE / S. Carolina |
| 13 |  | Arizona | Luke Kuechly MLB / Boston College |
| 14 |  | Dallas | Dre Kirkpatrick CB / Alabama |
| 15 |  | Philadelphia | Stephon Gilmore CB / South Carolina |
| 16 |  | New York Jets | Kendall Wright WR / Baylor |
| 17 |  | Cincinnati (from Oakland) | Quinton Coples DE / North Carolina |
| 18 |  | San Diego | Courtney Upshaw DE/OLB / Alabama |
| 19 |  | Chicago | Jonathan Martin OT / Stanford |
| 20 |  | Tennessee | Peter Konz C / Wisconsin |
 |
|||
| 21 | | Cincinnati | Mark Barron S / Alabama |
| 22 | | Cleveland (from Atlanta) | Mike Adams OT / Ohio State |
| 23 |  | Detroit | Janoris Jenkins CB / North Alabama |
| 24 |  | Pittsburgh | Michael Brockers DT / LSU |
| 25 |  | Denver | Cordy Glenn OG / Georgia |
| 26 |  | Houston | Stephen Hill WR / Georgia Tech. |
| 27 |  | New England (from New Orleans) | Dontari Poe DT / Memphis |
| 28 |  | Green Bay | Nick Perry DE / USC |
| 29 |  | Baltimore | Dont'a Hightower ILB / Alabama |
| 30 |  | San Francisco | Reuben Randle WR / LSU |
| 31 | | New England | Whitney Mercilus DE / Illinois |
| 32 |  | New York Giants | Harrison Smith S / Notre Dame |
Mark barron is terrible in coverage and will not br picked over glenn
With the combine Dontari Poe had I doubt he will last untill the end of the 1st round. Even though the raiders down have a pick in the 1st round somebody will fall in love with him.
Also I think bengals will go with the Cordy Glenn over Fletcher cox.. (What I’ve heard from many bengals fans)
- lastly I think Chargers will take Jonathan Martin instead of mike adam.. Martin has the more upside ..
Ok, my problems with this draft start at pick 2. I don’t think much of Blackmon & in your explanation, you use as logic that teams won’t trade with them for RG3 because they can just wait & trade with the vikes. Thing is, they are not competing with the vikes, they are competing with other QB needy teams, so if washington can get their guy, they will not wait. When all is said & done, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Blackmon get selected after Michael Brockers. I think defensive players are bound to start climbing the board. Obviously, I hate the Kalil pick, but I’ve covered that elsewhere. So, I’ll just ask what do you think the impact of a free agent Manning & a Free agent Flynn signing with Washington & Miami does to the QB trade market? That might make your scenario work. So, maybe a seattle, Jacksonville, or cleveland would be left, but I’m not sure which of them, if any, would be aggressive in trades. KC? probably hurts the market.
Percy Harvin, Randy Moss, Warren Sapp
I’m not sure how far he’ll drop, because he’s still far & away ahead of the second tier CB’s. Vikes could maybe trade back to 12 & get him. he’s a pretty good fit for us & we don’t seem to care about such things much.
Here’s an interesting situation… Say the Rams take Blackmon as above and then the Vikes have a decent trade offer from Washington, say they did the trade that would leave Browns (who have the best left tackle in the league) and the Bucs (who have a very solid LT in donald penn) to pick, with a number of other needs I find it difficult to believe either would take Kalil.. Would it be possible that the Vikes could still trade back to 6 and pick up maybe another 1st rounder next year and still get Kalil? Now that would be awesome..
You might want to drop Kirkpatrick down a ways. His recent troubles will knock him down a peg or two
Definitely. I did this mock before that news came out… He’ll drop a ways in my next update I’m sure.
What an idiot though….How dumb do you have to be to get caught with something like that days after you’ve just declared for the draft…
Agreed, but how far do you think he falls? Bengals at #17?
I could see him fall out of the 1st round. I dont know much about pot but it sounds like he had a bunch of it on him and in that picture it looked like he had plenty in his system too.
I could see Dallas taking him, too.
Riley Reiff to Vikings!!!!!
I guess I wouldn’t mind that either. Over Kalil though?
Also heard Kalil played in a system that made him better with a qb that made him better. Same people say Kalil and Vikings would not be a good match.
I think there will be many trade options at 3 where the Vikes pick. RGIII, Blackmon, even Kalil. I’d rather see the Vikings get extra picks and draft Riley Reiff. And I’ve heard on a few radio shows that think Reiff is better than Kalil. He is faster, lighter on his feet. flexible can play both sides, stronger, some say he has better football knowledge. I have heard a few reports that Johnson will be moved to guard and will be one of the Vikings starting guards.
NOTE: This mock draft was updated January 18, 2012. The comments below are about the previous mock draft which can be found here.
Thanks!
Would love it if the Seahawks got a talent like Martin at 11/12, but do you really think the would draft an OT in the 1st round 3 years in a row?
Thanks for visiting the site, Clay. You have a good point and it’s reflected in my updated mock.
Brett –
What would you say if your old pal Fragile believes the Ram will be trading down in the same manner you describe for the Vike beating the Vike to the punch? The Ram has invested a great deal in the past couple years in O lineman, perhaps this is too valuable a pick to continue for them to invest there?
Thanks for the comment Freds!
You’re right, that could happen too. Although, I think people will try and trade with us before the Rams because the #2 pick is worth more than the #3. The #2 pick isn’t necessary to get RGIII as neither the Rams or Vikings will be taking him.
This will probably piss some people off. But after watching the Broncos-Steelers game yesterday, It is time for the Vikes to get a new kicker. Only one returned kick all day and it was to the 15. Makes special teams alot easier.
I really like that scenario. More picks and picking up Morris Claiborne would be close to perfect.
Nonsense. Why waste this pick on an undersized CB who will get stiff-armed butt-over-teakettle by any 200 lb. WR who gets near him? We need a LT, and a very good one. Martin or Reiff are the only two left on the board. Take one (I’d choose Reiff) and move Charlie Johnson to RG. If we don’t take a tackle here, and settle for 2nd round talent, we have accomplished nothing. The best defense against the pass is a dominant pass rush. We are much closer to having one of those. We would need 3 quality DBs to have a decent defensive backfield. Forget Claiborne!
I agree, Malte. Would be great for the future of the team.
If Tampa takes Claiborne instead of Coples, what do you predict the Vikings will do Brett? Trade down again?
I would actually bet we start seeing Richardson a trend for the Bucs. Blount can make things happen when handed the ball but he can’t catch, can’t block, and is just kind of an idiot… who fumbles.
Thought about that possibility, too Adam. Richardson is a steal where I have him in this mock.
At that point we should probably just take Reiff or Martin I’m starting to think… Or maybe a WR like Michael Floyd. We could also take CB Kirkpatrick.
That Mock really shakes things up, Claiborne isnt even in the top 24. It’ll be interesting to see what Mayock comes up with
Draft nasty.com has OT Riley Reiff number one overall player. http://www.draftnasty.com/
Indeed… very interesting.
Former Viking Corey Chavous has this site… http://www.draftnasty.com/
Interesting.
Great mock, Brett. I would love it if the Vikes came out of the first round with Claiborne and extra first round pick in 2013 and an extra 2nd in 2012! It would certainly put us in good stead for the rebuilding phase. After watching the Saints, Packers, Lions and Patriots – I feel the only way to stop them is having a high scoring offense and loading up on good cornerbacks (neither of which the vikings have).
Just a few quick points – I think unfortunately as you mentioned, Tampa will take Claiborne, especially given Ronde Barbers age and the division they play in. Also, they have spent their 1st and 2nd round picks the last 2 years upgrading their dline, including 2 DE’s last year, so I wouldn’t imagine they would go DE again with so many holes on the roster, but you never know! If that were to happen, who would you have the Vikes take? Martin? As for Miami, in my opinion 8 is a bit too high to take a guard, unlike some positions, I feel the interior line is one of the positions that quality players can be found in all rounds quite regularly. Also, they already have one of the best left tackles in the game in Jake Long and they spent their 1st round pick last year on Pouncey so that would be a pretty heavy investment in the oline. Although, DeCastro, is supposedly an outstanding prospect, I think they need a difference maker in another area like WR or defence.
Nice work!
Thanks for the compliments, SB!
As you say, it is very possible that the Bucs could take Claiborne to address their need at CB. You’re right that they have spent the last two years addressing their d-line, but at the same time, they were still last this year in sacks. I would definitely agree though that I am in the minority here and may need to look at changing this.
If the Bucs did end up taking Claiborne, I would be pretty bummed… haha. I don’t think there are any other offensive lineman worth a top 10 pick. I might go the route of WR and say we grab Michael Floyd. He almost appeals to me as much as Blackmon. Physically, I think Floyd is the type of receiver we would benefit from having.
You could be absolutely right about the Dolphins, too. I know they’ll definitely be bummed if they don’t get RGIII, though. Most of the stuff I read about the Dolphins though said that one of their biggest needs was on the offensive line… guard and tackle. Some mock drafts I’ve seen have them taking a CB or WR too (Kirkpatrick or Jeffery, respectively).
Thanks again for stopping by! Who do you see the Dolphins taking if they can’t nab RGIII?
If the dolphins dodn’t manage to land RGIII, I think they would like to trade down (maybe grab DeCastro a bit further back). If that fails i’m not too sure, I’ve seen a number of mocks with the dolphins taking Jefferey, but I don’t know too much about him. I’m sure Brandon Marshall and whoever the QB is there wouldn’t mind though! Maybe someone to compliment Cameron Wake on the other side to help get to Brady!
I agree with you on the remaning tackles, as much as we need help at left tackle, I think if the Vikes came out of the draft and free agency with a decent WR (Vincent Jackson), a CB (Claiborne, Kirkpatrick) and a couple of good guards (possibly a Nicks – sorry hutch) and a Safety I would be happy to leave our two first rounders next year to grab one of the elite LT’s coming out. I know people will want to crucify me for suggesting the LT can wait (deservedly so after watching games this year!) but after watching the Saints game where they successfuly employed a TE to chip the left tackles pass rusher on most plays I think we could scrape by and get a really good left tackle next year.
At least this year there will be free agency before the draft and the vikes can hopefully fill some holes before the draft and attack it properly.
I guess I wouldn’t be that bummed if we ended up taking Martin or Reiff (if we traded, of course). Will be disappointed if we either with the 3rd pick.
if we *take* either…
Now we’ll have to see how you stack up against the Great Adam Warwas. lol Is Adam about done with his or was he waiting for you to go first?
Instead of writing my mock as planned I have had to shovel, Johnny. Instead of eating I’ve had to shovel, Johnny. Instead of sleeping… well you get the point
Hopefully soon I’ll have it done.
Geez Adam are you getting even more snow? I feel for ya, last year we had a crapton of snow and I scooped my share.
Roughly six more feet since Thursday… Building down the road from us collapsed under the weight. Its really eating into my time.
Good thing I have such an awesome wife… calling me to give me updates on wild card weekend
All scoop and shovel.
Do you have a snowblower or is it all with a scoop shovel?
Yup… the roof is the main thing. But the electric meter, the car, the walking path, the propane tank, the heating fuel tank, the windows… it never ends. Woke up and saw we had another 2.5 feet on the ground and just went back to bed for an hour… couldn’t deal with it.
I suppose you have to scoop your roof too? We had to do some of that last year and it really sucks and yeah very time consuming, a real boon for the chiropractors tho. lol
Pretty well thought out Brett, you’ve donr your homework eh? I’m no draft guru so I guess I cant argue with you on any picks just yet. From what I’ve read Claiborne would be a very solid pick. Good job young man!
I sure did. Thanks for the compliment, Johnny. This was my first time doing a mock draft… very fun (but also time consuming). I might try and do a second or third round but honestly, it gets quite hard to even come close to predicting what will happen after the first.
Great job Brett, predicting trades is awfully ambitious
Claiborne is a solid value right there… the Vikes would be lucky to swing the trade you predict AND get Claiborne.