Posts tagged: Matt Kalil

Spielman Declares His Options

April 19, 2012, by 18 comments

The Vikings as an organization are suddenly faced with very limited options when it comes to their future inside the boundaries of the State of Minnesota.

The future of the roster, however, is one week away from getting a facelift and General Manager Rick Spielman admits that his options for the third overall selection have been narrowed to three:  tackle Matt Kalil, receiver Justin Blackmon, and corner Morris Claiborne.

Some might argue that Spielman listing those three players is actually an expansion of options, considering Matt Kalil is largely viewed as the only viable prospect to select at that point.

The Pioneer Press reports that the Vikings have given equal grades to all three of these prospects and have not yet decided on who they would select should they decide to stay put and not trade backwards.

“What you’re saying (to the staff) is, ‘All these guys have equal ability,’ ” Spielman said.  “What do you want? Do you want the receiver? Do you want the tackle? Do you want the corner?’”

The Vikings plan to “run the cards” on Wednesday, which essentially means everyone involved will take part in one giant mock draft and see some of the different ways things could play out on Draft Weekend.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that the Vikings would select anyone other than Kalil third overall.  The reason is simple:  a complete lack of red flags.  So, unless Kalil scored a “4” on his Wonderlic Exam or is a closet diva that got his wrist slapped by the NCAA, it should be fairly obvious who the choice is.

Still, there are some (like Adam Schefter) who believe the Vikings will choose someone other than the popular choice that has become Kalil.  If this actually happens, be ready for water cooler chat time at the office to look more like a demolition derby if you work in the Twin Cities.

Spielman did say that he has received some preliminary calls from other teams (which quite possibly means he hasn’t at all) regarding the possibility of the Vikings trading backwards.  Spielman, however, said he would wait until Thursday night to make any sort of decision about that topic.

Inside Our War Room: #MockFour Begins

April 16, 2012, by 44 comments

(Note: This is a continuation of a series where we take you inside our War Room for the #MockOne draft series. This particular version is for #MockFour. If you are unfamiliar with what it is all about, you should probably start off by reading about what we did in the previous #MockThree.)

We are at it again. I had such a blast participating in #MockThree that I decided to just keep rolling right in to #MockFour. This time, though,  I’m the General Manager. Not only that, but everyone’s favorite Vikings writer, Adam,  is a member of the War Room. We’ve also added a new manager to the team: Ryan Broser, a great writer for Bruno Boys, Fantasy Victor and Bleacher Report Vikings. (Josh Deceuster, our GM for #MockThree has returned to provide his valued opinion in the War Room as well.) So, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?

The first two picks of this draft started off much like the previous drafts. Andrew Luck is selected by the Indianapolis Colts and Robert Griffin ends up with the Washington Redskins. Now on the clock at #3, we were prepared to select OT Matt Kalil, the sure thing that I so vehemently defended selecting in me and Adam’s recent debate. Ironically enough, we actually ended up not selecting Matt Kalil.

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Let’s (Perhaps Not) Make A Deal

April 15, 2012, by 62 comments

Owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay is suddenly no stranger to the “Quarterback Carousel” game that haunts many NFL teams.

For the first time in a very long time, he has had to evaluate this Draft class’ top quarterback prospects after giving away the identity of his franchise, Peyton Manning.  While it is widely expected that Irsay and company will ultimately select Stanford star Andrew Luck with the first overall pick, he recently made comments about Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill that would suggest the Vikings will at least receive some inquiries about the availability of the third overall selection.

Irsay’s recent tweet said, “Tannehill is a hidden gem in this draft, a quiet secret who was always sneaking up to #3..you want him, you better talk to Zigi The Biggie!”

Former Colts G.M. Bill Polian also took to the airwaves to suggest that the path to Tannehill will run through the third overall selection.  He predicted that the Miami Dolphins would trade up to the third spot giving the Vikings their eighth overall selection, their second rounder, and their third rounder to secure Tannehill.

Since trade speculation is starting to pick , Brett and I, who have somewhat different opinions on the topic, decided to create a debate post to start the conversation. We hope it will continue into the comments section with opinions from you all.

According to this post-lockout chart, the Vikings third overall selection is worth 401.3 points of value.  The eighth overall pick (318 points), second round pick (159.1), and third rounder (119.4) total 596.5 as a package which suggests the Vikings would be getting the better end of the deal.

Okay, on to the debate!

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NFL 2012 Draft: Later-Round Receiver Scouting

April 12, 2012, by 9 comments

Over the past week or so, I’ve done an extensive amount of research into various draft prospects this year. Primarily, I wanted to familiarize myself as best as possible with all the array of options we would have in the #MockThree draft I’ve been participating in. I also just enjoy doing the research because it gets me more pumped for draft day. Hurry up, April 26th! (Speaking of the draft, don’t forget we’ll be having extensive coverage of the draft here at VT including a live chat.)

We all know what the Vikings first pick will be barring some blockbuster trade from Cleveland or Miami – offensive tackle Matt Kalil, USC. The uncertainty begins with what the Vikings will do with their second pick. It’s likely that they will go one of three ways: receiver, cornerback or safety; all of which are definite team needs. We’ve talked quite a bit around here about different receivers the Vikings could target in the first and second rounds. We’ve discussed Justin Blackmon, Michael Floyd, Kendall Wright, Stephen Hill (yeah!) and Alshon Jeffery.

I wanted to share with everybody some of the research I did on the later round prospects. The people that will probably go in the third round and beyond. This year’s wide receiver class is very deep so the Vikings have ample opportunity to improve the weapons Christian Ponder has this season.

I’ll provide upside and downside for each receiver, some tape analysis and, to wrap it all up, who I would select if I was Rick Spielman. So, if you’re a draft nerd like I am and are groveling for every bit of draft news you can get, join me after the jump to read the rest of this mammoth post.

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Inside Our War Room – Round 4

April 11, 2012, by 15 comments

Alright, back to update you all again on our progress in the #MockThree online mock draft. I’ve touched on it a couple times already (so I won’t again here), but if you missed the first three rounds as well as the general background information on what the draft is all about, use the links below to catch up.

Round One

1.03 – LT Matt Kalil, USC
Trade – 2.03, 4.03 and 6.03 for Bengals 1.21
1.21 – CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama

Rounds Two & Three

3.03 – S Markelle Martin, Oklahoma State

After making the Markelle Martin selection at the top of the third, we again had to wait almost two full rounds to make another pick (as a result of the Dre Kirkpatrick trade). And again, it was tough to watch so many players we were targeting fly off the board.

Before making the Martin selection at the beginning of the third, I was pushing for us to take a wide receiver. Let me rephrase that: I was pushing for us to reach on a wide receiver. I had done a ton of scouting on various later-round wide receivers and was convinced that we should take a certain Juron Criner. I really liked Criner’s size and physicality. In watching his tape, he always seemed to come down with the ball and get up the field quickly. Criner fought for extra yardage after the catch and had good hand-eye coordination. I thought it would have been a solid pick as well as address a need that the team had. The GM of our War Room mellowed me out a little bit and told me it would be a reach; that Criner would probably still be there for our compensatory picks at the end of the fourth round. So, we took the safety Martin instead and crossed our fingers that we’d have another shot at Criner with our 4.33 pick.

Juron Criner was selected at 4.25, capping off a frantic run for wide receivers during the fourth.

We were all a little disappointed that Criner didn’t fall just a few picks further. We would have (meaning Josh, our GM, would have…) looked like geniuses! But, alas, we were left without Criner and going back to our board to see what other wide receivers were available that would still fit that ‘BPA’ title and be a good value.

I proposed we take a wide receiver who had fallen a little bit and was still, in my eyes, a great value pick at that point. Somebody who had the size, speed and verticality to stretch the field. Our GM proposed we take a different receiver, one who was a little further down on our board and, while still very promising, didn’t fit the role of a receiver who could be a legitimate threat down field.

So, here it is:

With the 33rd pick (compensatory) of the fourth round of the 2012 #MockThree NFL draft…

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Ranking The Vikings Draft Needs

April 9, 2012, by 4 comments

I am a big fan of drafting best player available, regardless of need, and building your team around solid, young players instead of reaching to fill a void.  After all, there is nothing wrong with having good depth at a position and/or getting better at something you are already good at.

Still, teams have needs and the Minnesota Vikings are quite obviously no exception. 

With that, I present you with my rankings of how the Vikings needs stack up going into this year’s Draft:

1.      Safety

There is perhaps no positional group on any team in the NFL that needs upgrading more than the Vikings need to upgrade their safeties.  Heck, at this point I would say the Vikings have a greater need at safety than the Dolphins do at quarterback.  The thought of Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond being starters instead of depth players, especially in our division, should worry even the most enthusiastic optimists.

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Inside Our War Room – Round One

April 6, 2012, by 16 comments

Over the past couple days, I have had the honor of representing Vikings Territory and the Minnesota Vikings in #MockThree. For those that don’t know, #MockThree is the best community mock draft online right now. It is all ran using Twitter and a great website created by Brandon Nall (@EmPuLSe). In this particular iteration of the draft (there have been two prior), each franchise has a “war room” with one General Manager and two Assistant Managers. From there, the mock draft acts almost identically to the real NFL draft. Each team has a certain amount of time on-the-clock to communicate within their war room and choose who they will select in the draft. Teams can communicate with each other throughout the draft (primarily through Twitter) to trade picks. The whole thing is incredibly creative and inventive and the amount of time the people responsible for #MockThree have put into the ‘game’ should be applauded.

I have to be completely honest – I was a little intimidated at first to be a part of this thing. The people involved are incredibly knowledgeable draftniks. Seriously, it’s what these guys do. And I’ll be upfront with you, I am not a draftnik. I’m not incredibly knowledgeable of all the college prospects (primarily the later round ones), I haven’t watched tons of tape and I’m not an expert scout. I do understand the Vikings, though. I know what they’ve done in past drafts, I know the teams’ needs and I have a good understanding of what the team could realistically do in this year’s draft. I’m also willing to work my butt off to do the research and make sure we make the right selections.

Currently, the second round of #MockThree is coming to an end. So, I thought it would be a good idea to recap for you all what we did in the first round, provide some analysis (via Adam Warwas) of what some other teams did and get your feedback on maybe where our war room should go from here.

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