Categories: NFL Draft 2013
| On 11 years ago

Vikings Picks Not Likely Attending Draft

By Brett Anderson

Part of the excitement on draft day I believe stems from being able to see the player your team has picked go through the motions of being a first-round selection. You know, the phone call that has the player and their family ecstatic almost to the point of tears. The walk to the stage where they shake Roger Goodell’s hand and are given a generically numbered version of your team’s jersey (which in the Vikings case would be a brand new jersey). The awkward posing for pictures…

Well, from the looks of it, Vikings fans may not get to see anything like that this year and instead may have to settle for that player sharing the draft day  experience at a place of their own choosing surrounded by friends and family. (How selfish of them…)

Today, the NFL released a list of the 23 players who will be attending the first day of the 2013 NFL Draft on April 25th. On first glance, it seems unlikely the Vikings potential selection at 23 or 25 will be in attendance. See the list below:

Ezekiel Ansah / DE, BYU
Tavon Austin / WR, West Virginia
Jonathan Cooper / G, North Carolina
Eric Fisher / OT, Central Michigan
Shariff Floyd / DT, Florida
D.J. Fluker / RT, Alabama
Luke Joeckel / OT, Texas A&M
Lane Johnson / OT, Oklahoma
Dion Jordan / DE, Oregon
Eddie Lacy / RB, Alabama
E.J. Manuel / QB, Florida State
Dee Milliner / CB, Alabama
Barkevious Mingo / DE, LSU
Cordarrelle Patterson / WR, Tennessee
Eric Reid / S, LSU
Xavier Rhodes / CB, Florida State
Sheldon Richardson / DT, Missouri
Geno Smith / QB, West Virginia
Desmond Trufant / CB, Washington
Chance Warmack / G, Alabama
Menelik Watson / OT, Florida State
Bjoern Werner / DE, Florida State
Kenny Vaccaro / S, Texas

Of the above mentioned prospects, those most likely to be selected by the Vikings are Tavon Austin, Cordarrelle Patterson, Xavier Rhodes and Desmond Trufant. Unfortunately for Vikings fans, it’s also quite likely that all four of those players could be off the board by the Vikings selection.

On a completely unrelated note, it’s surprising to see E.J. Manuel on the list of attendees. Could it be that Ponder’s Florida State successor will pull a Ponder on Day 1? Just 14 days, 19 hours and 32 minutes until we find out… But who’s counting?

Brett Anderson

Brett Anderson (Founder) is a passionate Viking fan hailing from Sin City, Las Vegas. He can remember, as a child, scraping his knee on the playground and his friends being completely shocked by the purple blood trickling from the wound. When Brett isn't scouring the Internet for some semblance of Vikings news, he enjoys blindly putting money on them to beat whoever their opponent may be, and daydreams about being their next Tight End. Brett graduated from UNLV with a degree in Architecture and specializes in web/graphic design; he hopes to provide this site’s visitors with the best Vikings experience on the net.

View Comments

  • You don't think that with one of the two first rounds, there is even a remote possibility of one of the guys listed won't be the choice?

    Bjoern Werner / DE, Florida State
    Sheldon Richardson / DT, Missouri
    Desmond Trufant / CB, Washington

    Barkevious Mingo / DE, LSU - They probably won't take Barkevious, Freds just loves the name, "Barkevious". Damn, all I got is Freds..... I would have settled for either Barkevious OR Mingo, this dude got both! In fact, the hell with it, your old pal is going down to the courthouse right now and changing is name to Fredevious Smingo.

    Have a good day.

    I hope they draft this dude even he he turns out to be a flop. Who the hell cares, just draft him for names sake

  • Vikings will land Sheldon Richardson. Here is the trade scenario that will make it happen.
    Jets trade Revis for Tampa's pick #13. Tampa is now eliminated from the cornerback first draft mix - meaning a corner will probably fall to 22.

    Jets have pick #9 and #13. Vikings trade up to 13 for Sheldon Richardson. Jets move back to 22 and get Trufant or Rhodes.

    Ok, to make it happen, the Vikings will need to swap pick 25 with the Jets pick 39. On a value chart it works out in the Vikings favor but the Jets should jump on the chance to get 3 first round picks.

    Jets get a pass rushing OLB with pick #9
    CB with pick #22
    And first choice on a QB (other than Geno Smith) at 25

    Vikings land Sheldon Richardson at #13.
    And Manti Teo at #39.

    Win win for both team.

    • Nah I don't want us to trade up to get him. This draft have heavy depth no reason to trade up (I know s. Richardson is good, but still lots of choices should he be off the board).
      And Teo.. Actually now I'm at a point where I'll say no thanks. The most upside with im was suppose to be leadership and this girlfriend thing completely destroyed that. Completely

      • I don't understand how being tricked online has anything to do with your leadership qualities...

        • "Tricked online" is a bit of an understatement, no? it's not like he fell for the "forward this email and Bill Gates will give you $100" scam.

          He either showed the gullibility of a premenstrual teenage girl, or he's lying. Either one is a glaring red flag, and either one is a reason for your leadership to be questioned.

          • No, I think tricked online is pretty accurate. Either way, that particular off the field issue is pretty insignificant in my opinion in relation to some of these other prospects that we see... Here's what I think. Tape speaks for itself. Te'o was in the top ten discussion before his poor game against a drastically better team and the fake relationship thing. He was a leader in the locker room, a very instinctive, football smart player and has good game speed (despite his average forty time). I think passing on him at 23 or 25 would be a mistake.

          • We disagree drastically on the online part.

            However, if we do end up with him...man I hope you're right. Only game I saw him play was the Alabama game.

            Ouch.

          • i can easily imagine teo having his fellow players come up to him and tell him to pull their finger or something. or when he misses an assignment on the field, will they wonder if he was covering an imaginary TE?

          • I this really reason enough to not draft an easy first round talent at a position of dire need? Do you really think this will be an issue for more than maybe a week (the typical hazing period...)?

          • Many scouts do not believe he is a 1st round talent. They say he is a good LB but not a game changer. Then there is those imaginary tackles he made in the Alabama game. My daughter can tackle better than that.

          • What scouts? Almost every scouting report I've read has him as a mid-to-late first round talent.

          • That Bill Gates thing was a scam? Damn it! That's why Freds never got his 100 bucks!

          • I'm afraid so, Freds...but the Nigerian Prince who wants pump milliions into your account is on the up and up, so feel free to give him your bank account info.

  • I think it would be a waste of picks to trade up that high in this draft. I personally think Sheldon would not be worth it anyway. We could stay put and have a good chance at Sylvester Williams and also get Kevin Minter and still have out 2nd round pick.

    • If we draft Sylvester and Minter I'll give up on Speilman. I don't think Sylvester will ever be a top 30 dt in this league and Minter is a third round talent at best.

  • Brett this is how "tricked online" is a question on leadership (in my opinion).
    Would you follow a person who lied to everybody, even his own father and thought he had a girlfriend for a long amount of time, without him never meeting said girlfriend?
    If he's stupid enough to fall for such a thing why should he then be a true leader?

    Personally I wouldn't respect him at all. Mind you this is MY personal opinion