The Vikings waited it out and stayed put in the fourth round earlier today, with the fans of the Minnesota Vikings eagerly watching Andrew Billings continue his slide. Billings was selected one pick later by the Bengals, however, and looking at our Willie Beavers draft grade poll I have to believe some of our fan base was feeling a little miffed at the selection.
Our readers had previously given Rick Spielman “A” grades for his selections of Laquon Treadwell and Mackensie Alexander, while also giving the decision to trade out of the third round an “A.”
At 160th overall the Vikings again ignored some fan favorite options still available to them and selected Missouri linebacker Kentrell Brothers.
Brothers is a bit undersized at 6′ 0″ and 245 pounds and also won’t blow anyone away with his athleticism. Instead, he projects to move outside to a weakside linebacker spot where he can use his instinctual knack to diagnose an offense, make plays in the backfield, and help defend passing lanes.
He could also act as a valuable backup option to Anthony Barr on the strong side, while contributing greatly on special teams.
(Update: Vikings say they view him as a middle linebacker. Color me surprised.)
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Far from a LB I was hoping for, but they addressed the position. Perhaps they thought they did not need a LB with speed due to Barr and Kendricks both being so fast(?). Scouting report states good instincts and a tackling machine.. sounds good to me.
Brothers got high grades from Pro Football Focus, both in general (fifth best linebacker grade for the season, fourth best for this draft class) and for his run defense (second best of the LB's in this class overall and first in class for out-and-out run "stops"). Sounds like another high value pick. Kudos to the scouts and Speilman.
I thought Brothers was a nice selection, but would have probably gone with Westerman - OG. I would have preferred the Bengals 4th and 5th round selections - them taking both Westerman and Billings one pick behind us in both counts.
This was a nice pick but I thought the Vikings should've got a safety in the early rounds
Love that we got a thumper. I woulda been OK with Ragland we needed needed a keep things honest MLB the middle. When Joseph went down last year our run D suffered noticeably, another 230 lb track star is attractive but "Where's the Beef?" Some may look at him as a 2Downer, but he'll help force the 3rd and longs that Zim is after. Eddie Lacy take Notice!