What grade do you give the. Vikings 2020 draft

[Guest]

As long as I've been watching the NFL draft, I have never ever seen any team have the perfect draft... 

[Guest]

@Wetlander said:

@StickyBun said:
To have immovable opinions about a Draft class 3 days after the fact is silly, we should all know this. Nobody knows what the hell is actually going to happen with this group. 

Exactly...  those of us who are really into the draft always have our "favorites" in the early rounds and get hot on a couple guys projected as sleepers or mid-late round picks.  The hard part is that it is impossible to have an informed opinion on every prospect in the draft.  Unless you are paid to be a scout, chances are you haven't heard of 2/3's of the guys who end up getting drafted.


I'm fine with people giving their opinions and giving some of these Day 3 picks a poor draft grade...  It's when you start claiming it was a terrible pick and stating like fact that we could have drafted so and so later is where you lose me.

Exactly. You can debate and have opinions, that's fun and informative, but to say that Spielman fucked up in round 6 or that was a terrible pick is more probably just thinking you know best. Too judgmental at this early stage. Disagree with a pick? Of course. And the optimism is always there for every team after the Draft, because the hope is they improve as a pro or hit that upside. The history of the Draft is you can find players in every round and even with UDFAs. But overwhelmingly the aggregate of each yearly draft is that the majority of these guys won't make it. That's the nature of it. But the beauty is you never know who that will be exactly. 

[Guest]

This is either going to be the greatest draft in Vikings history or Spielman will not be here next year. Boom or bust. IMO

[Guest]

@Hidalgo said:
This is either going to be the greatest draft in Vikings history or Spielman will not be here next year. Boom or bust. IMO

I think it's the exact opposite. It was an incredibly safe, high-floor draft. Vikings took players with very little bust factor. And I'm mostly just talking about the top 4 picks. Those are the picks that will define the draft. Everything else is just a guess (for all teams), but the Vikings had 11 guesses. That's 11 balls on the roulette wheel. Just due to the law of averages, two or three of those will hit and it's going to look like yet another landmark draft by Spielman, who by the way, has crafted himself yet another haul next year. No, he's not going anywhere. 

[Guest]

Just looking back on the past couple drafts...  Most fans loved the Elflein pick at the time, now everyone wants him cut...  Bucky Hodges was another fan favorite...  I don't think he even made the roster and isn't in the NFL anymore...  T.J Clemmings was a steal (NOT)... Treadwell had a lot of supporters (including me) and he never lived up to the hype... I thought Kendricks was too small to hold up in the NFL (way wrong on that)...

And then you have the majority that thought WTF when we drafted a raw LSU DE who had 1.5 sacks his last college season and had a girls name (before we knew how it was pronounced)...  Turned out pretty freaking good...  Same with O'Neill...  Pass on Hernandez to take a freaking project OT that needs to add strength and weight?  Again, turned out pretty damn good.  Alexander Mattison was the 2019 whipping boy...  Passed up so much talent and drafted a backup RB...  with the way he performed and Dalvin having trouble playing a full season, he was a good pick IMO.

Just some examples...  none of us have a spotless track record and neither do the Vikings.  Just some food for thought before we savage a guy before he even plays a down.

[Guest]

Ok, lol.....so I looked at some Nate Stanley video for the first time....ummmm......

I liked it. He gets slammed for being immobile but he's got more fluidity than Cousins (ain't saying much). I think he might be a little bit of an underrated athlete. Just a little bit. His arm is very good. That throw at Minnesota where he was flushed out of the pocket, threw across his body and launched a bullet while moving for the long TD was NICE. Only the second 3-time captain in Iowa football history.  I see upside. I just ready something that said the kid is strong mentally and has a NFL demeanor. Am I the only one?

[Guest]

@Wetlander said:

@FSUVike said:

@Wetlander said:
It's funny the outrage over guys that most of us have never watched (or focused on) or heard of prior to them being drafted.

Speak for yourself. I watched plenty of him while evaluating Kinlaw. And I've watched plenty of him since the pick. And studied up on profiles. He will have a role on the team. And he could have been had much later. With Guards and Receivers and higher potential Safeties sitting there. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Willekes does more.

And we're hardly alone in this opinion. Even amongst Vikings-centric analysts this was the biggest head scratcher of the Draft.

And Patterson isn't perfect. Wither Jalyn Holmes? Ade Aruna? Bower? He didn't pick Everson. The record is good, it's not above reproach. 

I'm not trying to be an asshole, but your posts are much better when they are more Matt Bowen instead of Skip Bayless.

I quoted multiple profiles of the kid. Have read a dozen Draft grades. Pointed out, fairly, that he doesn't look like Hunter clone just because the Vikings say he does. And I get dinged for it by that persistent portion of the Board that simply can't stand to hear a single negative thing about the team, unless they themselves brought it up.

I raised legitimate points. The counter was 'Well, Dre says he's Hunter so you're wrong.' If the response had been profiles that countered what I read, heard and saw on tape I'd react in a more respectful manner.  I did my homework. When you disagree without showing any inkling of doing your own, and denigrate me in the process, you get exactly what you deserve. 

Wetlander, I don't mean you specifically. But there is absolutely a part of this community that attacks anything contrary to their group think mentality that is frankly disappointing. 

[Guest]

@Wetlander said:
Just looking back on the past couple drafts...  Most fans loved the Elflein pick at the time, now everyone wants him cut...  Bucky Hodges was another fan favorite...  I don't think he even made the roster and isn't in the NFL anymore...  T.J Clemmings was a steal (NOT)... Treadwell had a lot of supporters (including me) and he never lived up to the hype... I thought Kendricks was too small to hold up in the NFL (way wrong on that)...

And then you have the majority that thought WTF when we drafted a raw LSU DE who had 1.5 sacks his last college season and had a girls name (before we knew how it was pronounced)...  Turned out pretty freaking good...  Same with O'Neill...  Pass on Hernandez to take a freaking project OT that needs to add strength and weight?  Again, turned out pretty damn good.  Alexander Mattison was the 2019 whipping boy...  Passed up so much talent and drafted a backup RB...  with the way he performed and Dalvin having trouble playing a full season, he was a good pick IMO.

Just some examples...  none of us have a spotless track record and neither do the Vikings.  Just some food for thought before we savage a guy before he even plays a down.

Yeah, the draft is a crap shoot. Always has been, always will be. If you hit on half of your day one and two picks, that's outstanding. If you hit on a fourth of your day three picks, that's outstanding. What drives me crazy is that some will look at a pick like Treadwell or Clemmings and say, "look, bad drafting" without considering, or knowing, that the rest of the NFL has just as many or more of those picks than the Vikings. 

The Vikings lead the NFL in percentage of draft picks on their roster. #1 in the NFL. Their 2015 draft is generally considered one of the best of the last 10 years. 2019 looks really good, too. And just when you thought Rick couldn't possibly do it again, his latest haul earns the experts' consensus best draft in the NFL. Of course they don't have a spotless record. Name one team who does? No, there's no doubt they are one of the best drafting teams in the NFL. 

[Guest]

I think I also need to mention that I was on board with the Hunter pick from Day 1. I love freak athletes that need some coaching up. I actually clamored for Diggs. Loved Harris, especially as a UDFA. I've gone on long soliloquies defending Rick Spielman the Drafter and Rick Spielman the GM.

And I'm already on record saying I really like this Draft Class. It's OK to like the Class and the job Rick did as a whole and still passionately disagree (i.e., act like a FANatic) regarding a few picks and/or decisions. I'm down on Wonnum. He was nearly unanimously ranked as a kid you could get much later. I personally believe 4th Rounders should contribute and the 5th and on is when you start taking flyers.

I don't see a LG on this team that will clearly outperform Elf next year. I see some potential, especially in Hinton, that is at least a year away from getting in the mix. There were options on board that absolutely would not be sure things but Rick could have selected to really create solid competition. 

I like to look at each spot and see a mix of developing youth, players still growing, and seasoned veterans. Reiff should start at LT so Cleveland can grow. That leaves Elf, Dozier, and Jones. Two players who maybe are still developing and a veteran. No developing youth.

Entering the Draft I ranked LG as the Number 1 need. I'm sure many disagree. That's fine. I'm entitled to my own opinion and would be happy to spell out why I felt that way. There were multiple chances to get a potential fix at that spot. It didn't happen. Which is disappointing. 

But that doesn't mean that I don't like the Lynch pick. He will play in Game 1, I'm virtually certain of it. And I freaking love the Dye pick. Wellekes, to me, makes the team AND sees more snaps than Wonnum. Hinton was a great lottery ticket. Stanley was smart too. 

It's OK to question trading out of 105 and picking Wonnum when there were Guards a plenty available. Especially if you feel, as I do, that it was the biggest need on the team and didn't get addressed in a way that helps this season. 

Having said that, watch for a sneaky vet signing or trade. Something tells me Rick isn't as comfortable with Elf/Dozier/Jones as he's letting on.

[Guest]

@StickyBun said:
Ok, lol.....so I looked at some Nate Stanley video for the first time....ummmm......

I liked it. He gets slammed for being immobile but he's got more fluidity than Cousins (ain't saying much). I think he might be a little bit of an underrated athlete. Just a little bit. His arm is very good. That throw at Minnesota where he was flushed out of the pocket, threw across his body and launched a bullet while moving for the long TD was NICE. Only the second 3-time captain in Iowa football history.  I see upside. I just ready something that said the kid is strong mentally and has a NFL demeanor. Am I the only one?

There's a decent amount of Iowa football/Big 10 fans on this board so no you're not the only one who likes him. But Stanley was about the 15-20th QB taken. If we get extremely lucky then Stanley will be Gardner Minshew. That would be amazing. The issue is, the Vikings often carry only 2 QBs. So even if Stanley is the second coming of Tom Brady, would Zimmer cut Mannion for him?