Who should the Vikes draft?

[gopher_nation]

Manning is done, not even worth thinking about him in a Vikings uniform.

[Musky Buck]

I think it funny that Eli is nearly every bit as good as his brother if not better in my eyes, playing outdoors in the cold, no dome, etc. Let's draft Booger Presley from revenge of the nerds, does it really matter, I guess for the near future it does, but we are o fer superbowls and not ready to battle the elite QB teams in the nfl.

[amateurfishing]

no reason to even look at manning & i dont even think he will be able to play much if at all this next season, & what good is any qb with a swiss cheese o-line, manning certainly is not a running qb. RGIII has talent but not big or solid enuff to hold up to NFL play, especially rookie year. Ponder/Webb/Rosenfels will work, just need to clean up protection on o-line, when qb has time & wr's get open then anything can happen. We first need o-line & d secondary, hopefully FA nets wr's & LB depth

[thatoneguy]

Quote:

RGIII has talent but not big or solid enuff to hold up to NFL play

He's 6'2" 220 lbs. Not Big Ben, but it's not like he's a frail little thing, either.

[thatoneguy]

Behind our O-line manning would be dead within a couple games. See Bret Farve, Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhardt, Christian Ponder injuries.

Favre, yes. Peterson just got hit at a bad angle with his leg planted - that had NOTHING to do with the line. Nor did Gerhart. Ponder needs to learn to not hang onto the ball so long and he won't absorb as many big hits.

[Big Tom]

They should draft a guy who is is good at driving Moving Trucks.

A guy can hope.

[soldoncass]

I think Vikes will draft a left tackle(unless coaches think Love can handle it) ,though I'm not sure it will be in the first round . It seems like Spielman likes to move draft picks around(trade back and gain a couple picks) , so he can leverage positions for coveted players...aka Gerhart. I personally wouldn't do that....If I had a player I wanted, with a first round grade, I'd jump when I had the chance. Way too many teams that could jump your spot, if you trade back to get "value". Every team has thier own grades on players....and we don't know what they are.

I do believe we will draft a tackle, wr, db, in the first 3 rounds, and if there is ANY way to squeeze Decastro(Guard) in there also, I'm all for it.

[james_walleye]

I heard something that to protect getting RG3 and to keep others from trading to #3, that the browns could trade up 1 spot to the vikings. This could possibly be worth the 22nd pick that the browns got from the falcons last year??? Seems pretty steep to me. But imagine the prospects of that. Kalil and then Kirkpatrick at 22? How sweet would that be....

[soldoncass]

I'd take that deal....I'd even take #4 and #36 for our #3 spot. I've seen several mocks that think St. Louis could take Kalil.....in that case what would you do?? Take Claibourne #4.....speediest, quickest WR that can catch at #35 and best tackle left at #36 (Reiff, Martin, Adams)??I'm not sure I'd take Kirkpatrick til about round 3, with his problems. I'd sure like Decastro squeezed in there someplace too.

One thing I'm quite comfortable in calling....Spielman will take a DT in round 4.

[LMITOUT]

Kalil and then Kirkpatrick at 22? How sweet would that be....

Another doper? Oh let me guess, he has migraines too? Maybe he can share a cell with Cook later down the line...

[hawgchaser]

You're making this too hard, folks! A dart board with 19 names for the 19 positions they need help at and keep throwing till it's over. That's assuming they don't trade all their picks for a fading star.

[james_walleye]

I'm sure he would be a "bust" like Harvin to LOL.

[james_walleye]

I'd take that deal....I'd even take #4 and #36 for our #3 spot. I've seen several mocks that think St. Louis could take Kalil.....in that case what would you do?? Take Claibourne #4.....speediest, quickest WR that can catch at #35 and best tackle left at #36 (Reiff, Martin, Adams)??I'm not sure I'd take Kirkpatrick til about round 3, with his problems. I'd sure like Decastro squeezed in there someplace too.

One thing I'm quite comfortable in calling....Spielman will take a DT in round 4.

Kitkpatrick will be a first rounder.....

[james_walleye]

Wonder where pier is hiding these days now that its pretty clear you DO need a defense to win a championship. Name the last team that won a superbowl that had a rotten defense? Answer.....its never happened. Yep Eli is clutch. But why does he have 2 rings to Peytons 1? Pretty easy. Give Peyton a defense like that over his career and he has 5 rings.

To the original question again....no matter where the vikings pick, OL and DB are the priorities imo. A reiever will be brought in VIA FA. If the cards fall right, OL and DB could both be addressed in round 1. It will be fun to see how it all shakes out.

[Musky Buck]

Just reading this makes me think Las Vegas having us at 60-1 odds is a bit too nice. Let's give Peyton a 8 year deal, that would be the fastest way to turn us around, maybe. He likes domes, he has created stud WR's out of the Austin Collie's, Anthony Gonzalez, Pierre Garcon, etc. and Reggie Wayne collected checks this year since he knew running those patterns there was not much chance this year. We are the best at recycling QB's, we can't break tradition now lol. Let's ask Red McComb ? Purple pride baby.

[LMITOUT]

Wonder where pier is hiding these days now that its pretty clear you DO need a defense to win a championship. Name the last team that won a superbowl that had a rotten defense? Answer.....its never happened..

Um, the answer is the Giants from two days ago.

Their defense was ranked 27th or something. New England (the other team in the Super Bowl this year) was worse.

If you think that is wrong, then you're disagreeing with the various news outlets and analysts who repeated those stats numerous times over the last two weeks, not to mention the Elias Sports Bureau and the NFL itself.

[james_walleye]

Yes and the vikings were ranked 21st, proving how misleading stats can be. Pretty sure no one would take the vikings defense over the giants......

I'll take the kind of rotten defense they played against arguably the 2 best offenses in the NFL in GB n NE.....

[LMITOUT]

Pretty sure no one would take the vikings defense over the giants......

They would if they had a decent offense to go with it. Hint: see this year's playoff teams:

Offensive Rank:

1. GB

2. NO

3. NE

4. DET

7. ATL

9. NYG

10. HOU

The top four offenses in the league this year were in the playoffs, and 7 of the 10 playoff teams were in the top 10.

Defense wins championships? Not so much.

And, if you'd happen to notice, none of those teams did it with any great rushing game but for Houston.

How much did Minnesota pay Peterson again???

Yeah, good luck with that.

[james_walleye]

When the giants win the superbowl by only scoring 21 points and hold Tom Brady to 17, I have a hard time buying that defense had nothing to do with winning this championship......

[james_walleye]

....and yes I understand that its a Qb league. But the notion that defense is meaningless in todays game is garbage. I mean we were 2 plays away from a 49ers vs ravens bowl. Flacco vs Alex Smith? It could have just as easily been 2 teams who run the ball and play phenomenal defense playing that game.

[LMITOUT]

Why are you arguing with the winning formula of today's NFL and defending the ways of a team that went 3-13 this year and probably not a whole lot better next year? Stay entrenched in the ways of the old and you'll get more of the same with your Vikings club. Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, AKA the Vikings.

[james_walleye]

There is a difference between making the playoffs and winning the championship. Certainly you need an offense. We will agree to disagree on how important the defense is. I'm not quite sure how anyone could have watched this superbowl and then try to say defense is irrelevant in todays NFL. I mean plain and simple the giants road through the playoffs and to the SB win was on the defense. What is the difference between this years packers and last years? The play of the defense. New Orleans couldn't stop Alex Smith. How did lack of defense not play a role in ending these teams seasons. With your logic I guess its a foregone conclusion that the patriots, saints, and packers will use their first round picks trying to further upgrade those offenses.....

[LMITOUT]

Giants were 3rd in total offense during the playoffs.

I'm not saying or have ever said that defense is irrelevant, but the emphasis of today's game is offense and it isn't even close. It is an arms race and the team with the most firepower is more often then not going to be the winner.

[simple1]

The arms race is to get a franchise QB on offense and DEs that can get to that QB on defense. The rules have changed a lot that put more pressure on stopping the offense. Rules like no contact after 5 yards whether the ball is in the air or not is a rule that gives the offense a huge advantage. Teams pay QBs so much, its hard to load up at other positions.

[B. Amish]

all i know is there were about a dozen plays during the last half of the 4th quarter of the superbowl that could've changed the outcome.

if welker caught that pass where he was wide open and collinsworth said he would've caught 100 times out of 100, then the patriots would've won and this whole conversation would be different.

you need to have a good team, but in no other sport is luck such a factor in getting it done as it is in the nfl.