2014 NFL Draft Discussion Thread - Round 2 & 3

[Texas Vike]

The more I think about the McKinnon pick the more I dislike it. Okay, the guy runs 4.4, benches twice his weight, and has a 40 inch vert. So did Joe Webb and Todd Lowber and those guys were taken in the 6th and undrafted, respectively. The third round is really too high for a project like this. He should have been taken in the 5th or lower, there's plenty of guys out there that can make an impact right now.

He's going to be a Sproles like guy yet he has no experience catching the football out of the backfield. How is his pass blocking? His blitz pickup? No way of knowing, not when you're playing whoever the heck Georgia Southern plays every year. I'm glad he has a potentially high ceiling but he also has a lot of risk too. Take a De'Anthony Thomas or a Dri Archer if you want a guy with pure athleticism, at least they've seen real competition.

The pick won't make or break the draft, and I hope it works out, but I think they dropped the ball on this one.

It's a pretty funky pick, but as Moth and Paul point out down thread, it reflects a new willingness to draft raw talent and coach them up. We did this even before Zimmer, it should be noted, when we took Patterson last year. I'm guessing Spielman and Zimmer clicked on this point: drafting raw, naturally talented prospects and coaching them up.

I like the Crichton pick.

[Texas Vike]

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... 29761.html

Spielman also found the 5-9, 209-pound McKinnon riveting.

“From an athletic standpoint, he was too good an athlete to pass up,” Spielman said. “He’s too explosive as a player.”

McKinnon was recruited to Georgia Southern, a FCS (formerly Division I-AA school) as a cornerback. He switched to a triple-option quarterback and played there primarily through his career. But he also played tailback, cornerback, fullback and receiver. As a senior, he ran for 1,050 yards, 12 touchdowns and a 6.5-yard average.

“He had maybe the most interesting workout I’ve ever seen,” Spielman said. “Teams worked him out as a running back, a punt returner and a cornerback. It must have been the longest pro day I’ve ever seen.”

Spielman made it clear the Vikings are looking at McKinnon as a running back exclusively to give offensive coordinator Norv Turner the third-down, change-of-pace burst that he likes in the backfield.

Although McKinnon didn’t pass protect in college, he showed he was willing at the Senior Bowl, Spielman said. Plus, the guy did 32 reps on the 225-pound bench press, the most by a running back at the scouting combine.

“Norv’s eyes and [running backs coach] Kirby Wilson’s eyes light up with the different things they can do with this guy,” Spielman said.

I wonder if they're thinking of using him on Punt Returns? Norv sounds intrigued by ways he can use him. I don't know that the comparisons to Webb are justified, but his lack of experience at the position that we plan to use him does concern me a bit.

Also sounds like they plan to be active filling in the secondary with the rest of the draft and w/ UDFA:

The Vikings head into Day 3 still looking to fill needs, particularly in the secondary.

“That will come,” Spielman said. “Plus, you are not done when the draft is done. We don’t play until September.”

[Eli]

Also sounds like they plan to be active filling in the secondary with the rest of the draft and w/ UDFA:

And additional FA signings, as well as scanning the waiver wire during the preseason and at final cuts. Maybe even a rare trade. As far as this draft is concerned, though, unless they can move back into the fourth round, finding an immediate impact player for the secondary isn't going happen.

[Texas Vike]

I'm not trunk anymore and I still don't like the McKinnon pick, RB could had waited.

Judging by your grammar and spelling you're still feeling the effects!

I think a lot of us will need convincing w/ that pick. Nothing compares to on field production-- hopefully he takes a few to the house. He's got the speed and power for it.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Why Crichton over Nix? Don't like this a lot.

Still not big on our RB choice, nor when he was picked.

Guess we will have to see.

[frosted]

Why Crichton over Nix? Don't like this a lot.

Still not big on our RB choice, nor when he was picked.

Guess we will have to see.

They had Crichton rated higher than Nix - I know a lot of people here blew their load over Nix, but imagine if we had taken him at 8, like some wanted? He clearly has some things to work on, and it sounds like there are problems with his knees.

[CbusVikesFan]

Why Crichton over Nix? Don't like this a lot.

Still not big on our RB choice, nor when he was picked.

Guess we will have to see.

What is with all of the project picks? Do we NOT want any day 1 starters?

[Pondering Her Percy]

The way I look at it.....Barr and Teddy were great picks. Crichton could be very similar to Everson Griffen 4 years ago and give us depth on the d-line.

As for McKinnon, I'm not a fan of the pick, He's a hell of an athlete but is very inexperienced in pass blocking and receiving. I would have taken Ka'Deem Carey any day over McKinnon. Carey was my favorite RB in this draft. If Carey was picked there I would have been very happy. However, I really wanted either McGill, Desir, or Roberson as well. But maybe these guys last longer or we will try to trade back into the 4th who knows.

As for guys saying this draft is terrible, a waste of time, etc.....that's pretty ridiculous. About 6 months ago Teddy was mocked to go either 1 or 2 and Barr was projected to go at 4 or 5 and we ended up landing both of these guys. To say this was a bad draft really makes me question some.

[CbusVikesFan]

Barr should be starting day 1.
I like these pick. They're projects, but they're not big projects. Besides, this Vikings team isn't going to compete for a SB next year anyways.

This is what I mean. woulda, coulda, shoulda. I thought that there were better options at every pick so far. If we really wanted Johnny Football.....a trade up for Filo instead of Bridgewater. Gilbert, Dennard, Fuller, Mosley, instead of Barr. This draft was about opposite of what I would have done. They know more than I do about talent, so we shall see.

[HardcoreVikesFan]

I am curious to see if we see any trades today during the draft for established players. There usually seems to be at least one veteran traded on day 3 for a draft pick.

[Mothman]

This is what I mean. woulda, coulda, shoulda. I thought that there were better options at every pick so far. If we really wanted Johnny Football.....a trade up for Filo instead of Bridgewater. Gilbert, Dennard, Fuller, Mosley, instead of Barr. This draft was about opposite of what I would have done. They know more than I do about talent, so we shall see.

Exactly. Time will tell but they're clearly drafting for long term production and not just immediate impact. In a few years, we'll know if this was a good draft or not. Until then, the debate will rage on!

[mondry]

I'm not sure what Lowber's bench is, but Webb had 21 reps comapre to 32 reps by Mckinnon. Just to give you guys more perspective, Greg Robinson benched 32 reps.

I'm the first to admit I don't like work out warriors, but that's only the case if they are flying up the board in the first round. In these later rounds, it's actually very good to take risks on work out warrior type guys. And in addition to this, McKinnon is a RB, which doesn't require a lot of skills. Webb was an athlete, but he was drafted to play QB, then WR. Lowber, I don't know much about except he's a WR and that takes a lot of skills and coordination. Having a beast like McKinnon, we just have to teach him how to block and pick up blitzes, but aside from that his athleticism will shine when he is running with the ball. I'm concern about his ability to catch, as he didn't do that very often in college, but Spielman states he's very natural when it comes to catching the ball, so I'll have to take his word for it.

Well said, those are exactly my thoughts. We didn't draft the dude to play QB or even WR, we drafted him to play running back and yes it's not completely fool proof but we are talking about getting a hand off and running like a mofo with it and running short routes out of the backfield, and maybe some punt returning. For a guy who can back pedal into coverage and even play DB I think he'll be just fine once we have him focus on just the RB side of things.

The biggest thing I took from Spielman's presser is that he's a good kid, huge work ethic, and will do whatever we ask of him and at the senior bowl was more than willing to stick his nose in as a blocker on blitz pick up.

Spielman did say, because we didn't have the 4th he didn't think Mckinnon would be there with our 5th, with that huge run on RB's so maybe ideally we'd wait till the 4th on him but ah well. I'll take a page out of Jim's book and say if you think the guy can solve your backup RB position / punt returner and perhaps be a stud long term after Adrians wheels fall off (which could be the next big hit he takes), you go out and get him.

[Canuck]

rashaad Reynolds is a decent pickup late

[S197]

What I mean by comparing him to Webb or Lowber is these guys look great on paper. Webb can jump over boxes and Lowber can run 4.1. It's impressive but there's more than shear athleticism that makes a player succeed in the NFL. I'm glad McKinnon can bench as much as an OL but the guy has only played RB for one year and it was a year at Georgia Southern. It just seems premature to grab a guy like this in the 3rd. I see some places have him as a 4th round pick so perhaps it's not that bad. I'm not writing him off or anything but just looking at the guys that were still available, well lets just say I hope that pro day was absolutely amazing.

[IIsweet]

Love the Barr and Bridgewater picks.
Not a fan of Crichton, but oh well. Just not impressed, unless he moves inside to DT on passing downs.
As a team, we are not a very talented team as Kurt Warner has been saying.
Btw, the McKinnon kid is the real deal ! He single handedly made that team and carried them !
There are times when we can run the option with him and AD and pick your poison. Imagine bringing that version of a Wildcat or a version of an option 3-4 times a game.
I think we will like him and say what a great pick it was a year from now !