Vikings Message Board.Com

saint33 wrote:Interesting question for you guys, I just did one that had Bridgewater, Manziel and Mack off the board. Best players available are:

Sammy Watkins, WR Clemson
Blake Bortles, QB Central Florida
Anthony Barr, OLB/DE UCLA

who would you take? I went a little outside the box, took Watkins. To me, it'd be hard to pass Watkins up unless one of the two QBs is there, especially if Mack is gone. I don't ever expect him to be available to us, but if he was I would be very excited to pick him, even though WR is far from our biggest need

I personally think that Watkins is one of the surer bets in this draft. It would be an interesting scenario.

headless_norseman wrote:
WR's are no good without a good QB. I don't think they will draft a WR higher than 4th anyway, if at all.

Tell that to Josh Gordon.

We could still go on to draft a QB in round 2 or 3, and keep Cassel. With the weapons we would then have (Patterson/Watkins outside, Jennings in the slot, Peterson at Rb and Rudolph at TE), you have to wonder just how bad a veteran like Cassel could be. You take a guy like Garoppolo, Mettenberger, etc. as a developmental guy and if you don't feel confident with how he's progressing, you can always dip into what appears to be a strong class of QBs next year. And it puts to bed any questions of surrounding talent that any QB who plays for us has to deal with, because we would have one of the brightest young cores of playmakers in the league with a couple key veterans as well.

I would never get your mind made up about what positions we would and would not take where. There are certain cases where it's safe to assume we would not use a pick on a certain position, but those IMO are rare. When the best player available to you is a player who's talent far exceeds the lack of need at that position, I think it's almost always a good choice to go with the most talented player rather than the player who fills a more immediate need.

For every Josh Gordon, there's another 6-8 legit WR's that shake our heads with an off year. But I won't be surprised at all if we don't draft any WR. Then again, this staff may draft another one for depth.

saint33 wrote:as fun as this is, the rankings are just too off at this point


8
OLB KHALIL MACK
BUFFALO
40
DT RA’SHEDE HAGEMAN
MINNESOTA
72
CB BRADLEY ROBY
OHIO STATE
96
QB JIMMY GAROPPOLO
EASTERN ILLINOIS
104
DE JACKSON JEFFCOAT
TEXAS
136
ILB MAX BULLOUGH
MICHIGAN STATE
168
QB TAJH BOYD
CLEMSON
200
G TRAI TURNER
LSU


seriously?

I like this one the best...After mine, of course.

Liking Garoppolo a lot. Boyd might be a great value pick as a plan B, but depending on how the draft works out, I may prefer to see them continue to build depth on defense. Split on that.

my favorite one so far but completely unrealistic


8
QB TEDDY BRIDGEWATER
LOUISVILLE
40
DT RA’SHEDE HAGEMAN
MINNESOTA
72
CB BRADLEY ROBY
OHIO STATE
96
ILB CHRISTIAN JONES
FLORIDA STATE
104
DE JACKSON JEFFCOAT
TEXAS
136
DT DEANDRE COLEMAN
CALIFORNIA
168
RB DE’ANTHONY THOMAS
OREGON
200
G ZACH FULTON
TENNESSEE

It is fun to screw around with, but I wonder what algorithm they use, because some of the picks are mind-boggling. One draft actually had G David Yankey going with the first pick! I noticed that DE Jackson Jeffcoat and DT Daniel McCullers consistently drop into the 4th and 5th rounds, respectively. If that should play out, that would be two intriguing picks that could pay big dividends. I do wonder if QB Connor Shaw gets drafted or not. Would be worth a look in Rd 7.


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8
OLB KHALIL MACK
BUFFALO
40
S HA’SEAN CLINTON-DIX
ALABAMA
72
DT WILL SUTTON
ARIZONA STATE
96
QB JIMMY GAROPPOLO
EASTERN ILLINOIS
104
G DAKOTA DOZIER
FURMAN
136
QB A.J. MCCARRON
ALABAMA
168
WR MIKE DAVIS
TEXAS
200
TE JAKE MURPHY
UTAH


I enjoyed using this simulator, fully aware of its limitations, as a way to brome better aware of mid and late round prospects. I'd toggle between CBS draft site's write ups on prospects and the simulator--nice way to get more or less an idea of who might be available at various picks.

My first one, Mack, Barr and all QBs were off the board. I would be a very happy camper if this went down.

8
WR MIKE EVANS
TEXAS A&M
40
S LAMARCUS JOYNER
FLORIDA STATE
72
CB STANLEY JEAN- BAPTISTE
NEBRASKA
96
QB JIMMY GAROPPOLO
EASTERN ILLINOIS
104
DE JACKSON JEFFCOAT
TEXAS
136
RB STORM JOHNSON
UCF
168
RB DE’ANTHONY THOMAS
OREGON
200
G TRAI TURNER
LSU

Ironically most of you take Jimmy G, 3rd or 4th rd.....at this point, he has become a fan favorite!

8
WR SAMMY WATKINS
CLEMSON

40
DT RA’SHEDE HAGEMAN
MINNESOTA

72
CB STANLEY JEAN- BAPTISTE
NEBRASKA

96
ILB YAWIN SMALLWOOD
UCONN

104
QB JIMMY GAROPPOLO
EASTERN ILLINOIS

136
RB JEREMY HILL
LSU

168
S KENNY LADLER
VANDERBILT

200
G BRANDON LINDER
MIAMI

Manziel was available in this one, but I decided to go with Watkins. As someone already mentioned, I'd rather take a "project QB", have him work with the coaches for a year, and if they don't like what they see...next year's QB class is supposed to be quite deep.

Purple Rage wrote:Ironically most of you take Jimmy G, 3rd or 4th rd.....at this point, he has become a fan favorite!

Part of that may be because posters have read this thread and are aware that you can get him so late in the simulator. I kind of doubt he goes in the 4th round in the actual draft.

When I did the simulator I was thinking along these lines: "Carr now at #8 or take 4 D studs/ G and then grab Garappolo in the 4th" the latter always won out.

Remember in 1998 when the Vikings had Cris Carter and Jake Reed? And who did they take in the 1st round that year?

Granted that was in the '20s not #8 so it would be have even harder to pass up that kind of talent......but I would take Watkins in a heart beat if he's still available at #8. That guy is going to be a beast in the NFL...

that said, I would be absolutely shocked if he's available at #8. Shocked.

VikingPaul73 wrote:Remember in 1998 when the Vikings had Cris Carter and Jake Reed? And who did they take in the 1st round that year?

Granted that was in the '20s not #8 so it would be have even harder to pass up that kind of talent......but I would take Watkins in a heart beat if he's still available at #8. That guy is going to be a beast in the NFL...

that said, I would be absolutely shocked if he's available at #8. Shocked.

I see what you're trying to say. But Watkins is no Moss - not even close. It's not even up for A discussion.

Jeffbleedspurple wrote:In 1998 I don't think the defense was as dysfunctional as our 2013 defense, I think the decision will and should be made by not the best available, but the best available to fill desperate holes, that would be our entire defense and QB, with Patterson, Jennings, Wright, Simpson and Rudolph I think were good to go. A lot on this depends on who the Vikings resign and who they pick up in the FA cookie gar.

I would love to see an air attack in 2014 like we had in 1998, but we got to do something with that mess of a defense 1st, QB 2nd.

Agreed on the defense and good points. But the Vikings had won a playoff game the year before and had an incumbent coach, so they had a "win now" mentality heading into 1998. In that environment, I would expect more of a draft for need mentality. And although the defense wasn't the mess it is now, it was by no means a strength of the team (WR was). Their corners were weak, and they had no DEs (Derrick Alexander?).

And if they do draft a QB in rounds 2-4, what better way to help him develop than having him throw to Jennings, Patterson, Watkins, and Rudolph, while allowing him to hand off to AD!!!!

This is all a moot point anyway because there is no way Watkins will be there at #8

I'd actually be all over Watkins at 8 if it happened that way.

Patterson seems to be progressing well but lets not act like he's the answer to all our WR woes. He's still relatively raw (even if he is crazy talented). But, can you imagine someone like Watkins across from Patterson, with Wright in the slot (I really like Wright honestly)? All learning from Greg Jennings for a year? Any QB they get could be able to perform with those weapons, hell roll with Cassell.

My money is on Defense or we reach for a QB though.