Archive for April, 2011

Here’s what I can tell you about the Vikings‘ final draft pick of 2011, West Texas A&M receiver Stephen Burton: He’s 6-1. He runs a 4.5 40. The scouts think he has good size but is not a deep threat and being a small college player suffers from a lack of experience against good talent. In other words, he’s a late-draft shot in the dark. At best, Burton projects as a possession receiver in the NFL. Think Greg Camarillo. But don’t we already have a Greg Camarillo? Receiver was a need for the Vikings but Burton was the only wide-out [...]

The Vikings have added another defensive lineman, drafting Arizona’s D’Aundre Reed with their first pick in the seventh round. The story on Reed is an intriguing one. He’s considered a talented athlete, but in Arizona he was buried in the rotation behind Brooks Reed and Ricky Elmore, both of whom were also drafted this year. The thinking here is that Reed could be a diamond in the rough, a talent who remained untapped simply because of who was ahead of him on his college roster. Sort of like Brad Johnson, only at the defensive end position. Obviously, in the seventh [...]

Unless the Vikings trade back into the 6th round their 4 picks have ran their creative course. At 200th overall (one pick after the infamous Tom Brady pick… I mean Joe Webb pick) the Vikings have taken linebacker Ross Homan of Ohio State. Homan is a high character guy who was named captain of the Buckeyes, lead the team in tackles and was voted onto the All-Big Ten team by coaches. Reading the scouting reports on Homan basically state he’s a lunchbox type of player who always works hard, but will never blow you away athletically. He was also projected [...]

Looks like John Sullivan may be a backup center soon. In the 6th round, 172nd overall the Vikings have grabbed Slippery Rock’s Brandon Fusco. His measurements come in at 6’4” and 306 pounds. The Vikings were known to have coveted Fusco over the past couple of months being one of several teams who traveled down to Slippery Rock to visit the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year, team captain and three-time all-conference selection. Fusco was invited to the combine, played in the Senior Bowl and had a mid-round grade by most draft pundits. I also mocked Fusco to [...]

The University of South Florida’s Mistral Raymond is now a Vikings with our second pick in the 6th round goes towards adding more depth in the secondary. Being a Syracuse graduate, this is someone I actually watched a few times in the past year. I can tell you he’s a hard hitter that has long arms and always seems to be around the action. Just wonder if Raymond could have been had in the 7th round, as he did have a late round or undrafted free agent grade. Look for Raymond to make the roster with Madieu Williams all but [...]

Called it from this morning… Well sort of. DeMarcus Love of Arkansas is a late round offensive lineman we felt the Vikings should draft and the deed has been done. He has ideal size for an NFL Guard at 6’4” and 315 pounds. Going into the season Love was on a number of Preseason All-American teams, but a mediocre senior season and a bad Senior Bowl sent his stock downward. He does have experience however playing against some quality defensive linemen in the SEC. And of course, anyone protecting Ryan Mallett’s pokey behind and windmill delivery should know that a [...]

Christian Ballard reportedly dropped to the fourth round because of a failed drug test at the combine. This was bad news for Ballard, who had the talent to project out as a 2nd-rounder, but potentially good news for the Vikings who were able to snap up the former Iowa DT in a high-value position. Soon after being selected Ballard faced the media, and was immediately hit with questions about the drug test. Not surprisingly, the player had very little to say on the subject. When asked if the failed test was indeed to blame for his slide down the draft [...]

The Vikings have a history of sprinting to the podium when they really want someone. They did it for Adrian Peterson, they did it for Percy Harvin and they turned their draft card in quicker than two wags of kangaroo tail to draft Utah cornerback Brandon Burton. Burton had a mid-round grade by draft experts. He has good size at 6’1” and 185 lbs looking the part of a starting cornerback. He also did an excellent job against the top wide receivers in The Mountain West Conference. The knocks on him are that he’s raw and can occasionally be lackadaisical [...]

The Vikings looked to the Big 10 (or 11 or 12 or however many teams they have now) for their 4th round selection, taking DT Christian Ballard out of Iowa. The scouting report on Ballard is straight-forward: he has great talent but is still raw. Right now it looks like Ballard could develop into either an end or a tackle. Also – and this may end up meaning nothing, as we learned with Percy Harvin – Ballard flunked a drug test at the combine. This failed test is probably why Ballard was still available in the 4th. With Ray Edwards [...]

It’s just not a good time to vent about the way the draft has gone so far. We criticized the reach of Christian Ponder at 12 and praised drafting Rudolph The Red Blooded Tight End at 43 when there were clearly other needs. At the end of the day though lets be patient with Rick Spielman. This is the same GM (or Vice President of Player Personnel or whatever the hell his title is) who has drafted 2 of the last 4 rookies of the year in Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin. Not to mention he did trade for a [...]