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NFL Draft Rumors: Vikings Love Arizona State’s Damarious Randall?

By Dan Zinski

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Matt Miller dropped some serious knowledge in his Bleacher Report video yesterday. Not only did he reveal the Vikings’ crush on Trae Waynes, he also let loose some info on another defensive back the Vikings have developed strong feelings for.

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According to Miller, the Vikings are just one of several teams who have become intrigued by Arizona State safety Damarious Randall. How intrigued? As he did with Waynes, Miller whipped out the “love” word in describing the Vikings’ level of interest.

When you look into Randall’s scouting reports a little bit, you begin to see why Mike Zimmer might like the young man. Certain terms pop up like “physical” and “highly competitive” and “strong desire to make an aggressive tackle in space” that seem to yell out “Mike Zimmer’s kind of player.”

But you can’t overlook the negatives on Randall either, starting with his relatively diminutive size (he’s 5-11, 196) (via NFL.com):

"Small for safety position. Has box characteristics but lacking box size. Instincts as a free safety are average. Could be forced to play cornerback. Needs technique work in coverage. Must learn line-of-scrimmage skills and work on coordinating feet and hips. Allows wideouts to eat up cushion. Desire to attack leads to false steps against play-action. Fails to play with proper depth at times. Gets a little loose with technique as a tackler at times, causing him to miss."

So what’s his position, free safety or strong safety or cornerback or what? Some have compared him to Earl Thomas, the Seahawks’ feisty All-Pro free safety. That’s probably a size thing mostly, though Randall does also have nice speed (he ran a 4.46 40 at the combine) and every scouting report remarks on his physicality and aggressiveness.

Another thing the Vikings might “love” about Randall is his attitude (via CBSSports.com):

"Plays bigger than he looks and initiates the action, seeking out contact with a violent mentality to strike through his target. Plays ticked off and sets the tempo. Unselfish team-first type with ideal training habits."

Plays ticked off? Now I get why Zimmer likes him. Projections on Randall have him going anywhere from the third to the late first. Indianapolis is also reportedly quite enamored with the young man so the Vikings might have to beat Jim Irsay off with a broom if they want to take him out.

Next: Zimmer Works With Byron Jones (Video)

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