2012 NFL Draft: What Should Minnesota Do With the 3rd Overall Pick?

The 2012 NFL Draft is only a few days away and with every minute that pasts by the hype around the Minnesota Vikings’ 3rd overall pick keeps getting higher and higher. The biggest reason for this has to be that the 1st and 2nd overall picks in the NFL Draft are already decided before draft day for the first time in recent draft history. The Minnesota Vikings have four options to pick from with their 3rd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. The Minnesota Vikings can either trade the pick, draft Justin Blackmon, draft Morris Claiborne, or draft Matt Kalil. All of these options seem very intriguing, but in the end their is only one clear choice that has to be made by the Minnesota Vikings on draft day.

The first option that the Minnesota Vikings have surrounding their 3rd overall pick is trading it away for picks later in the 2012 NFL Draft. In my opinion, I feel as if trading away the 3rd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft would be a very ill-advised move for the franchise to make. I say this because of the prospects available for the Minnesota Vikings to draft. The big three prospects on the draft board when the 3rd overall pick rolls around will be Justin Blackmon (WR), Morris Claiborne (CB), and Matt Kalil (OT). No matter which of these players you choose, their is no other prospect in the draft quite like them (except for Justin Blackmon compared to Michael Floyd). The only trade I would accept if I was the Minnesota Vikings would be if the Cleveland Browns wanted to trade up in the draft from 4th overall to 3rd overall, but the odds on the trade are very slim.

The next three options for the Minnesota Vikings all involve who they should draft with the 3rd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Should they draft Justin Blackmon, Morri Claiborne, or Matt Kalil? All of these prospects fill a gap in which the Minnesota Vikings need filled. The Minnesota Vikings are in need of a wide receiver, cornerback, or offensive tackle. In my opinion, there is only one correct choice for the Minnesota Vikings to draft with the 3rd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. The choice would be drafting Matt Kalil out of the University of Southern California (USC). When talking about Matt Kalil, ESPN draft analysis Todd McShay has said,

“I just think he’s a plug-and-play left tackle who can start immediately and can start at a high level and become a perennial Pro Bowl-type player.”

I completely agree with Todd McShay. I feel as if the bigger needs for the Minnesota Vikings are wide receiver and offensive tackle. It comes down to, if the Minnesota Vikings want a weapon for Christian Ponder to throw to or to make sure that Christian Ponder has enough time to make a throw. In the end, I believe that the best option for the Minnesota Vikings would be to draft Matt Kalil with the 3rd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

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