Minnesota Vikings draft LB Ben Gedeon with second pick in the fourth round

The Minnesota Vikings opted to select another defensive player with their second fourth-round pick of the day and added a former Michigan linebacker to their roster.

After starting the day off on defense with Iowa defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson, the Minnesota Vikings stayed on that side of the ball with their second pick in the fourth round Saturday and selected former Michigan linebacker Ben Gedeon.

Of the Vikings’ first four picks in the 2017 NFL Draft, three of them have been from schools that played in the Big Ten Conference.

Adding a linebacker in this year’s draft was a must as the team lost longtime linebacker Chad Greenway to retirement this offseason. Gedeon will be a good option to use in their base defense along with Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks.

Expect him to see some time on Minnesota’s special teams unit during his first few seasons with the team as well.

At Michigan in 2016, Gedeon appeared in 13 games and accumulated a total of 94 tackles (15 for a loss) and 4.5 sacks.

Next: Vikings draft Iowa DT Jaleel Johnson

The Vikings went offense with their first two picks on day two of this year’s draft and have now gone with two defensive players for their first two selections on day three. Obviously, Minnesota knew head coach Mike Zimmer would make the war room unbearable if the team did not start adding some players to his favorite side of the ball.