4 worst Minnesota Vikings fourth-round picks of the last decade

Christian Ballard – DT (2011)

When the Vikings took defensive tackle Christian Ballard in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft, I remember being ecstatic. I thought Minnesota got a huge steal with this big man from Iowa.

Ballard had a very productive college career with 153 total tackles (21 for a loss) and 12 sacks. There were rumblings early in the draft season that year that he could be a late first-round pick due to his elite athletic ability. When he fell to the fourth round it felt like a gift from above.

Ballard just wasn’t the player in the NFL that he was in college. He did have 29 tackles and one sack for the Vikings, but he didn’t play with the same fire he showed at Iowa.

Prior to the start of the 2013 season, then Minnesota head coach Leslie Fraiser said that Ballard would be taking time off to deal with some personal issues. Those personal issues turned out to be the fact he didn’t like playing football anymore.

He said it wasn’t fun and while he liked the money, he could make money doing something else. Ballard then walked away from the game of football altogether.

While the Vikings surely can’t be 100 percent to blame for missing on this prospect as his measurables were eye-popping, they should’ve done more work on what made him tick. Maybe then, they would’ve realized he hated football and decided to not use a fourth-round pick on him.