5 NFL Draft habits Rick Spielman needs to change in 2021

Waiting too long to address key needs

Obviously, a team can’t address every single need in a given draft. Choices have to be made as to what position to address when and when it comes time to hit that next need, sometimes there simply isn’t value on the board, and a team goes in a different direction.

While that is to be understood, Rick Spielman has in the past ignored addressing needs when given the chance, instead opting to move down or go with a sexier position. Last year is a glaring example of this. The Vikings had some major needs as the draft approached. They needed to find a wide receiver to help replace the loss of Stefon Diggs, needed to add some talent to their secondary at both cornerback and safety, and had to find a solution at both guard positions after cutting their best player there in Josh Kline.

While the team did well fixing the holes at wide receiver and corner, Spielman shockingly left safety and guard basically untouched. He didn’t draft a safety until his last pick of round six and didn’t take a guard until his very last choice in the entire draft, choosing a small school prospect at the ass end of the seventh round. Spielman was lucky his gamble didn’t come back to bite him when it came to safeties as both Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris stayed healthy all season, but he set his team up for failure by not taking a guard.

He passed on players like John Simpson, Solomon Kindley, Damien Lewis, and Michael Omenwu, who all had solid seasons for their respective teams. This odd decision to not address a major issue put Kirk Cousins’ health at risk, but he proved to be extremely durable behind that shoddy interior protection.