Vikings 2012 Draft Picks Recap

The Vikings had a pretty decent draft. Below is a summary of each pick. It will be fun to see some of these start right away and fun to watch others develop.

Round 1, pick 4 (From Cleveland), 4th overall: Matt Kalil, LT, USC Grade A+
This pick was known for a long time before the draft came. This is one of the best draft picks the Vikings have made in some time. This will provide us with a franchise LT that will help protect our franchise QB. This will allow our OL look like this LT: Kalil, LG: Johnson, C: Sullivan, RG: Schwartz/Fusco, RT: Loadholt/ Scwartz. This year, out OL shouldn't be the sieve that it was last year.

Round 1, pick 29 (From Baltimore), 29th overall: Harrison Smith, FS, ND Grade A-
This pick is an immediate upgrade to the FS positions in the Vikings secondary. With the full off season, it should allow Raymond to develop to start in the SS position. Smith has struggled some in man-to-man coverage but thrives in zone coverage. But with appropriate coaching and development, he could increase his skills and become a top tier S in the NFL. I gave the pick an A- because I'm not 100% sure that we needed to trade up to take him, but yet it was worth giving up the 3rd pick in the 4th Round to get him.

Round 3, pick 3, 66th overall: Josh Robinson, CB, UCF Grade A
This was another solid pick, and only pick, in day two of the draft. While we missed Trumain Johnson by one pick, Robinson is another excellent pick to fill a need for the Vikings. It was VERY important for the Vikings to improve the secondary and Robinson will also be able to potentially help on special teams with possible PR and/or KR. Robinson is another excellent zone CB but like Smith, sometimes struggles in man coverage. He isn't a lock down corner, but is good and could develop better skills to become a great starter outside while he will likely be a nickle CB to start.

Round 4, pick 23 (From Cleveland), 118th overall: Jarius Wright, WR, Arkansas Grade B+
Jarius Wright may have been a slight reach and there were some potential better WR's on the board when he was selected but none the less, it was still a good pick. He will potentially be an excellent slot receiver to back up Percy Harvin and can compete for the PR/KR WR also. Wright totaled 66 receptions for 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns during the regular season in 2011. His official 40 time was 4.42 and is reported to be an excellent route runner and deep threat. And after watching some tape on him, it looks like he could be a good weapon for Ponder. Lots of potential with this pick.

Round 4, pick 33 (Compensatory Pick), 128th overall: Rhett Ellison, FB/TE, USC Grade C+
This was a big reach for a non necessary need. Ellison was switched to more of a FB role for his final season at USC so he is still a rough prospect in the FB role and TE is something we didn't need. And of all the film I can find, I only see him as a receiving TE/FB. Didn't see any good displays of blocking. I think this was too big of a reach to give a grade of anything over C+ and originally had it as a D. This was a wasted pick with some of the talent that was still on the board for positions we needed.

Round 4, pick 39 (Compensatory Pick, 134th overall: Greg Childs, WR, Arkansas Grade A-
Greg Childs ran 4.55 at the Combine and then at his pro day he ran 4.39. He has struggled with route running, especially deep so he doesn't seem to be the deep threat that we need but he will be able to compete for it. He is best with short routes and is able to use his body to shield when running slants and crossing routes, and when he is deep using his body and jump to make catches. He has a lack of separate that I've seen in tapes, likely due to his lack of strong speed. He is also an excellent red zone target due to being great with the fade route. He does do a fair job blocking for the run. He did decline last season due to recovering from a torn patella tendon. We'll have to see if he ever recovers for this. If he can, this would be an A+ pick due to where he fell. Otherwise the A- grade is due to there being potentially better WRs on the board when he was drafted.

Round 5, pick 4 (From Cleveland), 139th overall: Robert Blanton, CB/S, ND Grade A-
OK, enough Golden Domers already!! But aside from that, I moved this grade up from the B+ because Blanton likely could have been a 3rd round pick but thanks to the depth of this class, he fell to us here, which I'm sure Spielman loved since he was from ND. Blanton is capable of man-to-man coverage but struggles with keep up with many receivers due to his lack of speed. He is also decent in zone coverage, which is why the Vikings probably selected him. His other biggest struggle is backpedalling and widening his feet during a play. But if he is able to develop, he has good potential to be a starter in 2013.

Round 6, pick 5 (From Cleveland, 175th overall: Blair Walsh, K, Georgia Grade B
Blair Walsh struggled in 2011 with 21-35 field goals but he had had an excellent season in 2010. He made 20-of-23 field goals last season. He made 4-of-6 from 40-49 yards and was 2-for-2 at 50+ yards. He has a strong leg, but likely his decrease in 2011 was due to him trying to kick too hard. He presents as a decent replacement for Longwell. I hated this pick at first, and still feel we could have used a 7th round to get him and improved the Front 7 with this pick instead of waiting until our two pick sin the 7th round.

Round 7, pick 3, 210th overall: Audie Cole, ILB, N.C. State Grade A+
I tried finding one of my first mocks, but it was before I started created a new one each time updated it, when I just changed each pick. I had Cole mocked to the Vikings in the 6th round, so it was a good steal for him to drop here since we missed an ILB I had mocked to use in the draft earlier today and for the last few weeks. Cole had a great senior season in 2011 with 108 tackles with 13.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and four passes broken up. However his combine was poor. He seemed stiff and slow and has a hard time turning his hips and running in space which makes him a liability in coverage. He will be a good back up and special teams contributor. If he can build his strength and improve his speed, as he has shown glimpses of this in some of his games, he could develop into a starter.


Round 7, pick 12 (From Detroit), 219th overall: Trevor Guyton, DE, California Grade A+
This was another shock that Guyton fell to this spot. He was a potential 3rd or 4th round pick but due to his lack of time to display his abilities, his stock dropped. It is known that he has a motor that does not stop. He has great speed off of the ball and is able to use his hands and maneuvers in space to get into the backfield. He didn't get much playing time due to the depth of DE at Cal and this hurt his stock as mentioned previous. He has the potential to be a good LE but will have to prove himself to be a backup first in the next level. This was a great pick!

Entire Vikings 2012 Draft Grade - A-
I feel they missed on some picks, particularly to help bolster our secondary even more considering what division we're in and to help get best targets for Ponder. But This is a rebuilding process and I think the Vikings got a good start on that. I think it's possible the Vikings go 6-10 or 7-9 next year. But as it stands right now, it appears that DT, ILB, OLB, CB and WR will be the biggest needs again. I think getting a #1 receiver should our first round pick next year following up with shoring up our secondary and working on getting better in man-to-man coverages. Lets see what 2012 brings and where this discussion is at next January!

Other notes, our 3rd pick in the 5th round was traded to the Lions for their 4th round in 2013 and swapping our 223rd for their 219th picks in the 7th round. Also, out 211th pick was traded to the Titans for a 6th round in 2013 also.