The Vikings Draft

In the first round, with the seventh overall pick, the Vikings took Adrian Peterson. I have mixed feelings about this, because on the one hand, Peterson could be a superstar, but on the other hand, I wouldn't have put runningback on the top of the list of desperate needs. And some of the Vikings needs struck me as a bit desperate, sitting in the stands with my head in my hands last year. Maybe our monstrous offensive line (half of one, anyways) will get it together and punch more holes this year and Adrian Peterson will exploit them in spectacular fashion, and Chester Taylor will go back to being a solid back-up, and Ciatrick Fason will actually convert some third downs as a short-yardage specialist. The Vikings certainly run the ball enough, so Peterson will show what he's worth early, if he doesn't get hurt. But all that kind of gets at why I groaned when we took Peterson, after a long string of runningbacks who showed some flash then turned out to be nuts, like the guy with a fake penis, and all the raving about Taylor last year: it all depends on the offensive line, and if they don't open anything up it doesn't matter who's running the ball. Our favorite play last year was running Taylor and Fason up the gut only to bounce off Matt Birk's backside, so we better have something better to do with Peterson. On the gripping hand, the Vikings got burned fairly badly by passing up the best available talent in the past, and nobody got why we drafted a receiver in '98 until Moss torched the Packers on Monday Night Football.

The Vikings did have a desperate need at wide receiver, because we've gone through a ton of guys who can't ever seem to get open. This includes a #7 overall pick who was a midget with alligator arms and small hands who didn't know how to catch a football. Because of his physical limitations he could only run deep routes, and as it turns out, he only decided this winter that after being in the league a couple years and catching nothing, maybe he should get his eyes fixed so he could see the ball coming. In the second round, the Vikings took Sidney Rice, who is tall and can jump, really fast, comes back for his QB, and isn't afraid to fight for balls (previously we've had receivers just watch interceptions... I hope Seattle is enjoying that guy). I have high hopes for Sidney Rice, because there's not a lot else to pin my hopes on in the Vikings passing game. They did also take Aundrae Allison in the 5th round, who has a fair bit of potential as well.

On defense, I've felt the Vikings were somewhat overrated, since they got very little pressure on quarterbacks, and relied heavily on forcing turnovers. In the second half of the year, everybody got that the whole line was keyed to the run, the linebackers didn't cover the middle, and one of our corners wasn't suited to the scheme we were running, and in one game the Patriots threw for like 8 TDs before my rising stress level exacerbated my lower back pain to such a degree that I finally just left. (And got yelled at by some weird lady for limping out.) In the 3rd round the Vikings took cornerback Marcus McCauley, who I hope is the more physical corner they need to play the Tampa-2 scheme that's trendy now, which Sex Boat Captain Fred Smoot wasn't suited to. In the 4th round the Vikings took Brian Robison, another defensive end, who unfortunately looks to add more of the same: he looks like a squad guy who'll help defend the run. But things may still improve, since Chad Greenway will come back from injury and hopefully improve the linebackers, and more importantly, the Vikings drafted a linebacker from Oklahoma... named Rufus. Sounds good to me.

In the seventh round, the Vikings added a couple more players who were both interesting in their own way. Chandler Williams is a return specialist, which could certainly be useful, if they added enough depth to have some decent blockers on special teams. But I'm more amused by the drafting of Tyler Thigpen, a quarterback from Coastal Carolina, and apparently that is a real school... apparently nobody was available from Wilson Picket State Teacher's College. You don't expect much from a 3rd QB, which is the spot he'll be competing for, except maybe a little bit of potential to someday be a mediocre back-up, so why not go for a small school guy.

Really, overall, there are some good players, but I wonder how much difference it will make over last year. The Vikings didn't get much from their offensive line, and this crippled the rest of the offense, and ran a west coast offense with the wrong receivers for it. The only big change is a new receiver, and hopefully some improvement from the Tardis at QB. The defense may have more depth, and a hole or two less in their coverage, so that's good, but there's little hope so far for a real dynamic change to the team, unless it's Peterson, due to the timidity of the Vikings in free agency. The player who really could have blown things open was available for a 4th round draft pick, but unfortunately he isn't a Viking... Randy Moss went to the Patriots. The only saving grace is at least the Packers didn't get him, since Brett Favre was gunning hard to have a receiver to throw to in his 8th retirement year. Now we just have to wait for the $900m stadium the Vikings are clamoring for before they'll spend any money in free agency.