The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: A 2011 Minnesota Vikings Franchise

[bobthenailer]

2011 NFL Draft

NFL Draft - Round 1 Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
01	Carolina Panthers	Nick Fairley	DT	6'4"	298lbs.
02	Denver Broncos	Da'Quan Bowers	LE	6'4"	275lbs.
02	Buffalo Bills	Cam Newton	QB	6'5"	230lbs.
04	Cinncinati Bengals	A.J. Green	WR	6'4"	212lbs.
05	Arizona Cardinals	Von Miller	OLB	6'2"	243lbs.
06	Cleveland Browns	Patrick Peterson	CB	6'1"	222lbs.
07	San Francisco 49ers	Blaine Gabbert	QB	6'5"	235lbs.
08	Tennessee Titans	Robert Quinn	RE	6'5"	268lbs.
09	Dallas Cowboys	Cameron Jordan	LE	6'4"	287lbs.
10	Washington Redskins	Julio Jones	WR	6'4"	220lbs.
11	Houston Texans	Aldon Smith	OLB	6'4"	258lbs.
12	San Diego Chargers	Tyron Smith	T	6'5"	289lbs.
13	Detroit Lions	Akeem Ayers	OLB	6'3"	255lbs.
14	St. Louis Rams	Austin Pettis	WR	6'3"	201lbs.
15	Miami Dolphins	Mark Ingram	HB	5'10"	215lbs.
16	Jacksonville Jaguars	Ryan Kerrigan	LE	6'4"	256lbs.
17	New England Patriots	Nate Solder	T	6'8"	315lbs.
18	Minnesota Vikings	Marcell Dareus	DT	6'3"	306lbs.
19	New York Giants	Anthony Constonzo	T	6'7"	308lbs.
20	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Adrian Clayborn	RE	6'3"	286lbs.
21	Kansas City Chiefs	Phil Taylor	DT	6'4"	339lbs.
22	Indianapolis Colts	Gabe Cirimi	T	6'7"	327lbs.
23	Philadelphia Eagles	Derek Sherrod	T	6'5"	305lbs.
24	New Orleans Saints	Corey Liuget	DT	6'3"	300lbs.
25	Seattle Seahawks	Jimmy Smith	CB	6'2"	205lbs.
26	Baltimore Ravens	Titus Young	WR	5'11"	170lbs.
27	Atlanta Falcons	Terrence Toliver	WR	6'4"	211lbs.
28	New England Patriots	Muhammad Wilkerson	DT	6'5"	305lbs.
29	Chicago Bears	Steve Schilling	G	6'5"	308lbs.
30	New York Jets	Justin Houston	OLB	6'2"	259lbs.
31	Pittsburgh Steelers	Prince Amukamara	CB	6'0"	205lbs.
32	Green Bay Packers	JJ Watt	RE	6'6"	290lbs.

When the Vikings were on the clock at #12 Frazier faced a dilemma. Both QBs he had been considering were off the board, along with the two best Receivers. DE Cam Jordan had just been drafted by the Cowboys but Prince Amukamara and Marcell Dareus were still out there. Still, both Julio Jones and Cam Jordan, the players Frazier had been targeting if the top two QBs were no longer present were gone. At that moment a call came in from A.J. Smith of the San Diego Chargers. They wanted someone and would be willing to give the Vikings their #1 and #2 picks in order to trade up and get him. With #12 the chargers took Tackel Tyron Smith. He was assured to be drafted at #13 by the Lions but the Chargers managed to swoop in for the steal. They got the player they wanted, and Frazier got another 2nd round pick, the deal worked for everyone.

[mnwildgophers]

Very awesome beginning. I'm assuming you're a Vikings fan, so this is a great recap of the season and where the Vikings are sitting now. I'm excited to see how you will do. Nice pick of Dareus and grabbing another pick in the process. That seems like a really high price to pay to move up only a few spots though. I'm excited to see where you go with QB.

[bobthenailer]

NFL Draft - Round 2 Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
33	New England Patriots	Mikel Leshore	HB	6'0"	230lbs.
34	Denver Broncos	Rahim Moore	FS	6'1"	196lbs.
35	Buffalo Bills	Benjamin Ijalana	G	6'4"	323lbs.
36	Cincinnati Bengals	Ryan Williams	HB	5'10"	205lbs.
37	Arizona Cardinals	Kyle Rudolph	TE	6'6"	265lbs.
38	Cleveland Browns	Drake Nevis	DT	6'1"	285lbs.
39	San Francisco 49ers	Kendric Burney	CB	5'9"	190lbs.
40	Tennessee Titans	Jake Locker	QB	6'2"	228lbs.
41	Dallas Cowboys	Quinton Carter	FS	6'1"	200lbs.
42	Washington Redskins	Christian Ponder	QB	6'2"	223lbs.
43	Houston Texans	Brandon Harris	CB	5'11"	195lbs.
44	Minnesota Vikings	Mike Pouncey	G	6'4"	310lbs.
45	Detroit Lions	Aaron Williams	CB	6'1"	195lbs.
46	St. Louis Rams	Stefan Wisniewski	C	6'3"	306lbs.
47	Denver Broncos	Stephen Paea	DT	6'1"	300lbs.
48	Jacksonville Jaguars	Pat Devlin	QB	6'3"	224lbs.
49	Oakland Raiders	Rashad Carmichael	CB	5'10"	186lbs.
50	Minnesota Vikings	Curtis Brown	CB	6'0"	185lbs.
51	New York Giants	Daniel Thomas	HB	6'2"	228lbs.
52	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Bruce Carter	OLB	6'3"	235lbs.
53	Kansas City Chiefs	Brooks Reed	OLB	6'3"	262lbs.
54	Indianapolis Colts	Leonard Hankerson	WR	6'3"	208lbs.
55	Philadelphia Eagles	Devon Torrence	CB	6'0"	200lbs.
56	New Orleans Saints	Martez Wilson	MLB	6'4"	250lbs.
57	Seattle Seahawks	Rodney Hudson	G	6'2"	291lbs.
58	Baltimore Ravens	Christian Ballard	DE	6'4"	298lbs.
59	Atlanta Falcons	Sam Acho	DE	6'3"	260lbs.
60	New England Patriots	Torrey Smith	WR	6'1"	205lbs.
61	Chicago Bears	Marvin Austin	DT	6'3"	310lbs.
62	San Diego Chargers	Cameron Hayward	DE	6'5"	288lbs.
63	Pittsburgh Steelers	Niles Paul	WR	6'1"	220lbs.
64	Green Bay Packers	Danny Watkins	G	6'4"	312lbs.

Once again the Vikings had missed the boat at QB. Shortly before their second round pick, both Jake Locker and Christian Ponder had been taken off the board. Ponder could have been the most capable QB in the draft class, had it not been for his injury history and his marginal arm strength. He was familiar with the pro-style offense though and that was why he would be going to Mike Shanahan in Washington D.C. As for Locker, he was drafted by Tennessee to take Vince Young's place. When the Vikings were up, the three best remaining QB prospects had been Colin Kaepernick, Ryan Mallett and pat Devlin. Kaepernick was very athletic and had a great arm, problem was he was going to have to learn a lot about playing QB under center, in college 98% of everything he did had been from a shotgun spread. Then there was Mallett. Mallet had the strongest arm in the draft and was great at deep passing, however he was prone to make mistakes when pressured, and he had off the field issues and rumors of drug addiction. When interviewing him, Frazier found him somewhat evasive and he couldn't help but think that Mallet was being less than honest. He could not have someone like that in a leadership position on his football team. That left Devlin who had the makings of the next Joe Flacco but couldn't compare to some of the other guys who were still on the board (i.e Mike Pouncy) so they had to gamble that he was still going to be there later in the 2nd round.

Mike Pouncy's upside outweighed all of the pros from other guys. Pouncy could be the answer at Right Guard and could also give Sullivan a run for his money at Center. This was going to make the interior line much stronger. Shortly after Frazier took Pouncy, Devlin was drafted by Jacksonville. When the Vikes were back up at #50 (the pick the Chargers had given them to trade up) Frazier again had to make a decision. He would have drafted Devlin if he was still there but he wasn't and he just didn't like the idea of Kaepernick here. Great kid but he didn't need a second Joe Webb, the first one was just fine. Previously in the 1st round he had passed on CB Price Amukamara. He had the makings of a great corner or safety but the need at DT was greater. They needed some insurance at corner, they had tried and failed to sign Richard Marshall in free agency, they needed somebody incise of injury and somebody for the future. Frazier saw a young CB who he liked and drafted him. This left the need at QB unfulfilled going into the 3rd round where they did not have a pick. Their pick in the 4th would HAVE to be used on a QB.

[bobthenailer]

Quote: Originally Posted by mnwildgophers

Very awesome beginning. I'm assuming you're a Vikings fan, so this is a great recap of the season and where the Vikings are sitting now. I'm excited to see how you will do. Nice pick of Dareus and grabbing another pick in the process. That seems like a really high price to pay to move up only a few spots though. I'm excited to see where you go with QB.

Yeah it was a high price but the thinking behind it was, the Chargers have a mediocre RT (Jeromy Clery) who probably won't be back next year. They're after Tyron Smith, and they know the Lions will be gunning for him right after the Vikes are on the clock. Smith could be the best tackle in the draft and think about San Diego's line if it has Tyron Smith AND Marcus McNiel. It was expensive, but worth it at the same time.

Also, as you can see I am sort of going conservative with QB. I know what I want to do but, since nothing is set in stone on draft day you can see how my plans haven't exactly worked out (Locker and Ponder weren't there anymore in the 2nd and Pat Devlin was gone by the time I had my next pick) I am probably going to go after Greg McElroy or Ricky Stanzi. This is my own roster and I have pre-made CAPs for these guys so they don't suck and are more realistic. Nothing worse than importing an NCAA class where you have a weak-armed Ryan Mallet or a Colin Kapernick or a Jake Locker who can't run.

[mnwildgophers]

Quote: Originally Posted by bobthenailer

Yeah it was a high price but the thinking behind it was, the Chargers have a mediocre RT (Jeromy Clery) who probably won't be back next year. They're after Tyron Smith, and they know the Lions will be gunning for him right after the Vikes are on the clock. Smith could be the best tackle in the draft and think about San Diego's line if it has Tyron Smith AND Marcus McNiel. It was expensive, but worth it at the same time. Also, as you can see I am sort of going conservative with QB. I know what I want to do but, since nothing is set in stone on draft day you can see how my plans haven't exactly worked out (Locker and Ponder weren't there anymore in the 2nd and Pat Devlin was gone by the time I had my next pick) I am probably going to go after Greg McElroy or Ricky Stanzi. This is my own roster and I have pre-made CAPs for these guys so they don't suck and are more realistic. Nothing worse than importing an NCAA class where you have a weak-armed Ryan Mallet or a Colin Kapernick or a Jake Locker who can't run.

I see the need for a DT in Dareus, but I probably would've taken Prince with the #12 pick. That's just me and I thought the secondary looked horrible, but now looking at your next two picks in the 2nd round, I've really liked what you have done. You can still be competitive next year with Collins at QB and running with Peterson most of the time. I'd love to see a Stanzi/McElroy pick in the later rounds to groom. Maybe one more back-up or see if Webb can continue to play well as QB and you should be good.

Pouncey is the pickup I like the most, really a solid pick-up to grow with Loadholt on the lines. I'm excited to see how your season goes and your explanations are great on why you did what. I really like it. I'll continue to read.

[bobthenailer]

NFL Draft - Round 3 Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
65	Carolina Panthers	Luke Stocker	TE	6'5"	257lbs.
66	Denver Broncos	Jaquizz Rodgers	HB	5'7"	192lbs.
67	Buffalo Bills	Allen Bailey	DE	6'4"	285lbs.
68	Cincinnati Bengals	Ryan Mallett	QB	6'7"	238lbs.
69	Arizona Cardinals	Brandon Burton	CB	6'0"	185lbs.
70	Cleveland Browns	Tandon Doss	WR	6'3"	200lbs.
71	San Francisco 49ers	Jerrel Jernigan	WR	5'9"	190lbs.
72	Tennessee Titans	DeAndre McDaniel	SS	6'0"	213lbs.
73	Dallas Cowboys	Marcus Cannon	G	6'5"	350lbs.
74	New Orleans Saints	Tyler Sash	SS	6'1"	210lbs.
75	Houston Texans	Jerrell Powe	DT	6'2"	320lbs.
76	New England Patriots	Johnny Patrick	CB	5'11"	190lbs.
77	Detroit Lions	Quan Sturdivant	MLB	6'2"	230lbs.
78	St. Louis Rams	Jurrell Casey	DT	6'1"	305lbs.
79	Miami Dolphins	Colin Kaepernick	QB	6'5"	225lbs.
80	Jacksonville Jaguars	Ahmad Black	SS	5'10"	190lbs.
81	Oakland Raiders	Jake Kirkpatrick	C	6'3"	305lbs.
82	San Diego Chargers	Mark Herzlich	OLB	6'4"	245lbs.
83	New York Giants	Orlando Franklin	G	6'7"	315lbs.
84	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Kelvin Sheppard	MLB	6'2"	240lbs.
85	Kansas City Chiefs	Greg Little	WR	6'2"	220lbs.
86	Indianapolis Colts	Clint Boling	G	6'5"	304lbs.
87	Philadelphia Eagles	Greg Jones	MLB	6'1"	240lbs.
88	New Orleans Saints	K,J, Wright	OLB	6'3"	250lbs.
89	San Diego Chargers	Kendall Hunter	HB	5'7"	199lbs.
90	Baltimore Ravens	Joeseph Barksdale	RT	6'5"	318lbs.
91	Atlanta Falcons	Jordan Todman	HB	5'9"	195lbs.
92	New England Patriots	Jeremy Beal	LOLB	6'3"	267lbs.
93	Chicago Bears	Vincent Brown	WR	5'11"	195lbs.
94	New York Jets	Jarvis Jenkins	DT	6'4"	315lbs.
95	Pittsburgh Steelers	Sione Fua	DT	6'2"	306lbs.
96	Green Bay Packers	DeMarco Murray	HB	6'1"	208lbs.

The third round came and went, not much to do since the Vikings were not on the clock for the whole round. As he had suspected, Frazier saw the Dolphins take Colin Kaepernick off the board at #79 and in a more surprising turn the Bengals reach for Ryan Mallet at #68. What was sort of a surprise is that none of the big QB trades that were supposed to occur had happened. An unhappy Carson Palmer was still in Cincinnati, the Titans were still unsuccessfully trying to shop Vince Young and Kevin Kolb was still #2 in Philadelphia. Spielman suspected that someone was going to go after Palmer with a future draft pick for next year, McNabb was going to get released, and Vince Young was going to be traded for a pick in one of the later rounds. That was probably going to happen soon. The problem is all of these teams wanted more for these guys than others though they were worth. Still there would be moves in the off season. Spielman had also mentioned to Frazier about the option of bringing someone else in to compete with Collins in the off season. Frazier had his doubts though, he didn't want to make the QB competition a zoo, four guys (Collins, Webb, Bomar and whoever they draft) should have been enough.

[bobthenailer]

Quote: Originally Posted by mnwildgophers

I see the need for a DT in Dareus, but I probably would've taken Prince with the #12 pick. That's just me and I thought the secondary looked horrible, but now looking at your next two picks in the 2nd round, I've really liked what you have done. You can still be competitive next year with Collins at QB and running with Peterson most of the time. I'd love to see a Stanzi/McElroy pick in the later rounds to groom. Maybe one more back-up or see if Webb can continue to play well as QB and you should be good. Pouncey is the pickup I like the most, really a solid pick-up to grow with Loadholt on the lines. I'm excited to see how your season goes and your explanations are great on why you did what. I really like it. I'll continue to read.

Yup and that's the whole other thing too. If I don't like how Webb, or whoever is coming along I will go after Matt Barkley or Landry Jones next year. Right now, I want to build the team around a QB I may not even have yet. As log as the O-line improves though the team will be much more"Rookie Quarterback ready" next year and I just have too many holes to fill. Like you said Collins should be alright for a year or maybe 2 and by then everything should be figured out.

[bobthenailer]

NFL Draft - Round 4 Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
97	Carolina Panthers	Andy Dalton	QB	6'2	216lbs.
98	Seattle Seahawks	Owen Marecic	FB	6'0"	246lbs.
99	Buffalo Bills	Casey Matthews	MLB	6'1"	235lbs.
100	Cincinnati Bengals	Robert Sands	FS	6'4"	221lbs.
101	Arizona Cardinals	Colin McCarthy	MLB	6'2"	240lbs.
102	Cleveland Browns	Pernell McPhee	DE	6'3"	285lbs.
103	San Francisco 49ers	Lawrence Guy	DT	6'5"	300lbs.
104	Tennessee Titans	Will Rackley	G	6'4"	313lbs.
105	Dallas Cowboys	Chris Hairston	T	6'7"	325lbs.
106	Philadelphia Eagles	Ras-I Dowling	CB	6'2"	200lbs.
107	Houston Texans	Deunta Williams	FS	6'1"	215lbs.
109	Minnesota Vikings	Greg McElroy	QB	6'3"	225lbs.
110	Detroit Lions	Lawrence Wilson	OLB	6'1"	226lbs.
111	St. Louis Rams	Delone Carter	HB	5'9"	226lbs.
112	Miami Dolphins	Lance Kendricks	TE	6'3"	240lbs.
113	Jacksonville Jaguars	Shareece Wright	CB	5'11"	185lbs.
114	Oakland Raiders	Derek Newton	T	6'6"	305lbs.
115	San Francisco 49ers	Ross Homan	OLB	6'0"	229lbs.
116	New York Giants	Tim Barnes	C	6'4"	300lbs.
117	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Shane Vereen	HB	5'10"	205lbs.
118	Kansas City Chiefs	Shaun Chapas	FB	6'2"	240lbs.
119	Indianapolis Colts	Ian Williams	DT	6'2"	305lbs.
120	Philadelphia Eagles	Chimdi Chekwa	CB	5'11"	190lbs.
121	Jacksonville Jaguars	Dwayne Harris	WR	5'10"	205lbs.
122	Buffalo Bills	Jon Baldwin	WR	6'5"	230lbs.
123	Baltimore Ravens	Randall Cobb	WR	5'11"	190lbs.
124	Atlanta Falcons	Weslye Saunders	TE	6'5"	272lbs.
125	New England Patriots	Dontay Moch	OLB	6'1"	244lbs.
126	Chicago Bears	James Brewer	T	6'6"	332lbs.
127	New York Jets	Jeremy Kerley	WR	5'9"	188lbs.
128	Pittsburgh Steelers	Mario Butler	CB	6'0"	184lbs.
129	Green Bay Packers	Thomas Keiser	OLB	6'5"	244lbs.

So the Vikings had what some would call their QB of the future, Greg McElroy, drafted in the 4th round. Frazier had liked Ricky Stanzi, but the fact was he was going to be very unfamiliar with the Vikings Offense. McElroy would have some learning to do (which from what Frazier could gather wouldn't be a problem, the guy got a 48 on his wonderlic and wanted to be a Rhodes Scholar) but he has played games from under center before, Musgrave could work him in slow and build on things he was familiar with. During the Senior Bowl McElroy had broken his hand and had been unable to throw during either the combine or his pro day. This had hurt his stocks immensely and is probably what lead to Andy Dalton being drafted over him by Carolina. With a few rounds still to go the 2011 Draft was still not over.