Friday, April 26, 2013

Day 1 in the books


The mock drafts are over and the first round of the draft is now in the books with many surprises to me.

The shock of the first time since 1963 there were no running backs taken in the first round. The 50 years is quite the run. The running back I thought had the best shot was Eddie Lacy out of Alabama University.

The amount of draft coverage I was watching came upon the NFL Network who said there could be a possibility of no quarterbacks taken in the first round. They were almost right.  Geno Smith most experts favored as going first of the quarterbacks was not taken, instead EJ Manuel is the first qb taken by the Buffalo Bills.  I had believed the Bills would take Ryan Nassib out of Syracuse. The new coach of Buffalo is Doug Marrone, in his first year from Syracuse College where Nassib played for. I thought this might favor Nassib going to Buffalo.

I love the Vikings draft, but I thought the 2nd best team was the St.Louis Rams, who took Tavon Austin and Linebacker Alec Ogletree.

My thought on Austin brings me back to the days with Kurt Warner and the fastest show on turf. I believe Austin will play on a fast track and Rams quarterback Sam Bradford should benefit form this. Ogeltree by many was a top 5 linebacker in the draft.

The year of the quarterback and running back being a priority fell in favor of offensive and defensive lines this year which I believe really favored the Vikings in getting who they wanted.

The Vikings draft on day 1 I give an A+. The pick of Sharrif Floyd fell as a gift into the Vikings lap and Spielman did not disappoint. He is 6’3” and weighs 297. Florida University is where Floyd played. I love the SEC conference which just might be the most competitive conference in America. How many players has the SEC put into the NFL? It just seems to produce player after player ready for the next level.They just know how to win in the SEC. Floyd is going to get to learn from the best defensive tackle in the NFL, Kevin Williams.

Xavier Rhodes comes to the Vikings in the first rounds stands at 6’1” and weighs 210. A physical player, who is not afraid to get his jersey dirty as he will get to face the Lions Calvin Johnson and the Bears, Brandon Marshall just to name a couple.

As a fan I would love to see Chris Cook at one corner and Rhodes at the other corner. I also would be very happy to see Josh Robinson play nickel, inside or rotate with Cook and Rhodes. Wow, we have an awesome trio of young group of players who will challenge the opposing receivers.

The great surprise of the night came when New England and the Vikings made the deal to move the Vikes back into the first round. The announcement of what the Vikes gave up will be a subject to talk about as the team gave up 4 picks to move up. I am of the opinion it was worth it.

Cordarrelle Patterson I envision as a game changer, He stands in at 6’2” and weighs 216. A big man the team has needed ever since the days of Randy Moss. The receiver corp after 2012 was a concern but the Vikings did not let me down.

Greg Jennings, Jerome Simpson, Jarius Wright and now Patterson gives me reason to be pumped for this upcoming year. Then add tight ends Kyle Rudolph and John Carlson I believe gives us weapons teams will now have to be concerned with. Oh boy just writing this I am getting myself excited.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

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