I'm disappointed that we didn't go for a 2nd round QB. Is that what the 3rd round will hold for us?

First two picks look great. Biggest knock against Greenway seems to be his workout, and I'll take production in a legit football program in a big-time conference over a workout warrior any day of the week and twice on sunday. (Mike Mamula, anyone?) Sims was higher on my board, but I wouldn't have traded up for him, not with Greeway sitting there. Glad someone else was foolish enough to trade up for Cutler; I would have considered him at 17, but he's not worth moving up to get. (Leinart would have been)

Like the first 2nd rd pick. Griffin could push Smoot early, fills a need at nickel, should add to special teams. I like his size and atheticism.

Not happy about Cook. This guy would probably been on the board in the 3rd round for sure, so we wasted a pick, especially with the Miami T or the Georgia G still on the board. Frankly, I like Eslinger better at C, and he's not a 2nd rd pick either.

Yeah, I wanted to see them pick up Jay Cutler or Brody Croyle too. Cutler went way earlier than anyone had expected. For the Broncos to have bet all they did on him, somebody must get fired if he doesn't pan out. The Vikings Triangle must either have a ton of faith in Johnson, or no faith in the QBs outside of the big 3 (Leinart, Young, and Cutler) and plan on getting one in free agency next year.

Sounds like Cedric is one of the more perfect cornerback picks for the new Cover 2, and a huge 6'7" 328 Ryan Cook will hopefully bolster up our right side and give us maybe the top offensive line in the NFL? Cook was projected to go in the fourth round though, not sure we had to use a 2nd round pick for him. But maybe he was all that was left on our must-have list after the Jets moved up and took Clemens (but if that were the case why didn't we take Clemens for our first 2nd round pick?).

I don't get the Cook pick at all. I'm thinking there must be something wrong with Eric Winston or he would not still be sitting there.

The other two picks seem solid.

I think they took Cook because they couldn't decide what they needed more: right guard or right tackle. So they took an oversized, versatile center--capable of playing all three positions. That veratility will likely be needed when the wheels fall off the right side of the line early next season.

Well, Linebacker was our greatest need and there was very good depth at Linebacker in the draft. Since the top QB prospects were gone before our #17, I'm glad we got Greenway. He's the #1 linebacker against the pass this year which will make him great for Cover 2, and probably the only better pick would've been A.J. Hawk who went at #5. And since he's from South Dakota and played at Iowa we know he'll love playing in Minnesota, which is more than I could say for some players on the team.

However, taking a 4th round prospect in the 2nd round can only be evidence this draft hasn't gone as the Vikings hoped. I've never seen this much focus on the offensive line and the only rationalization I can make of adding another to the O line is Childress plans to run the ball with Chester Taylor and Tony Richardson a lot this season. Because otherwise you'd think Birk and Hutch and McKinney would be enough. Childress and Johnson's philosophy has always been of West Coast sharp and quick dumpoff passes, which you don't need the best O line in the NFL for. Hoever, if they plan to run the ball a lot they will need a much improved O line.

Well I am at a loss...did the triangle/brain trust really want to get out of the office early or what? Culpepper for Cook? What do you say about how the two 3rd round picks were spent?

Sure takes the luster off the first two picks; does the team grade out at a C- for the day?

The ESPN guys raved about the QB we picked up from Alabama Sate. I think we could probably just have picked up the QB with our second second round pick and used a third rounder on the center.

I don't get the math they were doing on those last two picks. I'm totally unqualified to comment on whether Cook and/or Jackson are good players but it does seem like we "overpaid" in terms of the picks we used to get them. I'm gonna give the brain trust the benefit of the doubt since they presumably do a lot more than read regurgitated blurbs about these guys on websites (like me).

Using a 2nd round pick for someone projected to go in the 4th round and two 3rd round picks for someone projected to go in the 6th round at the earliest (if not undrafted). I hope they know what they are doing over there in Winter Park.

After hunting around further on the web, it seems like Tavaris Jackson is a pretty exciting pick with a lot of upside.

Some outfit called "Diamonds in the Rough" that promotes athletes from smaller traditionally black schools had him as their number one prospect (out of underrated players).

The only knocks I could find on him were that people wish he was 3 inches taller and his technique needs work. Universally he was described as a real tough guy who can make every throw, take big hits and make plays with his feet.

A guy named Tom Shaw runs training camps for draft eligible guys getting ready for the NFL Combine. He had Cutler, Ferguson, Bush and others this year. Here's what he had to say:

Shaw even has a sleeper prediction for all the draft fanatics out there: "Tavaris Jackson, the quarterback from Alabama State. He's raw, but he is going to be a star. He's got all the tools to make every throw."

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=515329

So based on my "extensive" research I psyched about this guy after all. If you look at all the other QBs "ahead" of him on most rankings they all had more serious knocks against them, I think.

I like tavaris jackson, and I think it's a good pick. I wonder if he might not have been available without trading up, but maybe they were getting real indicators that someone else was going to grab him. He won't play this season, but serving an apprenticeship for a year or so under Johnson and he may just be the QB of the future.

Once you get into the 3rd round I start to doubt some of the valuation people put on picks; the levels of ability start to really converge and the assessment of players in those rounds starts to really diverge. A small change in a rating by one team could drop someone 30 picks in the 3rd round that might only shift him 10 in the first. So I worry less about a team jumping a player up after about the 2nd round.

We'll see about Ryan Cook. That's the pick I have real questions about. I recognize the need for an eventual replacement for Birk and looking at depth on the line, but I wonder about this guy. I like linemen with good footwork and that is supposed to be a problem with guy. Myabe Childress is bring a change in OL philosophy that makes this guy a better fit?

"The only knocks I could find on him were that people wish he was 3 inches taller and his technique needs work."
Also that he didn't play very stiff competition at ASU, a common criticism of Culpepper in the draft since he probably the best stats in college football history but didn't face a tough schedule. Tavaris Jackson is the first ASU quarterback drafted since Ricky Jones in 1992. But Brad Johnson was a 9th rounder, not even a full time starter in college, and with some Denny Green coaching and NFL Europe experience went on to have one of the top 20 career passer ratings in NFl history and win a Superbowl.

I think the real problem with Culpepper is that he just does not have the mental horsepower to grasp a real offense. I assume Childress checked that out for his new pet project.

On Cook, I bet they're thinking they change him into a Guard or Tackle but it never hurts to have another guy that can snap in a pinch. It's probably easier to teach a C to play OG or OT than the other way around but I'm totally guessing. I don't really get why they took him so high. Too bad Marcus McNeill went one pick ahead of the Vikes, although they could had McKneill instead of Griffin and there were still a couple of other supposedly decent CBs on the board at that point so they would have been guaranteed to get one of those CBs at 51. I don't really get this one. Oh well.

"Also that he didn't play very stiff competition at ASU... is the first ASU quarterback drafted since Ricky Jones in 1992"
Yeah, the name Alabama State University is a bit misleading, it's actually a small black-only private school. So Tavaris is going to need a lot of developing and it's going to be interesting how he comes along. This was Childress's comments on it a few days ago:
Regardless of who is starting," coach Brad Childress said, "we want to take a developmental guy. We want to develop a guy. I think it behooves you to have your eye on a guy that's got the skill set that you're looking for and try to get that guy up to speed. A guy that you're serious about to bring along within the system."
"It's always nice to try to find somebody that might be a diamond in the rough that you're able to train a little bit," Childress said. "[What Green Bay did], that's kind of alluring if you can ever find a way to do it. [Brunell, Brooks and Hasselbeck] were all developmental guys, really, that they got for fourth-round picks and on down. All of those guys ended up training in that West Coast system.
"There are at least 13 teams in the NFL who are running a version of what everybody calls the West Coast. It's good to be able to train somebody and bring them from the floor up -- if he plays for you, or if he becomes somebody that somebody else may covet."
And the Star Tribune said:
"Childress seems to be intrigued by the possibility of grabbing a second-tier -- or even second-day -- quarterback with whom to spend several years in development ... it could be a player few have heard of, an attempt to repeat the success Childress had in Philadelphia with Oregon's A.J. Feeley -- a fifth-round pick in 2001 who went 4-1 as a starter in 2002."
http://www.startribune.com/510/story/393230.html

COD you are a wee bit harsh on Jackson. Most of the Analysts think he was a good pick and may not have been around when our pick came at 83. Phil Simms, Jaws, Scoutsinc. to name a few. Anyway, here is hoping he develops fasts and wins us a ton of games in 2008....

That all sounds great. But the weird thing is, the continuing theme in those quotes, John, is that these diamond-in-the-rough QBs were day 2 picks. So the question is, Why take a guy in the second round, burning the rest of your day 1 picks, on someone they probably could have waited until late in day 2 to pick up? I am mystified by this.

Supposedly the Vikings were worried about Houston picking Jackson with one of their two picks at the beginning of the third round. Houston was reportedly hot on his trail. St. Louis, Oakland, and Buffalo were going to pick QBs before them too and they didn't want to chance letting this developmental project go.

Jackson's highlight video is pretty impressive..
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/scp_v3/viewer/index.php?pid=16391&rn=207187&cl=400883&ch=396337

I've watched Jackson's highlights and have been reading up on him a bit. I'm pretty pleased with the pick and can see a lot of potential.

Everybody's highlight video looks impressive though.

I can;t say I am real dissapointed with the Jackson pick. The highlight real is great not because it show him thrwoing a bunch of touchdowns but just look at how hard he throws that ball! Cutler doesn't have that kinf of arm strength. He also isn't dumb enough to try and run over linebackers. It looks like he is raw but has a ton of potential. He throws hard...really hard and has a lot of potential. I think COD's assesment was a little harsh.