CW21's 2018 NFL Draft Review (Browns Up)

[CWood21]

On 5/6/2018 at 8:22 PM, stl4life07 said:

@CWood21 I think people make too big of a deal of not having 1st or 2nd round picks. Like the Rams didn’t have a 1st round pick last year and still ended up having one of the best draft classes in terms of production when the season ended. I give the Rams B grade just because I think some are under selling a guy like Kiser. He is a tackling machine. Him and Kuechly are the only two players to lead the ACC in tackles for three straight seasons. Having a guy like Suh in front of him will allow him to get easy access to running backs to tackle them. Unlike Tree, Kiser won’t get ran over often and miss tackles. That will certain help the run defense. Kiser will start either day one or soon into the season. Okoronkwo is perfect for Wade. Wade is going to turn him into a pass rush demon. Then you look at the oline with guys like Noteboom and Allen. Those guys are very good developmental guys who in a few years working with Coach Kromer and learning from Whitworth and Sullivan will turn into good starters. Then I believe Kelly is the guy McVay wanted Dunbar to be last year when he signed him but Dunbar couldn’t stay healthy. I heard Kelly actually is a better receiver than Kamara. If that’s the case, he fits perfectly in McVay system because the Rams run a lot of screen and throws passes out of the backfield. So again don’t be surprised if the Rams draft class once again be very productive with guys like Okoronkwo, Kiser, Young, Howard, and even to an extent Kelly and by seasons end most will say the Rams had another successful draft.

I disagree.  You're going to improve your team with those picks.  Late Day 2 and Day 3 picks aren't going to really improve your roster for the upcoming season.  And that's where you're looking to do.  But given what they had at their disposal, I think the Rams did as well as I thought they could do and I feel they're grade reflected it.  My grades are probably a tad harsh, but I think they're in the middle of the pack.

[Klomp]

There has been a lot of skepticism and negativism over the Vikings draft. While I understand the desire to upgrade the OL early and often, Spielman has always been a guy to stick to his board. I think that's what he was doing, and he thought/hoped someone would fall to the late 2nd. Both Spielman and Vikings director of college scouting Jamaal Stephenson said after the draft that the run on OL that happened at the top of the 2nd was unprecedented. Were they caught with their pants down? Perhaps. But I still believe they would do the same all over again if that was what was on the board, and I think I would as well.

As to the Hughes selection and the team's depth at CB, they are entering an interesting time where contracts will be coming up soon. There are a lot of unknowns. At draft time, we didn't know Newman was coming back and we didn't know if the team would pick up the fifth-year option on Waynes. As it is, having depth allows him to develop at his own pace. This team doesn't believe in throwing guys into action before they're ready. If Hughes is ready, he will start. If not, there isn't a pressing need for him to start.

[CWood21]

13 minutes ago, Klomp said:

There has been a lot of skepticism and negativism over the Vikings draft. While I understand the desire to upgrade the OL early and often, Spielman has always been a guy to stick to his board. I think that's what he was doing, and he thought/hoped someone would fall to the late 2nd. Both Spielman and Vikings director of college scouting Jamaal Stephenson said after the draft that the run on OL that happened at the top of the 2nd was unprecedented. Were they caught with their pants down? Perhaps. But I still believe they would do the same all over again if that was what was on the board, and I think I would as well.

As to the Hughes selection and the team's depth at CB, they are entering an interesting time where contracts will be coming up soon. There are a lot of unknowns. At draft time, we didn't know Newman was coming back and we didn't know if the team would pick up the fifth-year option on Waynes. As it is, having depth allows him to develop at his own pace. This team doesn't believe in throwing guys into action before they're ready. If Hughes is ready, he will start. If not, there isn't a pressing need for him to start.

I'll be honest, if the run on OL early was unexpected than I've been giving Spielman way too much credit to this point.  If you throw out the anomaly that was 2017, we've seen an average of 6.5 OL go in the first round of the draft since 2010.  We saw six OL go in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.  Over that same time period (2010-2016), we've seen an average of 5 OL go in the second round.  In 2018, we saw six including O'Neill.  Nothing went out of the expected.  Maybe they went off the board a bit earlier than expected, but in terms of expectation of the number of OL taken they fit in with the statistical norms.  I think expecting Hernandez/Daniels/Williams to fall to 60 was wildly outrageous.  Maybe they believed they'll be available in a range where the cost wasn't overwhelming.  LIS, I have no issues with the picks themselves.  I just think this is going to be a draft where they're going to kick themselves.

Maybe I'm a bit bias because I absolutely hated the Mackensie Alexander selection a few years ago.  He was a slot-only corner, and I remember being blasted by Vikings fans for not being a fan.  I like Hughes significantly more, but you can only have so many corners on the field.  We know that Rhodes will be one of them, but beyond him who are they going to play?  Long term, I like this pick moreso than in the near future.  And it's probably affected by my opinion that the difference between Isaiah Oliver and Mike Hughes isn't as big as the difference between Hernandez/Williams and O'Neill.

[Klomp]

6 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

I'll be honest, if the run on OL early was unexpected than I've been giving Spielman way too much credit to this point.  If you throw out the anomaly that was 2017, we've seen an average of 6.5 OL go in the first round of the draft since 2010.  We saw six OL go in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.  Over that same time period (2010-2016), we've seen an average of 5 OL go in the second round.  In 2018, we saw six including O'Neill.  Nothing went out of the expected.  Maybe they went off the board a bit earlier than expected, but in terms of expectation of the number of OL taken they fit in with the statistical norms.

How does it compare if you look at just interior OL? I think that was the ideal target, though Mike Remmers gives us flexibility that we could go either T or G.

I also think scheme fit is a major consideration for why certain draft choices are made.

[CWood21]

1 minute ago, Klomp said:

How does it compare if you look at just interior OL? I think that was the ideal target, though Mike Remmers gives us flexibility that we could go either T or G.

I also think scheme fit is a major consideration for why certain draft choices are made.

Using PFF, there were on average 16 IOL who went in the first round from 2010 to 2017, which averages 2.3 per draft.  Over that same time period, there were 2.3 IOL taken in Round 2.  In 2018, we saw 3 or 4 IOL, depending on whether you graded Isaiah Wynn as a tackle or a guard, go in the first round.  We saw 5 IOL go in the second round, so it's a bit higher than anticipated but nothing insane.  You could make the argument that some felt Connor Williams was a legitimate tackle prospect, who I thought was an OG prospect.

[stl4life07]

@CWood21 In general you are right about Day 2-3 picks but in the Les Snead era as GM the Rams have 3 all-pros and 2 guys who made the all rookie team grading highly on PFF. So that’s 5 guys the Rams found in Round 3 or later. I’m not even counting Tru who was drafted Round 3 who turned out to be a good corner and Mo Alexander who PFF said was the most improved safety in the NFL in 2016. He was also highly graded by PFF that year. He was a later round draft pick by the Rams. So it’s just some teams scout and draft well they can find gems more than others can later in the draft that you can’t dismiss that. 

As someone from PFF said, you can find Impact linebackers later in the draft. It’s not going up shock me if Kiser and Oboronkwo make immediate impacts in Wade scheme.

[HTTRDynasty]

6 minutes ago, stl4life07 said:

@CWood21 In general you are right about Day 2-3 picks but in the Les Snead era as GM the Rams have 3 all-pros and 2 guys who made the all rookie team grading highly on PFF. So that’s 5 guys the Rams found in Round 3 or later. I’m not even counting Tru who was drafted Round 3 who turned out to be a good corner and Mo Alexander who PFF said was the most improved safety in the NFL in 2016. He was also highly graded by PFF that year. He was a later round draft pick by the Rams. So it’s just some teams scout and draft well they can find gems more than others can later in the draft that you can’t dismiss that. 

As someone from PFF said, you can find Impact linebackers later in the draft. It’s not going up shock me if Kiser and Oboronkwo make immediate impacts in Wade scheme.

I agree with @CWood21 here.  The Seahawks were perhaps the best example of a team great at finding mid-round gems earlier this decade, but they couldn't sustain it... no team can.  If you don't give Day 1 and early Day 2 picks the respect they deserve, you'll inevitably come to regret it - no matter how good your GM and scouts are. 

[stl4life07]

1 hour ago, HTTRG3Dynasty said:

I agree with @CWood21 here.  The Seahawks were perhaps the best example of a team great at finding mid-round gems earlier this decade, but they couldn't sustain it... no team can.  If you don't give Day 1 and early Day 2 picks the respect they deserve, you'll inevitably come to regret it - no matter how good your GM and scouts are. 

I’m not saying y’all wrong, I’m just saying in context. The Rams went a 3yr stretch from 2012-2104 in which they had multiple 1st round picks or multiple 2nd round picks. They stocked piled so many high picks while they were building up their roster. That’s why they were the 2nd youngest team last year and for years they were the youngest team in the league. So it’s not yearly they don’t have 1st or 2nd round picks. But my point nobody should automatically grade a team a so so grade just because they didn’t have a 1st or 2nd round pick that year. Just like last season, the Rams did a lot without a 1st round pick than most teams did with them. It won’t shock me if it happens again this year although you might not see it as quickly as you saw it last year.

[SteelKing728]

The thing with the Vikings is that we have a lot of pieces to re-sign, and we have to prioritize who that is going to be. Notably, Trae Waynes, Stefon Diggs, Sheldon Richardson, Danielle Hunter and Anthony Barr are/should be pieces to the puzzle if Minnesota is going to have success and live up to the hype. Given our Head Coach's track record of developing CB's, it makes sense that we drafted a corner in round 1 with the intention of him being the #3/#4 this year and eventually replacing Waynes. Trae Waynes improved mightily from his rookie season, but of all the pieces that we need to re-sign, he's on the bottom of the list. I have to imagine Spielman and Zimmer recognize that the SLB (Barr) and UT (Richardson) positions are going to be very hard to replace with a player of similar talent and they must come first. Diggs is interesting, because while it may not be a great idea to invest a ton of capital into the WR position, he's been a playmaker for us and he opens up everything else. Add in Dalvin Cook's injury from last season, and it's going to be important that if the run game can't be sustained,  then a capable passing game is a must and Diggs helps tremendously there. Unfortunately he gets dinged up a lot and it's worth questioning if he's worth a contract extension, even with a miracle comeback win on his resume. Danielle Hunter is someone who I think can become truly special, but needs a lot of coaching help to get there. The sack numbers were low last season (7) and he seemed to be washed out quite a few games. Given some more coaching, I think he can take his game to the next level. Andre Patterson needs to help him or otherwise Hunter will never be worth the contract extension that he's going to want here pretty soon. 

With all that said, the Vikings rebuilt some of their depth and have an obvious look to the future for these young men to contribute. Whether it works out remains to be seen, but I can't complain with what we did. 

[Krauser]

7 hours ago, CWood21 said:

But the bigger question I have is that [the Vikings] used another high pick on a corner.  You need 3 starting-caliber corners in the NFL, and they have Xavier Rhodes as one of their boundary corners and he's locked up for the foreseeable future.  They drafted Trae Waynes early in the first round of the 2015 draft, and then followed it up by taking Mackensie Alexander in the second round of the 2016 draft.  And they still have veteran Terrance Newman under contract.  So at first glance, it appears they drafted a guy who projects to be their dime corner.  

I think the Vikings drafted Mike Hughes because they don't think Alexander will develop into anything more than a depth corner long-term. Alexander wasn't terrible last year playing in the slot, but he was definitely the weakest link in the secondary and ended up losing most of his snaps to Newman (39 years old last year and never played regularly in the slot before) by the end of the year. 

Waynes has turned out OK but isn't likely to be kept beyond 2019 (his 5th year option). If he continues to play as well as he did in the later part of last year, they won't be able to afford to keep him. 

Newman is 40 this year, wasn't under contract at the time of the draft, and came back for basically vet minimum with nothing guaranteed. The contract he was offered (story was the team said take it or leave it) shows they don't plan to rely on him to play in the regular CB rotation. He'll be a backup / player-coach this year. 

So the path is fairly clear for Hughes to beat out Alexander (who the coaches don't seem impressed with) and be the starting nickel in week one of his rookie year. He might also get some rotational snaps at outside corner this year. If he does well with that, I wouldn't be surprised to see Hughes stealing some of Waynes snaps by 2019. The coaches were evidently very high on him, and he's considerably better in his man coverage skills than Waynes or Alexander were coming out of college. 

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in the second round they looked to address their OL finally by drafting Brian O'Neill.  Unfortunately, he's a bit of a project and quite frankly I don't think he improves the Vikings' OL in the slightest as a rookie short of an injury forcing him into the lineup.  He's a bit raw in terms of projection, and they're clearly playing the long game with him but given the big commitment they just made to Kirk Cousins would the Vikings have been better off flipping their selections and grabbing an OL first and then going for a corner in the second? That's probably going to be a question the Vikings fans are going to ask themselves if their picks flop.  I know it really doesn't have any bearing on this, but this selection brought back bad memories of the discussion regarding T.J. Clemmings back in 2015.  And it's not like the Vikings have a history of developing OL.  

Vikings have had a bad track record with developing OL, but they did better last year. Easton (former UDFA) was OK as a starting LG. Elflein (3rd round rookie) was decent at C. They got some good things out of Rashod Hill (UDFA taken from the Jags PS). Their line was never better than half-decent, and fell apart in the playoffs thanks in part to injuries, but it wasn't a total write-off. 

There's a path to O'Neill playing as a rookie. He needs to beat out Rashod Hill for the RT spot, which would allow Mike Remmers to move to RG (which was reportedly the plan for Remmers even before the draft). O'Neill is a project, but he just needs to improve his play strength -- his technique and footwork in pass protection are already pretty good (and much better than anything Clemmings was ever able to do). The Vikings played Elflein last year despite similar limitations in play strength causing him to lose 1-on-1 battles, but with similar upside -- blocking in space on outside zone runs and screens. As long as O'Neill has similar upside, I can see them opting to play him as a rookie even if he struggles to anchor against power rushers. 

The alternative is to leave Remmers at RT, which would make the RG starter one of Danny Isidora (5th rounder who struggled as a rookie in limited time last year), Colby Gossett (6th round rookie), Tom Compton (journeyman) or Josh Andrews (signed off the Eagles PS). O'Neill (or Hill) at RT with Remmers inside at RG is probably the better option, unless Gossett is great from day one as a rookie. 

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The Vikings have done a good job of developing pass rushers in the middle rounds of the draft, and they're hoping to keep that trend continuing with their selection of Jalyn Holmes.  He's not an explosive athlete and in terms of production, he was dead last among the draft eligible DL for Ohio State.  My question is this, how high would he have been drafted if he played for a non-powerhouse D1 school?  My guess is he'd go undrafted.  I'd like to give Minnesota the benefit of the doubt given their history, but it's hard to see this one panning out.  

Holmes is going to move to DT. He might see some work as a base DE on run downs but the plan is that he'll be a 3-tech especially on passing downs.  

Holmes was 6'5" 283 at the combine. His athletic testing wasn't elite but it was comparable to other DE/DT types like Rasheem Green. His per-snap pass rush production was decent considering he so often played inside at DT.

So he's a project, but there's some potential there, and the Vikings do have a good track record in developing DL. 

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Overall, the Vikings had an incredibly interesting draft.  I had expected them to target their OL of choice in the first, whether it be Will Hernandez or Connor Williams who were my two highest ranked OL at the time.  My question would be this, would the Vikings be better off going with Hernandez/Williams in the 1st and taking Carlton Davis in the 2nd.  And that's the question I think Vikings fans are going to be asking a few years from now.

FWIW, they reportedly didn't see Hernandez as a scheme fit. They want the OL to be lighter on its feet. Connor Williams was on their radar, they had him for a visit. Supposedly they liked him or Austin Corbett if they'd taken OL at pick #30. 

I think the bolded point at the end has got it backwards: the problem with the way the Vikings managed the draft is that they didn't improve the OL right now (probably not at all this year, unless O'Neill or Gossett play as rookies), forget about "a few years from now". 

It's easier to imagine ways the Vikings OL can improve in the medium to long term -- O'Neill gets stronger and turns into a very good tackle, maybe Gossett or Isidora develop into a decent starting guard, plus there are future years draft classes and free agent additions, etc -- than by week one 2018. And since the team is otherwise good enough to contend this year, having a subpar OL with at least one major question mark as a starter is not great news. 

Long term, if Hughes turns out to be an above average or better starting corner, and/or if O'Neill develops into a good starting tackle, this draft class will look better than it does right now, where even if the upside of their draft class is eventually realized, it won't help this year's version of the Vikings as much as if they'd just drafted a plug and play starter at guard in the 1st round, and made do with another year of Mac Alexander as the starting nickel corner.

[Uncle Buck]

16 hours ago, CWood21 said:

1(30) - Mike Hughes [CB; UCF]
2(62) - Brian O'Neill [OT; Pittsburgh]
4(102) - Jalyn Holmes [EDGE; Ohio State]
5(157) - Tyler Conklin [TE; Central Michigan]
5(167) - Daniel Carlson [K; Auburn]
6(213) - Colby Gossett [OG; Appalachian State]
6(213) - Ade Aruna [EDGE; Tulane]
7(225) - Devante Downs [LB; California]

Coming off an impressive 2017 season and signing Kirk Cousins, hope was high in Minnesota.  They had a chance to continue to add pieces to the puzzle and hopefully put Minnesota in a place to compete for a title after coming up short in 2017.  Upgrading the offensive line seemed like a high priority going into the offseason, and when their biggest FA signing for the offensive line was adding Tom Compton to add depth on the OL, most felt that the Vikings would target OL early and often.  Instead, at 30 they stuck to their big board and grabbed Mike Hughes.  In terms of value, there's really no reason to hate.  He was a late 1st, early 2nd depending on whether or not you chose to hold the character concerns against him.  But the bigger question I have is that they used another high pick on a corner.  You need 3 starting-caliber corners in the NFL, and they have Xavier Rhodes as one of their boundary corners and he's locked up for the foreseeable future.  They drafted Trae Waynes early in the first round of the 2015 draft, and then followed it up by taking Mackensie Alexander in the second round of the 2016 draft.  And they still have veteran Terrance Newman under contract.  So at first glance, it appears they drafted a guy who projects to be their dime corner.  While I admired them sticking to their board and drafting BPA, they left a LOT of OL on the board with Will Hernandez, Austin Corbett, James Daniels, and Connor Williams still on the board.  But they stuck to their board, and in the second round they looked to address their OL finally by drafting Brian O'Neill.  Unfortunately, he's a bit of a project and quite frankly I don't think he improves the Vikings' OL in the slightest as a rookie short of an injury forcing him into the lineup.  He's a bit raw in terms of projection, and they're clearly playing the long game with him but given the big commitment they just made to Kirk Cousins would the Vikings have been better off flipping their selections and grabbing an OL first and then going for a corner in the second? That's probably going to be a question the Vikings fans are going to ask themselves if their picks flop.  I know it really doesn't have any bearing on this, but this selection brought back bad memories of the discussion regarding T.J. Clemmings back in 2015.  And it's not like the Vikings have a history of developing OL.  The Vikings have done a good job of developing pass rushers in the middle rounds of the draft, and they're hoping to keep that trend continuing with their selection of Jalyn Holmes.  He's not an explosive athlete and in terms of production, he was dead last among the draft eligible DL for Ohio State.  My question is this, how high would he have been drafted if he played for a non-powerhouse D1 school?  My guess is he'd go undrafted.  I'd like to give Minnesota the benefit of the doubt given their history, but it's hard to see this one panning out.  Getting Tyler Conklin in the 5th round was really solid value.  I'm not sure he'll ever be a starting TE, but I think he can be a steady #2.  Add in the bloodlines, and it's hard to hate this pick even if it doesn't really push the needle for the Vikings.  I've never really been a supporter of drafting specialists, unless we're talking about a guy whose an "elite" specialist or a returner.  I'm not sure Daniel Carlson is that.  Last year, Kai Forbath was 16th in FG% but 30th in XP%.  The Vikings clearly felt they needed to improve, especially in terms of XP but if you're looking to add competition then I probably would have waited a bit later.  They were the first one to draft a kicker, which means they weren't really chasing a run.  The Vikings grabbed another OL late with Gossett, but he's probably nothing more than a developmental type who spends the year on the PS.  Ade Aruna is an interesting guy.  He was incredibly explosive in the 10 yard split, but his 3 cone was terrifyingly bad.  Makes me question how much lateral agility he has, and as a pass rusher that's HUGE.  At 262 pounds, Aruna ran a 7.53 3 cone.  For context, Bradley Chubb at 269 pounds ran a 7.37 3 cone.  That's a drastic difference.  Add on the the difference in production, and while I don't hate the gamble I think expecting anything out of him is unrealistic.  Devante Downs wasn't even on my radar at the time, so I don't really have much for him.  Overall, the Vikings had an incredibly interesting draft.  I had expected them to target their OL of choice in the first, whether it be Will Hernandez or Connor Williams who were my two highest ranked OL at the time.  My question would be this, would the Vikings be better off going with Hernandez/Williams in the 1st and taking Carlton Davis in the 2nd.  And that's the question I think Vikings fans are going to be asking a few years from now.

Best Value Pick: Tyler Conklin [TE; Central Michigan]
Worst Value Pick: Jalyn Holmes [EDGE; Ohio State]
Grade: C

Great write-up CWood21.  This pretty much reinforces my thoughts coming out of the draft weekend.  We probably didn't bomb, but there were choices made that can very easily be questioned.  We'll just have to see how it works out 2-3 years down the line.  Thanks for your hard work in this thread.

Vikings get a grade of C. 

Cwood21 gets a grade of A+   

[Ozzy]

16 hours ago, Krauser said:

I think the Vikings drafted Mike Hughes because they don't think Alexander will develop into anything more than a depth corner long-term. Alexander wasn't terrible last year playing in the slot, but he was definitely the weakest link in the secondary and ended up losing most of his snaps to Newman (39 years old last year and never played regularly in the slot before) by the end of the year. 

Waynes has turned out OK but isn't likely to be kept beyond 2019 (his 5th year option). If he continues to play as well as he did in the later part of last year, they won't be able to afford to keep him. 

Newman is 40 this year, wasn't under contract at the time of the draft, and came back for basically vet minimum with nothing guaranteed. The contract he was offered (story was the team said take it or leave it) shows they don't plan to rely on him to play in the regular CB rotation. He'll be a backup / player-coach this year. 

So the path is fairly clear for Hughes to beat out Alexander (who the coaches don't seem impressed with) and be the starting nickel in week one of his rookie year. He might also get some rotational snaps at outside corner this year. If he does well with that, I wouldn't be surprised to see Hughes stealing some of Waynes snaps by 2019. The coaches were evidently very high on him, and he's considerably better in his man coverage skills than Waynes or Alexander were coming out of college. 

Vikings have had a bad track record with developing OL, but they did better last year. Easton (former UDFA) was OK as a starting LG. Elflein (3rd round rookie) was decent at C. They got some good things out of Rashod Hill (UDFA taken from the Jags PS). Their line was never better than half-decent, and fell apart in the playoffs thanks in part to injuries, but it wasn't a total write-off. 

There's a path to O'Neill playing as a rookie. He needs to beat out Rashod Hill for the RT spot, which would allow Mike Remmers to move to RG (which was reportedly the plan for Remmers even before the draft). O'Neill is a project, but he just needs to improve his play strength -- his technique and footwork in pass protection are already pretty good (and much better than anything Clemmings was ever able to do). The Vikings played Elflein last year despite similar limitations in play strength causing him to lose 1-on-1 battles, but with similar upside -- blocking in space on outside zone runs and screens. As long as O'Neill has similar upside, I can see them opting to play him as a rookie even if he struggles to anchor against power rushers. 

The alternative is to leave Remmers at RT, which would make the RG starter one of Danny Isidora (5th rounder who struggled as a rookie in limited time last year), Colby Gossett (6th round rookie), Tom Compton (journeyman) or Josh Andrews (signed off the Eagles PS). O'Neill (or Hill) at RT with Remmers inside at RG is probably the better option, unless Gossett is great from day one as a rookie. 

Holmes is going to move to DT. He might see some work as a base DE on run downs but the plan is that he'll be a 3-tech especially on passing downs.  

Holmes was 6'5" 283 at the combine. His athletic testing wasn't elite but it was comparable to other DE/DT types like Rasheem Green. His per-snap pass rush production was decent considering he so often played inside at DT.

So he's a project, but there's some potential there, and the Vikings do have a good track record in developing DL. 

FWIW, they reportedly didn't see Hernandez as a scheme fit. They want the OL to be lighter on its feet. Connor Williams was on their radar, they had him for a visit. Supposedly they liked him or Austin Corbett if they'd taken OL at pick #30. 

I think the bolded point at the end has got it backwards: the problem with the way the Vikings managed the draft is that they didn't improve the OL right now (probably not at all this year, unless O'Neill or Gossett play as rookies), forget about "a few years from now". 

It's easier to imagine ways the Vikings OL can improve in the medium to long term -- O'Neill gets stronger and turns into a very good tackle, maybe Gossett or Isidora develop into a decent starting guard, plus there are future years draft classes and free agent additions, etc -- than by week one 2018. And since the team is otherwise good enough to contend this year, having a subpar OL with at least one major question mark as a starter is not great news. 

Long term, if Hughes turns out to be an above average or better starting corner, and/or if O'Neill develops into a good starting tackle, this draft class will look better than it does right now, where even if the upside of their draft class is eventually realized, it won't help this year's version of the Vikings as much as if they'd just drafted a plug and play starter at guard in the 1st round, and made do with another year of Mac Alexander as the starting nickel corner.

I agree with everything you said.  I do feel they are not super impressed with Alexander and Waynes has his moments but still needs some work.  Hughes is a great pickup and is a giant area of need I feel, especially with how that secondary looked in the playoffs.  They were one CB injury away from big trouble, when Rhodes went out they were bad and did not have guys to put into the lineup as a starter.  And Hughes helps kickoffs as well as a return man.  Sure the Holmes and Conklin pickup are just ok at that point, but they got two possible steals with Aruna and Downs.  They already showed with Hunter what that staff can do with long athletic defensive ends and Aruna is exactly that and was arguably a 3rd round talent with his workout numbers and potential.  Downs really flashes as a playmaker and would have been drafted higher without the injury, should completely take the place of Brothers soon as a backup ILB special teams guy.  

 

Not a great draft but solid, and with O'Neill he was the best option there in the 2nd round and athletically is a first round talent.  Sure guard would have worked but it is easier to find a guard than a solid athletic tackle who can pass protect I think.  People greatly underrate him as an athlete and just assume he is not strong as a blocker because he is such a impressive looking athlete.  Aviante Collins who also was a damn good athlete at OT to potentially develop from last years draft as a UDFA.  With O'Neill and Collins both are top 4 in the past 12 years for offensive lineman and their 40 time at the combine, only Lane Johnson and Terron Armstead have better times at the combine in that time span.

 

Not to mention the 2018 Vikings UDFA group is arguably as good as any other team.  So the early part of the draft this year and the end of it, combined with the UDFA saved the average selections of Holmes, Conklin and Carlson but Carlson was a need so it had to be done just for extra points alone.  But sure if one is just looking at top to bottom they did not make wow picks with every selection.  

[RpMc]

CWood, you mention Conklin’s bloodlines... what are you referring to? His younger brother is a transfer walk on at CMU. As far as I know, he’s got no football bloodline other than that...

 

are you referring to Jack? What am I missing here?

[JaguarCrazy2832]

Is the order you're doing these in random?

[CWood21]

1(25) - Hayden Hurst [TE; South Carolina]
1(32) - Lamar Jackson [QB; Louisville]
3(83) - Orlando Brown [OT; Oklahoma]
3(86) - Mark Andrews [TE; Oklahoma]
4(118) - Anthony Averett [CB; Alabama]
4(122) - Kenny Young [LB; UCLA]
4(132) - Jaleel Scott [WR; New Mexico State]
5(162) - Jordan Lasley [WR; UCLA]
6(190) - DeShon Elliott [S; Texas]
6(212) - Greg Senat [OT; Wagner]
6(215) - Bradley Bozeman [C; Alabama]
7(238) - Zach Sieler [DE; Fresno State]

In what would become Ozzie Newsome's last draft before he retired, nobody especially Ravens' fans anticipated it being this exciting.  Armed with the 16th pick in the draft, the Ravens had a slew of good players left on the board but opted to move down 5 slots swapping a 5th round pick for a 3rd round pick in the process.  Baltimore moved down another 3 spots upgrading a sixth round pick into another fourth round pick.  This kind of maneuvering might not endear itself to fans, but Day 2 of the draft is when teams really make their mark.  That being said, when the Ravens finally selected 25th overall they took Hayden Hurst out of South Carolina.  Quite frankly, I wasn't a huge fan of Hurst because I didn't project him to be an impact TE and I don't buy the idea of taking a TE in the first round when the position doesn't lend itself to being a high impact position.  Overall, I think his combination of upside and floor is probably the best of the TE class.  Probably a tad higher than I'd want to draft Hurst, but given the value they received via trade downs and getting Hurst at 25 instead of 18 makes this pick better in my eyes.  After moving down twice, the Ravens were poised to move back up the board which they did when they dealt #52, #125, and their '19 2nd round pick to Philadelphia for the 32nd overall pick.  That values that future pick as roughly a mid-3rd round pick, which is solid value.  The problem is I'm not a fan of Lamar Jackson, at all.  So the idea of trading up for Lamar Jackson using a future pick is a questionable decision, one in which Ozzie won't be around to deal with.  I have no problems with a team looking for their QBOTF, but I really don't see Lamar Jackson being that unless he's Michael Vick all over again.  I the third round, the Ravens drafted a pair of Sooners first grabbing Orlando Brown.  Orlando Brown is the son of former Raven, Zeus Brown, which makes a great story in itself.  His tape from his last year in Oklahoma was as strong as any OL prospect in this year's draft, but a miserable Combine process dropped his stock to the point where he went from being a potential Day 1 pick to possibly sliding into Day 3.  They grabbed another TE shortly after the Brown selection, grabbing Mark Andrews.  Andrews probably is the better receiving option between he and Hurst, but he's a near unknown in terms of in-line blocking and is a worse blocker in general.  Quite frankly, I think Andrews in the 3rd was better value than Hurst in the 1st.  Kenny Young was an interesting grab in the fourth to add to their LB corps.  He's got the athleticism to play at the next level, but the instincts are lacking and probably would come back to hurt them.  And to no surprise, Ozzie grabbed another Alabama player this year adding Anthony Averett to their roster.  While I don't think Averett offers a ton of upside, I think he'll offer solid depth in the secondary.  The Ravens grabbed a pair of receivers in Jaleel Scott and Jordan Lasley to add more depth to their WR corps, and should compete for a future with Lamar Jackson.  They grabbed more quality depth in the sixth with the selections of DeShon Elliot and Greg Senat.  Elliot has some questions in coverage, which might lead him into more of a S/LB hybrid role.  Senat seems like a solid developmental OL type, but counting on anything him this year seems unreasonable at best.  Again, Ozzie grabbed another Alabama player with Bradley Bozeman and should add a solid backup C to the roster.  Zach Sieler really wasn't much on my radar.  Overall, I loved the Ravens plan in the draft but their execution was lacking.  I'm not sure there's going to be many teams where I preferred their Day 3 picks to their Day 1 and 2 picks.  Overall, the Ravens targeted their needs and addressed them as such.  But this is a bit of a bag of mixed feelings for me in terms of player evaluation.

Best Value Pick: Mark Andrews [TE; Oklahoma]
Worst Value Pick: Lamar Jackson [QB; Louisville]
Grade: C-