Free agency reset — Wave 2

[Heavydan85]

48 minutes ago, Krauser said:

I’ll say it. It has to be OL. 

They have “studs” already at DE (2), DT (2), CB and S, but none on the OL unless Elflein develops into one. 

They can’t really afford to sign a FA OL starter, and there’s no one good left on the market except Mewhort, who’s injury prone, and Pouncey, who’s expensive and plays the one position where they already have a guy who might develop into a Pro Bowler. 

So they need to draft an OL who can start from day one. 

Getting a CB who can replace Waynes would only be necessary by 2020. They can target CB early in the 2019 draft. 

I think it depends on if they think tackle or guard.  I think OT would be a first, but OG has depth enough in this draft I'd be ok if a stud at a position without a long term answer fell.  I'd also be very happy to go OT in 1 and OG in 2 or 3...

Pretty much I'd rather draft OL, but I wouldn't reach and pass up a potential upgrade (or at DT potential starter next year if we lose Richardson)...I probably would rather not see a DE unless Chubb falls or something crazy that'll never happen.

[Krauser]

6 minutes ago, Heavydan85 said:

I think it depends on if they think tackle or guard.  I think OT would be a first, but OG has depth enough in this draft I'd be ok if a stud at a position without a long term answer fell.  I'd also be very happy to go OT in 1 and OG in 2 or 3...but if say Bryan is there at 30 and there was a run on OL and all that is left would be a reach, I'd rather have Bryan and get a OG in round 2.

Bryan is Taven Bryan, the DT with roughly zero career sacks and TFLs?

Where would he play, with Linval and Sheldon on the team? 

Zimmer usually dresses 3 DTs. Which one of Jaleel Johnson or Taven Bryan is going to be inactive for most of 2018?

[Heavydan85]

15 minutes ago, Krauser said:

Bryan is Taven Bryan, the DT with roughly zero career sacks and TFLs?

Where would he play, with Linval and Sheldon on the team? 

Zimmer usually dresses 3 DTs. Which one of Jaleel Johnson or Taven Bryan is going to be inactive for most of 2018?

Given claims he could play some DE I'd say they could dress both.  Also Richardson is 1 year...I hope we keep him but no guarantee. I don't see Richardson as a reason not to draft a DT if they believe he's a future starter and a better deal than available OL.

My preference is RT. If there is a worthy OT there i think that is the pick. I think that is the most likely spot for a first rounder to actually start and the biggest potential upgrade. But given how late we pick we don't know who will be there.  Maybe 7+ OL go before us and everyone worth 30 in the front office's opinion is gone.  I'd be ok with BPA if that happens.  It is more I wouldn't reach for an OL over drafting someone I see as a steal.  I hope it is OT or at least OL.  I'll be fine with a guy the brass thinks starts next year or an upgrade at any position.

[vikingsrule]

I'd rather focus early picks on OT and DE. I think UT is fine with Richardson and Johnson. 

I would use the mid rounds (3rd through 5th) to shore up depth at CB, TE and OG. Late round, I'm looking at RB, WR, S , NT (unless Stephen resigns).

Realistically, I'm probably taking BPA at DE or OL in round one.

[VikeManDan]

Any Viking-related rumors floating around on twitter?

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Heavydan85 said:

I think it depends on if they think tackle or guard.  I think OT would be a first, but OG has depth enough in this draft I'd be ok if a stud at a position without a long term answer fell.  I'd also be very happy to go OT in 1 and OG in 2 or 3...

Pretty much I'd rather draft OL, but I wouldn't reach and pass up a potential upgrade (or at DT potential starter next year if we lose Richardson)...I probably would rather not see a DE unless Chubb falls or something crazy that'll never happen.

The Vikings have a new quarterback that they are guaranteeing $84,000,000!  They have a gifted 2nd year running back returning from a knee injury.  In order to give these two guys the best opportunity to perform...the Vikings have to address the O Line in the first round and maybe the 2nd and 3rd as well!  Address defense in the lower half of the draft with some development guys.  Truthfully, the defense is pretty stacked, and with the addition of Richardson, maybe even historically great.  The offensive line continues to be the weakest link on the team.

[Heavydan85]

10 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

The Vikings have a new quarterback that they are guaranteeing $84,000,000!  They have a gifted 2nd year running back returning from a knee injury.  In order to give these two guys the best opportunity to perform...the Vikings have to address the O Line in the first round and maybe the 2nd and 3rd as well!  Address defense in the lower half of the draft with some development guys.  Truthfully, the defense is pretty stacked, and with the addition of Richardson, maybe even historically great.  The offensive line continues to be the weakest link on the team.

Again my preference is a OT in round 1 and maybe another high pick on guard...but I wouldn't be mad if someone fell and they went BPA instead especially with the depth at OG.  

[vikingsrule]

17 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

The Vikings have a new quarterback that they are guaranteeing $84,000,000!  They have a gifted 2nd year running back returning from a knee injury.  In order to give these two guys the best opportunity to perform...the Vikings have to address the O Line in the first round and maybe the 2nd and 3rd as well!  Address defense in the lower half of the draft with some development guys.  Truthfully, the defense is pretty stacked, and with the addition of Richardson, maybe even historically great.  The offensive line continues to be the weakest link on the team.

The defense showed some serious flaws in the playoffs. This team wins with defense, that has to be the focus, especially with all the looming FAs on defense. Can Griffen, Hunter and Robison be an effective pass rushing trio going forward? I'm concerned with Robison.

i can get behind one OL early, but I'm not sure two is necessary. Reiff, Elflein and a rookie this year should be the core going forward. Remmers and Easton are probably fine for another year, Beyond that, more developmental depth should be pursued.

if the Vikes can sign a CB, I'd support taking an OT, DE and OG in the first three rounds. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, vikingsrule said:

The defense showed some serious flaws in the playoffs. This team wins with defense, that has to be the focus, especially with all the looming FAs on defense. Can Griffen, Hunter and Robison be an effective pass rushing trio going forward? I'm concerned with Robison.

i can get behind one OL early, but I'm not sure two is necessary. Reiff, Elflein and a rookie this year should be the core going forward. Remmers and Easton are probably fine for another year, Beyond that, more developmental depth should be pursued.

if the Vikes can sign a CB, I'd support taking an OT, DE and OG in the first three rounds. 

I guess I don't see that the flaws in the defense are completely the result of having the wrong players.  As difficult as this might be to accept, Zimmer got schooled in the playoffs by Peyton and Pederson.  Griffen will continue to be one of the best DE's in the league especially if he can keep healthy.  Robison...well, he needs to retire.  Hunter will be fine as long as he learns some more rush technique to go with his freakish athleticism.  BRob can be replaced in the 4th round with a developmental guy.

I agree with you premise that this team is built to win with defense.  I like that.  However, the missing piece for the last several years has not been defense, but on the offensive side of the field.  The weakest link on the offense has not been QB, but offensive line.  They were historically bad in 2016, and while they improved in 2017...there is much more room for improvement. 

If the Vikings are driving to win it all in 2018 (which is what they seem to be aiming for) then it will fall to the effectiveness of the offensive line.

[SteelKing728]

The defense lost some depth, even though we are keeping 10 of the 11 starters in place.

I don't think we can spend our top 3 picks on OL. At most, I'd spend 2 of the 3 on that group.

Minnesota is a very balanced team. I'd hate to see us lose that.

[Kparty15]

22 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said:

The defense lost some depth, even though we are keeping 10 of the 11 starters in place.

I don't think we can spend our top 3 picks on OL. At most, I'd spend 2 of the 3 on that group.

Minnesota is a very balanced team. I'd hate to see us lose that.

Unless we trade out of the first to get another 2nd or 3rd...  then we could splurge and get a 3rd OL player of the value is there.  Based on the depth in the draft at our positions of need I definitely think that trading out of the 1st round would be beneficial so we can load up at some of those spots.  I see a ton of talent at OG, OT, DT, CB, and RB that should be available in rounds 2-3.

[gopherwrestler]

2 hours ago, Kparty15 said:

 I see a ton of talent at OG, OT, DT, CB, and RB that should be available in rounds 2-3.

I don’t see it at the DT or OT spots, but I’m pretty critical in what I like at those positions. 

[Krauser]

OL is easily the weakest position group on the team. They don't have anyone even close to top 10 at their position in the league. They range from average at best to pretty bad. 

This is on a team that has at least borderline top 10 talent at literally every other position group on the team: Cousins, Cook, Rudolph, Diggs/Thielen, Griffen, Joseph, Barr, Rhodes, Smith. OL talent is the only thing the Vikings are lacking compared to the other top teams.

The defense was the best in the league last year. They fell apart for the last 20 minutes vs the Saints, and then in Philadelphia. They need to add depth there and develop future starters, but adding more premium talent to that side of the ball while the OL is a patchwork of UDFAs would be crazy. 

First pick goes to the OL, one of the next 2, and then one more on day 3. 

[Cearbhall]

41 minutes ago, Krauser said:

First pick goes to the OL, one of the next 2, and then one more on day 3. 

The Vikings picking offensive linemen with their first three picks wouldn't bother me a bit. On the other hand, if they don't get an offensive lineman in their first two picks I will be (further) annoyed at Spielman's lack of addressing an obvious weakness. It was already a huge mistake, IMO, not getting at least one blue chip free agent offensive linemen. I completely agree that finding depth at other positions is way less important than finding starters on the offensive line. Some of the guys they have would be solid depth if they had starters in front of them.

Here is what the team should be targeting IMO (they are still more than one year away from having a good offensive line)

Starters: <upgrade>, <upgrade>, Elflein, <upgrade>, Reiff

Depth: Easton, Hill, <upgrade>, <upgrade>

Depending on how things go, the team may be better off leaving Reiff at LT. Remmers is merely a patch starter since the team was so far from decent when they signed him. He will be too expensive to keep as a backup. If Easton or Hill develops nicely they can be bumped into a starting position but it is tough to plan for that given the team's track record with offensive linemen.

In all, the team has either impending or imminent needs to five new offensive linemen IMO.

I can't rule out some of the current depth (i.e. Isidora) becoming useful depth but so far none of the current depth has shown me that they belong in the NFL as depth yet. They are merely developmental prospects that may or may not pan out.

It is too late for the team to plug all five of these holes on the offensive line this year. We can expect Remmers to patch one of the holes for the year. Getting four offensive linemen in the draft wouldn't seem out of line. Even if all four turned out aces they would be useful to the team. In reality, with how terrible Spielman and company are at drafting offensive linemen they would be lucky if two of the four proved to be useful and they would still need to fill three holes next year.

The Vikings offensive line has been pretty dire for a long, long time. Across the league there are a lot of lines that are mediocre at best but I do not know if there is a single other team that has went so long since having a top third of the league offensive line. Now that the Vikings guaranteed $84M to Cousins, the offensive line really should be a much higher priority (it already should have been much higher even with Keenum IMO). 

 

 

[marshpit23]

Starting to buy into multiple OL in the first 3 rounds. I like Wynn at 30. Question is, does Price fall to our second pick? If so, would both Wynn and Price have a chance to become immediate IOL (RG/LG)? Another question: If we are able to draft Wynn at 30, would Ragnow be available with our 3rd round pick. Again, both could be potential 1st year starters at the guard positions.