OK, before I begin here, everyone needs to stop with the Ponder puns...right after mine. I like closing things out. For example, when I walk into a room with a lot of beautiful women, they all run towards the exits. I consider myself not only to be the Xerox, but the closer as well.
Viking fans sat down in front of the TV Thursday night and watched the NFL Draft. Besides from Roger Goodell nearly getting booed off stage for the NFL labor situation, it was enjoyable to watch when the Vikings wound up picking at 12.
Prior to the Vikings pick, the Vikings tried to trade up for QB Blaine Gabbert, who was still available at pick number 10 after the Tenessee Titans took the Vikings alleged #1 target, Jake Locker at 8. The Vikings couldn't make the trade happen, and as a result, the Jacksonville Jaguars took their QB of the future after trading up with Washington.
When the Vikings came up, there were several options.
- Prince Amukamara was available and was clearly the fans choice. The secondary had been beaten around long enough and a possible shutdown corner was available. Plus, Prince would have looked good in purple. (Just seems like it fits doesn't it?)
- Nick Fairley, considered by many to be the top pick in the draft in January, had also fallen to the Vikings. With Pat Williams most likely to leave and Kevin Williams possibly facing suspension for the Starcapps incident, one of the best defensive tackles in the draft seemed like a good choice.
- Anthony Constanzo was also on the board. After Brett Favre got the hell beat out of him last year, building a legitmate offensive line would seem to be a priority.
So what did the Vikings do? None of the above. In a shocking move, the Vikings took Florida State QB Christian Ponder...and Viking fans got livid.
They booed Vikings general manager Rick Spielman off stage at the draft party. They took to talk radio to do their own renditions of "Crishad's 30 Seconds of Anger". And, a bunch of them probably gave up and became Packer fans.
(Come to the dark side, Luke. I am your father...OK, doesn't it just seem like every time the Packers show up, I just want to hear the Imperial March from Star Wars? Aaron Rodgers using jedi mind tricks to will his team down the field. 6 seed my ass! I digress....)
However, when you think about it. Viking fans shouldn't have been that shocked. Coach Leslie Frazier had repeatedly mentioned that the Vikings needed a quarterback and wanted to groom one ala Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, or Aaron Rodgers (more on Green Jesus later...). So if their guy was there at 12, why not take him. Which begs the next question: Since Ponder was considered a late 1st round or 2nd round pick, why didn't the Vikings try to trade down?
Simple. Nobody wanted to and even if they did, Ponder was going to be gone by their next pick anyways. Remember, Washington traded down to 16 and was in need of a quarterback thanks to the imminent departure of Donovan McNabb. It's possible that Washington saw Ponder higher on their board than Gabbert, so they may have wanted to make that "reach" at 16. So the Vikings took Ponder at 12, and the Redskins are looking deep into signing a quarterback...John Beck (0-4 as a starter with the Dolphins and supposed to be the next Kurt Warner John Beck). So who would you rather have? Also take into consideration that most of the quarterbacks the Vikings would have been targeting in the second round would have been gone by pick 43. Also, with no third round pick, there was no opportunity to not only trade up for Gabbert but for one of the second tier quarterbacks.
"BUT IT WAS SUCH A REACH!!!" True, but think about it. Frasier and Spielman thought of Ponder highly enough that they would take him at 12. If Brad Childress would have made this move, I'd be a little skeptical. Frasier seems to know what he's doing, and he also has a quarterback guru in Bill Musgrave on the staff who is implementing an offense that is similar to the one Ponder ran at Florida State. Plus, you have durability concerns? Consider that Ponder was asked to run the football 15-20 times a game at FSU. He won't be asked to do that for the Vikings. Plus, it's not like the cupboard is bare on offense. He has Adrian Peterson in the backfield, Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice (barring the CBA being different when it gets resolved) at receiver, and now two pass-catching tight ends in Visthante Shiancoe and Kyle Rudolph. Remember when Daunte Culpepper got the keys to the bus in 2000? Similar situation.
So with all of that around him, do the Vikings need anymore than an intelligent quarterback who makes the right decisions? You can make the case that even Tarvaris Jackson could have survived if he had made the right reads. So all I'm saying is that Ponder deserves a chance. It could be that he's awful, but if he turns out to be the last FSU quarterback taken by the Vikings (Brad Johnson), it could be worse.
As for the rest of the draft, adding a solid weapon like TE Kyle Rudolph in the second round should help infuse some youth into the position, especially since all three on the roster are 30+ years old, and have their contracts ending in two years. Selecting DT Christian Ballard in the fourth round could be a steal as well, since Ballard Percy Harvin'ed the combine by testing positive for marijuna. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be too many players who could make an impact, and they need to get some youth on the offensive line, a defensive end opposite Jared Allen, a weakside linebacker, and help in the secondary.
There could be some help in free agency, whenever that can begin. LB Mark Herzlich went undrafted, but was a second round talent before he was diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago. It could be a fit with the Vikings if they decide to let Ben Leber walk in free agency. CB Kendrick Burney, who was involved in the UNC agent scandal, could also be a potential fit.
Elsewhere in the draft...
- The Detroit Lions are incredibly sick...IF MATT STAFFORD CAN STAY HEALTHY!!! They picked up Nick Fairley to form a deadly tag team with Ndumukong Suh on defense. They also got a receiver to go across Calvin Johnson in Titus Young, but the big addition was Mikel LeShoure, who will team up with Javid Best to form a Thunder/Lightning combo. Restore the Roar indeed.
- The Houston Texans finally made a comittment to defense by taking four defensive players in their first four picks. DE J.J. WATT!!! WATT!!! WATT!!! will be fine next to Mario Williams, and Brooks Reed gives them the Clay Matthews/DeMarcus Ware 3-4 rush linebacker you need.
- The Bengals may have hit the lottery with their first two picks, as they get the best prospect in the draft in A.J. Green, and a sneaky quarterback prospect in Andy Dalton (who I see a lot of Drew Brees in...). Even if they don't get rid of Chad Johnson in the offseason, the Bengals offense could catch up with their solid defense.
- Finally, the Patriots may have stuck it to the Vikings in the Randy Moss trade. Not only did the absence of a third round pick make it difficult for the Vikings to trade up, but they took QB Ryan Mallet with the pick, who has potential but also character issues. If Mallet lives up to his potential, it could be hailed as one of the worst trades in Vikings history.
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