Vikings have plenty of draft options
Posted on Thu, Apr. 06, 2006
[size=18px]Vikings have plenty of draft options[/size]
BY SEAN JENSEN
Pioneer Press
Although he was hired in late January, Fran Foley and his family still haven't purchased a home in the Twin Cities.
That's because the Vikings' vice president of player personnel has spent the past two-plus months dealing with free agency and doling out part of the franchise's league-high $31 million in salary cap space.
With the NFL draft weeks away, Foley said the Vikings "exceeded some expectations" in their free-agency foray. The team will take an open-minded approach into the April 29-30 draft, armed with an NFL-high five picks among the top 95 spots.
"We have flexibility," Foley said of the team's draft strategy. "The philosophy of a personnel staff would be to take the best player available, regardless of position. If you have that, you will generally draft, in the long run, better."
Foley acknowledged that the Vikings could package picks to move up in the draft. But he declined to comment on specific positions or players.
Mel Kiper of ESPN and Mike Mayock of the NFL Network agree on the position the Vikings should address with their top pick, No. 17 overall.
"Their biggest need entering the draft is clearly at linebacker," Kiper said. "What I don't see from the current group is a difference-maker."
Said Mayock: "To me, after the dust settles, the one glaring need would be at linebacker. I would say that, especially in this era of linebackers that can run, I think the Vikings need a linebacker who can run."
Quarterback and cornerback are two other key areas of need, the draft experts said.
"Brad Johnson performed better than anyone could have anticipated in 2005," Kiper said. "But he turns 38 this upcoming season, so they obviously need to start grooming an heir apparent. At cornerback, Fred Smoot needs to revert back to the form we witnessed in '04 with the Redskins. What they need to address in the draft is a lack of top depth at the position."
Mayock said too much attention is centered on top quarterback prospects Vince Young, Jay Cutler and Matt Leinart. Mayock said players like Alabama's Brodie Croyle and Oregon's Kellen Clemens could be more reasonably priced alternatives to work with Vikings coach Brad Childress, who is heralded for developing quarterbacks.
"They've got five of the top 95 (picks), if they want to move up or down," Mayock said. "But I would see them staying put, and looking for one of the good linebackers. At that position, it could be Chad Greenway from Iowa. I'm not sure Ernie Sims (Florida State) will fall that far."
Though the Vikings have only six linebackers under contract, Foley noted that position is arguably the deepest in the draft.
"I know there's a lot of speculation, but we have good linebackers," Foley said. "If you look at our team, you'll see that we have good players at a lot of positions. So luckily for us, we've put ourselves in a position where we don't have to do anything."
Foley thanked owner Zygi Wilf for making that possible.
"I would give full credit to ownership, because they provided us with the resources necessary to accomplish what we did," Foley said. "They were committed to a successful free-agency period."
That included signing Hutchinson to an offer sheet on a record contract for an NFL guard (seven years, $49 million). The deal included a team-record $16 million in guaranteed money for a player signed away from another club.
The Vikings addressed several other key positions in free agency, including kicker (Ryan Longwell), running back (Chester Taylor), receiver (re-signed Koren Robinson), linebacker (Ben Leber), safety (Tank Williams) and backup quarterback (Mike McMahon).
"We were methodical. For our first time through, I think we accomplished what we needed to," Foley said. "But you build through the draft. That's always been my philosophy, and it was Brad's philosophy, and ownership's philosophy."
Sean Jensen can be reached at [email protected]
Vikings have plenty of draft options
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
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...The team will take an open-minded approach into the April 29-30 draft, armed with an NFL-high five picks among the top 95 spots....
..."The philosophy of a personnel staff would be to take the best player available, regardless of position. If you have that, you will generally draft, in the long run, better."
I've always liked that philosophy to the draft.
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Foley acknowledged that the Vikings could package picks to move up in the draft. But he declined to comment on specific positions or players....
That makes me somewhat nervous, will probably play out on draft day depending on how things play out with the first picks. I'm banking on them holding tight with the picks they have left going into the draft.
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..."Their biggest need entering the draft is clearly at linebacker," Kiper said. "What I don't see from the current group is a difference-maker."
Said Mayock: "...I think the Vikings need a linebacker who can run."
Parroting the folks at PP.O.
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...Quarterback and cornerback are two other key areas of need, the draft experts said...
...Mayock said players like Alabama's Brodie Croyle and Oregon's Kellen Clemens could be more reasonably priced alternatives to work with Vikings coach Brad Childress, who is heralded for developing quarterbacks...
Reasonable, again, QB & CB have been mentioned dozens of times by our resident experts.
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...Mayock said. "But I would see them staying put, and looking for one of the good linebackers. At that position, it could be Chad Greenway from Iowa. I'm not sure Ernie Sims (Florida State) will fall that far."...
..."I know there's a lot of speculation, but we have good linebackers," Foley said. "If you look at our team, you'll see that we have good players at a lot of positions. So luckily for us, we've put ourselves in a position where we don't have to do anything."...
I don't think I would go as far as saying they don't have to do anything. There are still some fairly obvious holes to be filled.
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..."I would give full credit to ownership, because they provided us with the resources necessary to accomplish what we did," Foley said. "They were committed to a successful free-agency period."...
Amen.
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
Quote:
Quote:
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...Mayock said. "But I would see them staying put, and looking for one of the good linebackers. At that position, it could be Chad Greenway from Iowa. I'm not sure Ernie Sims (Florida State) will fall that far."...
..."I know there's a lot of speculation, but we have good linebackers," Foley said. "If you look at our team, you'll see that we have good players at a lot of positions. So luckily for us, we've put ourselves in a position where we don't have to do anything."...
I don't think I would go as far as saying they don't have to do anything. There are still some fairly obvious holes to be filled.
I think the emphasis on "have to" is missing in print. He means that no one is going into the draft saying, "We HAVE TO dump all of our picks for a top 3 QB... or We don't HAVE to take a linebacker with our first pick... or we don't HAVE TO draft a RB first."
Of course there are holes to fill. However we have lots of options to filling those holes.
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
I know there won't be a lot of people agreeing with me, but I just feel nervous until we get a QB that we can build a franchise around. So far we just have a bunch of decent fill-ins.
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
Someone call Frank Foley and tell him its not good to lie to people.
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
Posted on Thu, Apr. 20, 2006
[size=18px]Vikings keep draft options open[/size]
BY SEAN JENSEN
Pioneer Press
With the draft fast approaching, Fran Foley, the Vikings' vice president of player personnel, isn't opposed to trading up.
But only to a limit.
"We do not have to reach on anybody," Foley said. "We could go up a couple or we could go down a couple. But I don't see us ever doing anything to jeopardize the long-term success of the club. We won't do that."
Asked if that means he would rule out a dramatic jump, Foley said, "It doesn't happen. Studies over the last 20 years will tell you that teams do not move more than six or seven picks. It's too far to jump."
Although the Vikings have an NFL-high five picks among the top 95 selections, their top choice is No. 17 overall, which, using Foley's rationale, puts his club's limit just outside the top 10.
Besides, Foley said the Vikings' position makes it hard to move.
"When you sit at 17, it's very difficult to move up prior to the draft, because of the number of slots, number of teams, that could jump you," Foley said. "So teams that are outside the top five really have to wait and see what happens. That being said, you have to be prepared for where you want to go, and who you want to get, and what is it you'd give up."
Still, Foley warned that the Vikings do not feel compelled to do anything, reiterating owner Zygi Wilf's comments from Monday.
"To be honest with you, we've talked about really not needing to do anything," Foley said. "We could basically just sit there, take our picks, and we'll be happy."
Sean Jensen can be reached at [email protected]
Vikings keep draft options open
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
Man this upsets me, because Vince Young wont last until the 10th pick!
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
THIS VIKING WILL NEVER BE DRAFTED, GRAHHAHAHAHAAAAHH
STRICTLY FREELANCE PILLAGING!! GRAHHH
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
Re: Vikings have plenty of draft options
That lifeless soul should have been banned.
