Thread: 4th Round Thoughts

Originally Posted by hogfan

With all due respect, the Bobby Petrino pro-style offense we ran at Arkansas was far from dink and dunk. Childs was the beast of the trio of receivers (Wright, Adams, Childs) his freshmen and soph years.

Childs was the outside receiver that could go deep and get the jump ball. He's a physical receiver. With Ryan Mallett at QB, dink and dunk was the last thing we did. If anything, Joe Adams was the bubble screen, slot guy that we used to get out in space. Before his injury, Childs was up there with Julio Jones of Bama and AJ Green of Georgia as the top 3 receivers in the SEC. His junior year was cut short due to the injury (prior to his junior year, we all knew he was coming out early), and he rushed back to play for his senior year. Near the end of the year he started looking like his old form after the first half of the year playing very tentative.

Once Mallett left and Tyler Wilson took over, we lost the Mallett arm strength that could get the ball to the far and deep outside. Wilson fell in love with Wright as the speed receiver running the deep seam routes. I can't count how many receptions Wright had 25+ yards up field between the hashes, and he has great hands.

Obviously I'm a hog fan and want our guys to do well. I'm not here to say they're both going to be all pro. Who the heck knows. But we didn't run the typical dink and dunk spread that has taken over college football. That wasn't Petrino's offense.

I think Wright could do good things for the Vikings. I think Childs, once he gets completely healthy and I think he's there, could be a very solid receiver for your team for years to come.

Thanks for posting. I think Childs has talent. The issue is will he ever be his former self. I believe that he got better as the year went along but how far from "him" is he? I believe these players are talented players but we took them in spots I wouldn't. I would have love to have Childs where we got him but Randle at the end of the 2nd instead of Wright.

Originally Posted by kevoncox

Thanks for posting. I think Childs has talent. The issue is will he ever be his former self. I believe that he got better as the year went along but how far from "him" is he? I believe these players are talented players but we took them in spots I wouldn't. I would have love to have Childs where we got him but Randle at the end of the 2nd instead of Wright.

I can't really answer how far from "him" he is, but the further away from his injury the better. He slowly showed signs of what he was near the end of last year, and I think most of it was the fear and trusting his recovery. I think his ceiling is pretty high.

As far as other parts of the game besides routes, etc, all of our receivers loved downfield blocking. They'll fit in with those skills and attitude for AP.

I don't know the Vikings draft needs and haven't paid any attention to what you guys needed, so I can't say where you picked them is good or bad. I'm a Browns fan unfortunately, and that decision I made when I was in 4th grade is one that I've definitely regretted .

My main reply was to the dink and dunk offense and that's nothing of what we ran at Arkansas, and trying to clear up a bit about Childs and his injury. Obviously no one knows how "over" he is with his injury, but he is a tough kid and a very hard worker.

Wright is a good matchup vs linebackers and 3rd and 4th cornerbacks in the middle of the field. He's really good at finding the open spots running the north and south, up the field routes. He destroyed Texas A&M last year with 290+ receiving yards. It seemed all of it was between the hashes and 25+ yards down field. Game fast and sure hands.

Both guys are high character, intelligent guys and will give the Vikings all they have.

We all know judging these draft picks won't be determined until years 2-3.

Now I'm waiting for Trent Richardson to tear his knee at the first preseason game

Originally Posted by hogfan

I can't really answer how far from "him" he is, but the further away from his injury the better. He slowly showed signs of what he was near the end of last year, and I think most of it was the fear and trusting his recovery. I think his ceiling is pretty high.

As far as other parts of the game besides routes, etc, all of our receivers loved downfield blocking. They'll fit in with those skills and attitude for AP.

I don't know the Vikings draft needs and haven't paid any attention to what you guys needed, so I can't say where you picked them is good or bad. I'm a Browns fan unfortunately, and that decision I made when I was in 4th grade is one that I've definitely regretted .

My main reply was to the dink and dunk offense and that's nothing of what we ran at Arkansas, and trying to clear up a bit about Childs and his injury. Obviously no one knows how "over" he is with his injury, but he is a tough kid and a very hard worker.

Wright is a good matchup vs linebackers and 3rd and 4th cornerbacks in the middle of the field. He's really good at finding the open spots running the north and south, up the field routes. He destroyed Texas A&M last year with 290+ receiving yards. It seemed all of it was between the hashes and 25+ yards down field. Game fast and sure hands.

Both guys are high character, intelligent guys and will give the Vikings all they have.

We all know judging these draft picks won't be determined until years 2-3.

Now I'm waiting for Trent Richardson to tear his knee at the first preseason game

Trent will have a good career. Chilly is your head coach and he loves to pound the rock. He did it early in Peterson's career and it worked well.

Wright is who I think he is. He is a poorer man's Harvin(not a knock at all) We already have that. We needed two polished wrs. 1 tall body ( like Childs) and another polished route runner. Harvin eats in the middle of the field and our on the edges.

Originally Posted by kevoncox

Trent will have a good career. Chilly is your head coach and he loves to pound the rock. He did it early in Peterson's career and it worked well.

Wright is who I think he is. He is a poorer man's Harvin(not a knock at all) We already have that. We needed two polished wrs. 1 tall body ( like Childs) and another polished route runner. Harvin eats in the middle of the field and our on the edges.

Yeah I don't know your exact needs, so that will be TBD on the Wright pick.

You can complete the Warren High School, Arkansas Razorbacks, and Minnesota Vikings trifecta by drafting Chris Gragg next year. He's projected to the the top TE in the SEC and was the same year (medical redshirt in 2009) Greg and Jarius at Warren. Their high school team beat the piss out of everyone they played.

Originally Posted by Freakout

Childs ran 4.39 40 on his Pro-Day with a 40 inch vertical.

Troy Williamson ran the 40 in 4.32 seconds and had a 41-1/2 vertical.

Just saying.......

Originally Posted by singersp

Troy Williamson ran the 40 in 4.32 seconds and had a 41-1/2 vertical.

Just saying.......

And Williamson was known to drop the ball before he was drafted.

Originally Posted by singersp

I don't know enough about the WR to say how good of a pick that was.

Outside of that, I didn't like the FB pick at all.

We lost two G's this offseason (Hutch & Hererra) & needed to address that. 2 of Mel's top 4 remaining players were OG's. Troy Brown & Brandon Washington. There was an OT as his #5 as well.

I felt the pick would have better been spent on Brown.

Looks like Brown is still out there, I'd like to see the Vikings still try to get him but it also looks like it would take some time on the practise squad to develop him into a guard. I'll be keeping an eye out to see where he lands.

Originally Posted by vikinggreg

Looks like Brown is still out there, I'd like to see the Vikings still try to get him but it also looks like it would take some time on the practise squad to develop him into a guard. I'll be keeping an eye out to see where he lands.

There are a few OL we should grab. Even if Schwartz, Johnson & Fusco take the open spots, we still need depth at those positions. Plus we haven't see how they will perform in their roles with our scheme.

Again, not fond of Loadholt at all. Too many penalties & gives up too many sacks.

Originally Posted by singersp

There are a few OL we should grab. Even if Schwartz, Johnson & Fusco take the open spots, we still need depth at those positions. Plus we haven't see how they will perform in their roles with our scheme.

Again, not fond of Loadholt at all. Too many penalties & gives up too many sacks.

Does Load give up the sacks or does the TE that is over there that is supposed to help him.

In the end, our OL is set, regardless of how you still don't like it and I think it will be fine. What I still want to know is what (how fricken many) schemes will our O-Line coach run this year, 1, 2, 3, 4????? My guess, you cut that down to 2 and you won't see as many penalties out of a guy like Load.

If you don't, my guess, you will be beeeyyyyatching this time next year on how bad a pick kalil was because of the number of penalties we see out of him.

In the end, it won't because of talent (i.e. Load) that these guys won't perform, it will be because of coaching. Nothing more, nothing less, regardless of what you seem to think. (....snicker....)

Originally Posted by singersp

I don't know enough about the WR to say how good of a pick that was.

Outside of that, I didn't like the FB pick at all.

We lost two G's this offseason (Hutch & Hererra) & needed to address that. 2 of Mel's top 4 remaining players were OG's. Troy Brown & Brandon Washington. There was an OT as his #5 as well.

I felt the pick would have better been spent on Brown.

LOL, Mel Kiper.......You crack me up.

Here's a few things to chew on....

a. How many of those G's still there were projected to start this year? Couldn't be many because most sites had only 3 as potential/imediate starters. In the end, those guys that were sitting there wouldn't beat out Degeare anyways, why draft one. Continue to develop the young talent you drafted last year and the year before instead of wasting a pick on talent that is at least 2 or 3 years behind what you have.

b. Why draft a T? Are you ready to give up on Load and if so why? Penalties? Sacks from his side that were given up when he pulled inside to the A and B gap leaving a TE alone?

In the end, we have lots of talent on the OL. Question is, do we have the coaching staff that can continue their development and if not, why continue to draft talent that will, in the end, let ole Singer down?

What you should do, is instead of looking at Kipers "Big Board" (I crack up just typing that) you should look at who was there 5 - 10 picks below what we took. Then you could get a discussion going on what/why/who they should have taken.

I for one trust what the teams did more than I trust some yutz like Kiper.

Available players...

WR Toon (I still like the WR's we got).
ILB JM Johnson.
DT J Chapman

Then and only then do you get to a G that could in anyway maybe make sense and that was a undersized, minimal reps and very few as a starter or a T that is nothing more than a TE/DE converted to OT that is a big reach and a project.

Adam Gettis Draft Profile
Brandon Mosley Draft Profile

Again, Kiper be damned (LOL), you weren't going to get a OLmen there that was of any value and not one that could come in and start right away.

Instead they got a damn nice looking H-back that can come in and provide instant help as a blocking FB, a pass catching TE and most importantly, a player that comes onto the field that causes the D-coord to question his package/play call that is currently in (Run or is it a Pass).

Mix that in with a cat, that if he is healthy (most say he is) can not only stretch the field but also provide a target as a redzone threat, work the sideline (to tapper) and if necessary, stretch the field a bit. Hell, that doesn't even get into how good he is (and loves) to block in the running game.

Completing the package you started with by adding a nice fit for the scheme that can/will give Percy some help on the outside and in the slot with both of them on the field, or even give Percy a rep or two off both on offense as well as as a returner.

Seriously, not sure what your seeing, but I'm seeing alot of help here that will help Ponder not only as weapons, but as cats who will help the OL both in blocking as well as targets that can get open right away on 3 steps drops that will, in the end, help the OL in pass protection.

......LOL...Kiper....OG's....OT's........You really cracked me up and had me going with that one my friend.