Vikings Have Several Options With No. 23 Pick
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minnesota Vikings have all kinds of considerations with the No. 23 pick in the NFL Draft Thursday night.
WCCO's Mike Max explores a couple and gets some explanation on what this night means to players being picked.
It is the other season for Rick Spielman: The NFL Draft. And this whole thing gets intricate, complicated and a little confusing.
"So if you have a position, for example, that 98 percent of the starters only come out of the first two rounds and you have another position that is stacked with that guy in the first two rounds but you also say there's been other guys over the history that you've gotten in the fourth or fifth round that became just as good of players, then you balance that," Spielman said.
Yes. they'd like a wide receiver, but it doesn't have to be in the first round. Think Stefon Diggs.
"There's different styles, different types, small ones, tall ones. I mentioned earlier we don't look so much at the height, per se, as the catching radius," Spielman said.
Yes, they'd like a safety to complement Harrison Smith, but it might not be a safety they select to do it.
"What most teams are doing now is looking at these big corners and trying to see if they can convert to a free safety," Spielman said.
For players that have been through it, there are different philosophies. Center John Sullivan will tell you, contrary to coaches and management, it does matter where you are selected.
"It makes a difference in terms of how many opportunities you're going to get. Obviously first round picks, a team is invested in you and they're going to give you a lot of opportunities to be successful," Sullivan said. "I experienced it as a sixth round pick. Later draft picks, undrafted free agents, we have to take advantage of our opportunities right from the get-go."
But make no mistake, this is quite a time if you are lucky enough to hear your name.
"Really unsure of where things were going to go Thursday and Friday night, but at the end of the day you hear your name called and that's one of the greatest days of your life," tight end Kyle Rudolph said. "You get an opportunity to be a part of one of 32 franchises in the NFL."
