Accountability

A wise non-blogger recently postulated that resume puffing Viking VP of Player personnel Fran Foley may have been a Packer spy sent to infiltrate the Viking war room. Less than a week after the draft, where Foley had final authority in the draft room and managed to squander 3 of the Vikings first day picks on scrubs who will never play in the NFL - Foley got canned.

This is good news for the Vikings, but it also meant another year of follies for the Draft. In 2005 the Vikings first three picks were WR Troy Williamson at #7 (backup WR), DE Erasmus James (backup DE), and G Marcus Johnson (backup OL) and no one else of note. The Williamson pick was especially bad. In 2004 the Vikes selected another group of backups - DE Udeze (mostly hurt), DE Darian Scott, LB Dontarrius Thomas and RB Mewelde Moore. These guys have provided depth but have largely failed as starters. In 2003 and 2002 the Vikings missed their first pick! And thank goodness they did because the only bona fide starters the Vikings have on their teams were the missed leftovers - T Bryant Mckinnie in 2002 and DT Kevin Williams in 2003. To be fair, Nate Burleson was taken in 2003 and gave the Vikes one good year before signing big with Seattle, and in 2002 4th rounder Brian Williams will be a starter for Jacksonville after backing up Smoot nicely last year.

I'm glad that Zygi isn't so stubborn as to stick with a disaster like Foley, but Foley was as much a reach for his position as was C Ryan Cook in the second round. The Vikings need a GM, and they need one badly. This triangle of authority, draft by committee, circus of errors needs to end. There is plenty of outstanding young talent in the league. Zygi should be looking for the next Theo Epstein to run his team - not the next new wave organizational chart.

2006 Viking Draft Dust Up

The new powers at Winter Park remind me alot of the old powers at Winter Park. They come on strong and then take a knee. To this group's credit, they bounced back at the very end.

The Vikes are getting a lot of heat for not trading up to grab Cutler. If they were going to trade up I say they should have gone after Leinart when he fell to Buffalo, but no one knew Buffalo was going to waste their pick on a Safety they could have gotten at #17. So I'll give the Vikes a pass here. Trades are fun to talk about, but hard to analyze if they that don't happen.

At #17 the Vikes did the right thing and took LB Chad Greenway. Bravo!

In the second round I think they reached for CB Cedrick Griffin. I figured him for a 3rd rounder and with Ashton Youboty sitll on the board, I would have liked him - or G Max Jean-Gilles or ILB Abdul Hodge. I think Griffin will make a fine Nickel back and with any luck replace Smoot in a year or so. Not a bad pick, but not great.

When their next second rounder came up 3 spots later, the 3 players I mentioned abover were still available. And they took C Ryan Cook. Here is a guy who is 6'7" and can't move his feet. He'll be lucky to make the practice squad and there was a good chance this guy wouldn't be drafted at all. What a waste.

The vikes later traded both 3rd rounders to get a late 2nd round pick where they took Javerious Jackson. Jackson could have been had in the 5th round - so of course the vikings used TWO 3rd draft picks to get him. Dumb.

The 4th round pick was wasted on DE Ray Edwards from Purdue. Edwards will flame out and highly rated Alabama DE Mark Anderson was still on the board. 3rd pick in a row wasted.

The 5th pick was spent on S Greg Blue. This was actually a good pick and Blue will make the team as a Dime package player and reasonable backup to our aging safties. This was a huge value pick for a guy who will actually play in the NFL.

The 6th pick was traded to Philadelphia for starting G Artis Jenks. Bravo. 6th picks rarely generate NFL starters and now the Vikes get a guy Childress KNOWS is an upgrade over Johnson and Liewinski. So all in all, The vikes first 2 and last 2 picks will generate NFL players - Two DB backups, One LB starter, and one OL starter.

Overall grade - C

Now if I had been in command on Draft day, here is what the Viking's would have brought in. My only rule is I have to use the picks the Vikes owned the day before the draft and no trades! I won't pretend to know what other teams would give up, but I do know where players went.

Round 1 - OT USC Winston Justice (went to Philly in early round 2)
Round 2 (pick 1) - ILB Iowa Abdul Hodge (went to GB early round 3)
Round 2 (pick 2) - CB Ohio State Ashton Youboty (went to Buffalo early round 3)
Round 3 (pick 1) - WR Notre Dame Maurice Stovall (went to TB 7 picks later in round 3)
Round 3 (pick 2) - QB Omar Jacobs Bowling Green (went to Pitts in round 5) [If I wanted to cheat and pretend I *knew* Jacobs was going in round 5, I would have taken USC S Darnell Bing who goes early in round 4 to Oakland]
Round 4 - S Georgia Greg Blue (went to Vikings in Round 5 - good job Childress!)
Round 5 - DE Alabama Mark Anderson (went round 5 to Chicago 10 picks later)
Round 6 - C Minnesota Greg Eslinger (went to Denver in round six, 13 picks after Vikings)

In 5 years I would love to compare my draft vs. Childress. I believe I give the vikings their starting RT for the future in Justice, a solid ILB starter in Hodge, a fine possesion receiver in Stoval who would push Williamson for the #2 spot, a nickel back and future starting CB in Youboty, a better QB project in Jacobs, A dime back in blue (automatic wash since the vikes did take him), a potential starter at DE in Anderson - and I'll just bet that Eslinger is a starting center five years from now.

My reputation as a drafter is on the line...