*** The Vikings have a chance to make the playoffs this year, but won't do so with Joe Webb, nor with a rookie QB. The best we could hope for at pick number 12 would be Jake Locker, but he isn't worth that high a pick and wouldn't help us win this year. We need to trade for a vet QB, and one better than Matt Hasselback. Kevin Kolb will be outrageously expensive. Carson Palmer will be costly as well, as it is likely there will be a bit of a bidding war. In any event, with Palmer we could win this year, and he is young enough that our "QB of the future" (whomever that may be) can train under him for a couple of years as well. So, my Mock Draft is predicated on the fact that we trade our second round pick, and our non-compensatory sixth and seventh round picks. There, we have a quarterback who can lead us to the playoffs. I will not draft a young quarterback this time around, as we have more pressing needs. With Palmer aboard, we can take a closer look at Webb this season and see if he is our hope for the future. If not, we can draft a young stud next year. We can sign a cheap free agent vet, or an undrafted kid with promise, to be our third stringer this season. We are now left with a the 12th pick in the first round, a fourth round pick, two fifth rounders, and our compensatory picks -- one each in the sixth and seventh rounds. Here we go...
1st Round: Anthony Castonzo, OT Boston College. McKinney is getting old and is starting to suck. Castonzo is one of the top three tackles (probably the best) and could step in immediately as our new LT. McKinney could move to RT, making Loadholt a reserve. We have to wait until the 4th round for our next pick, but we already have a B-plus level QB, a new starting LT, and an upgrade at RT and reserve tackle. Pretty darn good.
4th Round: Rodney Hudson, G FSU. Herrera sucked at RG last year. Hudson could start, learn from Hutchinson, and if he works out take over at LG in a couple of years. Herrera could then be released, saving some significant dough. If either Sullivan or Cooper can make the grade at center, we will have a damn fine offensive line.
5th Round: Ladie Ajiboye, DL S. Carolina. This kid can play anywhere on the line, but we'd use him to replace the departed Edwards at DE.
5th Round: Shilo Keo, SS Idaho. A week draft for safeties, but this kid would at the very least be an upgrade over what we've got now.
6th Round: Christian Ballard, DT Iowa: Could be the steal of the draft. Can immediately be the first option after either Williams.
7th Round: Luke Stocker, TE Tenn. The best of the later round options at TE. Not a desperate need, but apparently the Vikings think they need one. If they don't really go for TE here, I'd take the best available RB or WR and cross my fingers.
*** If we do not in fact trade for a vet QB, and retain our second round pick, I would still draft OL in the first round, and take one of the second tier QBs in the second round. If need be, trade a non-compensatory 6th or 7th to move up enough to snag one. We won't make the playoffs, but we'd have a good OL to protect him, a great backfield to hand off to, and hopefully a 6th or 7th round speedster to throw to. Next year, whether Webb or the new guy have risen to the top, we will have enough problem areas covered to grab an elite WR for 2012.
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