Eve of the Bear Hunt Mock

[rpmwr19]

Season Notes
- Vikings finish season 9-7 and just miss out on the playoffs and are awarded the 20th pick in April’s draft
- With improvement seen, no coaching changes are made for the sake of continuity
- Craig Johnson is on the sideline during game days moving forward
- Adrian Peterson receives MVP votes, but settles for CBOY and OPY awards

Players Returning
- Kevin Williams, DT
- Jerome Felton, FB
- Jerome Simpson, WR
- Phil Loadholt, T
- Geoff Schwartz, OL
- Jamarca Sanford, S
- Erin Henderson, LB
- Marvin Mitchell, LB
- AJ Jefferson (RFA)
- Marcus Sherels, CB (ERFA)

Players Walking Out the Door
- John Carlson, TE (Cut)
- Michael Jenkins, WR (Cut)
- Devin Aromashodu, WR
- Joe Berger, OL
- Jasper Brinkley, LB
- Andrew Sendejo, S (Non-Tendered RFA)

Key Free Agents Brought In
- Terrence Knighton, DT
- Ramses Barden, WR

2012 NFL Draft
- 1st, Alec Ogletree [LB] Georgia – 6’3 236lbs
- 2nd, Jesse Williams [DT] Alabama – 6’4 320lbs
- 3rd, Alvin Bailey [G] Arkansas – 6’5 319lbs
- 4th, Quinton Patton [WR] Louisiana Tech – 6’2 195lbs
- 4th, Jordan Reed [TE] Florida – 6’3 240lbs
- 5th, Nigel Malone [CB] Kansas State – 5’10 180lbs
- 6th, DeVonte Holloman [LB] South Carolina 6’2 241lbs

Depth Chart

Rookie
Free Agent

- QB, Christian Ponder – Joe Webb – McLeod Bethel-Thompson
- RB, Adrian Peterson – Toby Gerhart – Jordan Todman
- FB, Jerome Felton
- TE, Kyle Rudolph – Rhett Ellison – Jordan Reed
- WR, Percy Harvin – Jerome Simpson – Ramses Barden – Jarius Wright – Quinton Patton – Greg Childs
- OL, Matt Kalil – Alvin Bailey – John Sullivan – Brandon Fusco – Phil Loadholt – Charlie Johnson – DeMarcus Love – Geoff Schwartz
- DL, Jared Allen – Kevin Williams – Terrence Knighton – Brian Robison – Everson Griffen – Jesse Williams - Letroy Guion – Christian Ballard – D’Aundre Reed
- LB, Chad Greenway – Alec Ogletree – Erin Henderson – Marvin Mitchell – Audie Cole – Larry Dean – DeVonte Holloman
- CB, Chris Cook – Antoine Winfield – Josh Robinson – AJ Jefferson – Brandon Burton – Nigel Malone – Marcus Sherels
- S, Harrison Smith – Jamarca Sanford – Mistral Raymond – Robert Blanton
- SP, Blair Walsh – Chris Kluwe – Cullen Loeffler

My Take
- I'm not a huge fan of the high end receivers in this draft so, in my opinion, the Vikings are better off going for a defensive approach when it comes to the draft. We've seen how effective this team can be just by handing the ball to Adrian Peterson and an improved defense will keep him in games longer. Alec Ogletree adds athleticism that is sorely missing in our linebacker core. Jesse Williams is a freak athlete that comes from a basketball and rugby background. His athleticism, paired with his strength, could land him in the first round. However, this is a deep defensive tackle draft and, because of that, I feel he falls to us in the 2nd. The Vikings also bring in Terrance Knighton via free agency and give him a chance to prove he can be one of the elite run stuffers in the league. The Vikings coaches just have to make sure he keeps his head in the game.

- For the middle rounds I wanted to address some key spots on the offense. Starting with Alvin Bailey (gasp! a Razorback) who can immediately come in and start at either guard spot. I have him replacing Charlie Johnson and that relegates Johnson to swing duty where I feel he's invaluable. The Vikings, despite my lack of interest in the top receivers in this draft, can't ignore the position. They bring in Ramses Barden to be a chain mover and red zone target in free agency and then draft Quinton Patten from the surprise Louisiana State team. Patton is an interesting prospect but has some developing to do. However, first round corner Johnathan Banks, thinks Patton is the best receiver he play against in college. Jordan Reed is a great athlete at the tight end position and has been getting coaching Aaron Hernandez. We have a Gronkowski clone (in height/size) so now we add our Hernandez to get a different type of weapon at the position.

- In the last two rounds I focused on guys who could play some special teams, but Malone is a potential starting slot corner in the making. Holloman is a productive player that could be a special teams beast.
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RPM's Vikings Roster Outlook

[AQuintus]

Love it.

Only thing I would change in the draft is probably OLB in the 4th, there's a good chance Jonathan Brown could be available, and Shamarko Thomas in the 6th.

[Swaps]

I have absolutely no problem with this situation.

I also agree that grabbing another LB in the 4 would be a good idea, since we still have Greg Childs coming off injury, it'll be like a rookie year for him, and his potential is still sky high. I would like to see the Vikings nab A.J. Klein from Iowa State. I really don't like Erin Henderson, I think A.J. could be a steal from a lower level school.
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"the more I like you, the more I want to smash your face into the ground." -- Jared Allen

[vikesnewcoach11]

If we settle with Ramses Barden and a 4th round receiver we will be in the same exact predicament as this year. Those moves, if anything might make our WR's worse. Other than that, I like the pick-ups.

I said in a post earlier, if you dont have Bowe, Jennings, Wallace or a 1st-2nd round receiver in your mock I'll think its unrealistic. Sorry, thats just me. Nothing against you.

Read my post in the Ponder thread about wide receivers and the comparison I made.
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Straight cash homie!!

[The Gnat]

Yeah the disappointing thing to me would be the lack of WR's, the Vikings biggest weakness even before offensive line is the inability of the WR's to get open and they've had a number of drops. Ramses Barden is probably an upgrade in depth, but we would still have the worst #2 WR in the NFL, which is bad, because Harvin isn't used as a traditional #1.
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Gnat's Movie Reviews

[rpmwr19]

[Sloppy28]

I am going to be most upset about resigning Simpson. He is terrible... I would rather have a guy who is slow but can catch passes over a guy who is fast and drops every pass that hits his hands.

Other than that, I like it for the most part. I have never been that high on J. Williams, but he has good value as a second round pick. I like the Bailey pick in the 3rd, but if a falling WR is there, I would like to take one there instead (although I think G is just as much of a need!)...
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[vikesnewcoach11]

[rpmwr19]

[Sloppy28]