Minnesota Vikings Draft Recap

Minnesota Vikings Draft Selections:

1st round (12): Christian Ponder QB, Florida State

2nd round (43): Kyle Rudolph TE, Notre Dame

4th round (106): Christian Ballard DT, Iowa

5th round (139): Brandon Burton CB, Utah

6th round (168): Demarcos Love OG, Arkansas

6th round (170): Mistral Raymond DB, South Florida

6th round (172): Brandon Fusco OT, Slippery Rock                                        
6th round (200): Ross Homan LB, Ohio State
7th round (215): D'Aundre Reed DE, Arizona
7th round (236): Stephen Burton WR, West Texas A&M

Immediate Impact selection: Christian Ballard DT, Iowa
-Ballard saw his stock fall into the 4th round because of character issues and maturity concerns. Neither of those are a problem for the Vikings. With Pat Williams retiring and Kevin Williams facing a 4 game suspension Ballard can start right away. Skill wise he is a talented inside tackle who can get inside pressure on the QB and plays the run well. A very solid pick for the Vikings and also a great late round value, Ballard will have an immediate impact on the defense.


Pick for the Future: Kyle Rudolph TE, Notre Dame
-The Minnesota Vikings are going to need nice weapons if they want to make life for Ponder a little easier. By drafting Rudolph they give him a future impact TE who he can trust in the Red Zone and across the middle. He needs to bulk up and improve his blocking skills. But considering Visanthe Shiancoe is a free agent after this year and the Vikings will need someone to step up. It is a nice pick for the Vikings offense in the future

Questionable Pick: Christian Ponder QB, Florida State
-I know, I know the Vikings have a big need for a QB, and Ponder is the perfect fit for their new system and he will be helped out by AP, Shiancoe and Harvin. But taking him at 12th overall was to much of a reach to me. They easily could have traded down to the early 20's picked up additional draft picks and then taken Ponder. I don't question Ponder as a QB, I think he can be a very good starting QB and a great leader for the Vikings. But it came down to the overall selection and that made this the Vikings questionable pick.

Draft Grade: C+
-I like the selections of Ponder, Rudolph, Ponder and Burton. But after that I don't know how many of those guys will actually make the team. Ponder was a reach at 12 and Ballard comes with character concerns, while Rudolph has injury concerns.  The Vikings added some nice pieces, but we also can't forget how they lost their 3rd round selection (Randy Moss trade) and because of all of that I give them a C+ a nice draft, but not one that will help them improve much this year