Vikings’ Late First-Round Draft Record

Harrison Smith

The Vikings have the 30th pick in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft—way near the end of the first round. That is always a strong sign that you had a pretty good season the previous year (even though picking 32nd would be better, of course). And the Vikings have had a number of pretty-to-very-good (but not great) seasons in their history, contributing to having 10 draft picks at the end of the first round through the years. So, what is their traffic record picking that spot.

Let’s state right up front that, in some seasons, the Vikings have traded away or into late first-round picks (and with Rick Spielman calling the shots, that is once again a distinct possibility this year). But we are looking at their drafting track record here, no matter how they came to secure the pick.

So, here is the list of Vikings late, first-round picks through the years:

 

Year     Pick     Player                          Position                       College

1970    25        John Ward                  Offensive Tackle         Oklahoma State

1971    24        Leo Hayden                 Running Back              Ohio State

1974    25        Steve Riley                  Offensive Tackle         Southern California *

1975    25        Mark Mullaney            Defensive End             Colorado State

1976    25        James “Duck” White   Defensive Tackle         Oklahoma State

1977    27        Tommy Kramer           Quarterback                Rice

2001    27        Michael Bennett         Running Back              Wisconsin

2012    29        Harrison Smith            Safety                          Notre Dame *

2013    29        Cordarrelle Patterson Wide Receiver             Tennessee *

* Indicates other players were selected in the first round before this player.

 

That’s 10 players with varying degrees of success on their respective Vikings teams. It’s not an All-Star team, but it is not a rogue’s gallery either. Let’s take a close look.

John Ward was the Vikings pick following their first appearance in the 1969-70 Super Bowl, and since the Vikings had a great team back then and a decent offensive line, Ward was likely brought in for depth. In five seasons in Minnesota, Ward played in 64 games and started just 14. After leaving the Purple, he played for two teams in 1976 (Chicago and Tampa Bay) and started just two. Ward’s record doesn’t indicate a great career, but in that 17-round draft, the team picked up only one player (tight end Stu Voight in the 10th round) who really contributed more. Grade: C-

Leo Hayden came to a Vikings backfield crowded with Clint Jones, Dave Osborn and Bill Brown, but it doesn’t appear that it would have mattered much. In his one season in Minnesota, he didn’t carry the ball out of the backfield for the Vikings and then moved on the next season to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he compiled the following stats:  In four games, he had eight carries, eleven yards and one touchdown. Not what you are looking for in a first-round pick (or a seventh-round pick, for that matter). Grade: F

Steve Riley had a decent career with the Vikings. In his 11-year career, all in Minnesota, he started 128 out of 138 games at right tackle, most of it opposite Hall of Fame left tackle Ron Yary. (It is worth noting the Vikings selected LB Fred McNeill with the 17th pick of the first round in 1974.) I recall some complaints about Riley back in the day, but I believe some of that is because he was compared to Yary. Riley played on two of the Vikings’ four Super Bowl teams and was a mainstay during much of their dominance in the 1970s. Grade: A-

Mark Mullaney played his entire 12 seasons on the Vikings defensive line and had a pretty good career there. Starting 97 of 151 games (he had some injury issues late in his career), Mullaney collected meager sack numbers since the NFL didn’t start keeping sack stats until the 8th year of his career (1982), when the injuries started piling up. He had 13.5 sacks in his final five seasons. Grade: B+

James “Duck” White followed up a decent college career at OSU with eight years in Purple for the Vikings. White also played before sack stats (he played in the same unit as Mullaney for his whole career), but he started 61 of 117 games, had seven fumble recoveries and one interception that went for 22 yards. Grade: B

Tommy Kramer became the second franchise quarterback of the Vikings (after Fran Tarkenton) and there haven’t been many of those since. In his 13-year career, he started 110 of his 129 games played and was an exciting, if not always prolific, performer. He threw for an average of more than 12 touchdowns per season (exceeding 23 TD passes three times), and his best season may have been 1981 (nearly 4,000 yards, 26 touchdown passes, but 24 picks). He played in five playoff games but won only two. Grade: A-

Michael Bennett started off with much promise in Minnesota, with his production and career arc on an upward trajectory in his first two of five season in Minnesota. But injuries derailed it, and he spent the second half of his 10-year career bouncing around to four other teams. Bennett’s second year in Purple was his best, rushing for 1,296 (5.1 yards per attempt) and five touchdowns (he scored another through the air). But his career went downward quickly. Grade: C-

Harrison Smith became a Viking in Rick Spielman’s first season as general manager, and Trader Rick (who made a draft-day deal with Cleveland to select Matt Kalil fourth overall), made a second deal with Baltimore to move up to 29 and take Smith. Smith’s career is in full bloom, as, in just six seasons, he is an All-Pro, Pro Bowler and considered by some to be the best free safety in the game. Plenty remains to be done in Smith’s career, but the jury is already in. Grade: A+

Cordarrelle Patterson was the next chess piece that Spielman acquired when he traded up (with New England) to grab Patterson (after already drafting Sharrif Floyd and trading to draft Xavier Rhodes both in the first round). CP-Flash (who cost the Vikings a second- and a third-round pick) had a “flashy” career in Purple with his exciting kick returns and big plays, but he had a flash-in-the-pan career here as a wide receiver. In four seasons he had five return TDs, seven as a receiver and four as runner. Exciting stuff. But he became expendable due to unreliability as a pass pattern runner. Grade: C+

 

In summation, in the nine picks in late first-round position, the Vikings have taken two offensive tackles, two defensive linemen, two running backs, one quarterback, one safety and one receiver. Not exactly a pattern, but you could say linemen (both defensive and offensive) is the most prevalent.

The last two years of this examination belong to Spielman, which makes them the most pertinent in trying to figure out what he will do with the pick. He moved into the late pick both years, so it is different for him to be sitting there with the 30th pick. Chances are good he has been and continues to work the phones to see what is out there for it. Spielman notoriously loves to compile picks and currently has eight picks, which is short of his desired 10.

But the Vikings are a decent team and this offseason were active in free agency. They don’t have many holes in their starting lineup, save for a possible upgrade on the offensive line and certainly some need for depth. Therefore, unless Spielman is wowed by some trade offer (and it will have to wow him), I do believe he hangs on to the pick and grabs the best available offensive lineman. If the best offensive lineman (in his eyes) is not available, he will trade down for more numbers and more “bites of the apple.” Hopefully that apple doesn’t get him booted from the “garden.”

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