By Chris Schad
As the final selection of the 2015 NFL Draft for the Minnesota Vikings was made, there was good reason for fans to be excited about this team. A year ago they added Teddy Bridgewater, who seems to be the answer for the team’s endless search for a franchise quarterback. With Bridgewater, it seems like the Vikings have enough offensive pieces (pending the expected return of Adrian Peterson) to keep up with the high octane offenses of the NFC North.
However, that’s not the goal of this team. Going back two seasons ago, the Vikings were steamrolled on a weekly basis by the Packers, Lions and Bears. Hemorrhaging a franchise-record 480 points, the front office decided that Leslie Frazier’s ho-hum Cover Two defense wasn’t working and wanted to go in a different direction.
At that moment, it was easy to make the decision to grab an offensive mastermind and try to get up to speed. Add a franchise quarterback, get him some weapons and mimic the Mike Tice era Vikings. (You know, the ones that tried to win games 42-41?)
Yet, Spielman’s actual thinking helped the team take a step forward. I think the motto might have been something like “If you can’t beat ‘em, stop them.”
It started with the hiring of Mike Zimmer that spring and carried over to the past two draft classes. Although they were desperate to find a franchise quarterback, the Vikings took Anthony Barr with the ninth overall pick in 2014 and tried to find other solid pieces later in the process.
This past weekend, the Vikings continued that approach by focusing on the defensive side of the ball. They began by selecting Trae Waynes, a speedy cornerback that also can jump up and disrupt bigger receivers at the line of scrimmage. Pairing him with Xavier Rhodes should give Minnesota one of the brightest cornerback duos the franchise has seen in a long time.
They also went ahead and plugged another gaping hole in the second round by taking UCLA’s Eric Kendricks. The 2015 Bednarik Winner was discussed as the best 4-3 middle linebacker in the draft and his blazing sideline to sideline style should stop plays when they’re supposed to be stopped.
The Vikings didn’t stop there, adding project pass-rusher Danielle Hunter in the third round, giving Zimmer another option to hit the quarterback. After all, Jay Cutler, Matt Stafford and Aaron Rodgers can’t score 40-plus points when they’re on their back.
This isn’t to say that the Vikings have completely ignored the offensive side of the ball. In the fourth-round, the team committed highway robbery when they plucked offensive lineman T.J. Clemmings. He’ll immediately create competition at both tackle spots where Matt Kalil is facing a “do or die” year and Phil Loadholt is beginning to decline with a salary cap savings number of $6 million next season.
After all, the real weapon that Bridgewater needed was a better offensive line — and the Vikings seem to have accomplished that by adding a better line of defense up front.
Right now, it’s easy to say that the Vikings are paper champions of the NFL Draft. Yet, with the way this team is headed, they’ll make it very tough for those high-powered offenses to reach their potential.