2013 NFL Draft Grades: Minnesota Vikings
By Josh Hill
The 2013 NFL Draft has come and gone, and now it’s time for some reflection. While some teams traded around to get who they want, others stood pat to see who would slide to them — and if there’s one thing to remember about this draft it’s players that slid around the rounds. But now that the draft is behind us, the all important grading phase has begun, so lets take a look at how the Green Bay Packers did in this year’s NFL Draft.
Draft Picks (Overall Selection)
- (23) Sharrif Floyd, dt, Florida
- (25) Xavier Rhodes, db, Florida State
- (29) Cordarrelle Patterson, wr, Tennessee
- (120) Gerald Hodges, lb, Penn State
- (155) Jeff Locke, p, UCLA
- (196) Jeff Baca, g, UCLA
- (213) Michael Mauti, lb, Penn State
- (214) Tarvis Bond, g, North Carolina
- (229) Everrett Dawkins, dt, Florida State.
Best Pick: Sharrif Floyd, DT/Florida
Floyd was mocked as top 5 talent basically all month long, so the fact that he slipped all the way to the Vikings is nothing short of stunning. But the Vikings got a real steal with Floyd who will be able to fill the middle of the Vikings line but also slide around and potentially play at defensive end as well.
Worst Pick: Jeff Locke, P/UCLA
This seems like I’m picking on a punter, but the Vikings have Chris Kluwe and drafting Locke is simply to motivate Kluwe to put down the World of Warcraft, chill out with the overtly political rants and focus on the punting. Minnesota made the point by taking Locke high but they could have held off for another round.
Analysis: Overall, the Vikings had a top heavy draft that sort of fizzled the rest of the way home. The cream of the draft for Minnesota is in Floyd, Rhodes and Patterson who will all step in and make this team even better than they were last season. Minnesota needed to focus on getting more talent on defense and they did that, but now we need to see if it pans out.
2013 Draft Grade: B