Viking Thoughts

I was born in Minnesota, I grew up outside of the Twin Cities, even though I now live in Arizona, I am still and have always been a MINNESOTA Vikings fan.  That is why I feel absolutely sick hearing about the Minnesota state legislatures bumbling attempts to approve funding for a new Vikings stadium.  It appears things are getting pretty dire too, it's sounding like they need to get something approved soon or risk having the team move (to Los Angeles I presume).   It seems to be more about ideology than anything at this point, the anti-anything folks (Tea Party) are vehemently opposed to giveaways for any purpose (except for tax cuts to millionaires I presume). While I agree in principal that the best case scenario would be for the team owners to build their own stadium, it's just not realistic, not when the precedent has been set and city after city has spent public money to fund new stadiums (and will continue to do so in the future).  It's not like Minnesota wouldn't benefit from a new stadium either, it does generate tax dollars, it does bring in out of town visitors, it will create 1000's of much needed jobs, kicking it down the road again will only result in higher interest rates and higher material costs (as well as the potential loss of the team).  If they are going to get something done, now is the time to do it.  GET IT DONE PEOPLE!!!  The Vikings belong in Minnesota. 

Moving on to the draft.

GM Rick Speilman said yesterday that if the Vikings keep their number 1 draft pick, they will be selecting between three players:  OT-Matt Kalil, CB-Morris Claiborne and WR-Justin Blackmon.  They have a need for someone at each of those positions, I personally think that it would be a mistake to pick anyone but Kalil though.  You build your teams in the trenches and the OL was woeful last season, it HAS to get better.  I also think that with Antonie Winfield, Chris Cook, Chris Carr, Zach Bowman and Asher Allen, they will at least be serviceable at the CB spot.  The WR position also seems pretty deep in this years draft, I'm guessing they can find a pretty decent WR in the 2nd or 3rd round.

Speaking of the 2nd round, I'm guessing that the Vikings will be selecting between either a DB and a WR in round 2 (assuming they select Matt Kalil in round 1).   Personally, if he's available, I wouldn't mind seeing them select DB Harrison Smith from Notre Dame in the 2nd round.   The Viking safety position is a mess, I don't think they even know who will be starting there next season.  Smith is a big, hard hitting safety who would fill a major area of need for the team, he'd certainly be an upgrade to what they have now.   If they don't go DB, I fully expect that they pick a WR here (again, assuming they go with Kalil in round 1) and they will have some pretty good ones to choose from (Stephen Hill, Reuben Randle, Alshon Jeffrey, Mohammed Sano).