Vikings Draft Day 3

As expected, the Vikings finally addressed their WR need on day 3 of the NFL draft with the selection of a couple of Arkansas WR's, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs in the 4th round.  Wright is on the small side but is extremely fast and was very productive, apparently very willing to go across the middle too.  I'm guessing the Vikes will try him as a kick/punt returner also.  Childs struggled coming back from an injury last year and that no doubt hurt his draft stock, but he apparently has finally gotten his speed back and could be a real nice find in round 4, you can always use a big guy with speed.  The Vikes also got USC FB Rhett Ellison in the 4th round, he sounds pretty versatile, they can play him at FB, TE, H-back and on special teams.  I like what I've read about him, he seems like a very hard working, team first guy, those are the kind of guys you want to bring in.  Speaking of which, in the 5th round the Vikes picked Notre Dame CB Robert Blanton, he's a big, rangy CB who should fit into the Vikings cover-2 system pretty well.  The knock on him appears to be his lack of top notch speed, if that's a problem with him they could easily find a spot for him at Safety.   Mike Mayock, who covers Notre Dame for NBC, spoke highly of him.   Nice pick at that point.  In the 6th round, the Vikings took Georgia Kicker Blair Walsh to fight with Ryan Longwell for the kicking duties, it may be time for a change there.  In round 7 they added North Carolina St MLB Audie Cole and Cal DE Trevor Guyton, both have some talent and could stick around.  

The Vikings also made a couple shrewd moves to pick up some extra draft picks next year.  First, they packaged a 5th round pick this year for a 4th round pick next year, they then later dealt a 7th round pick this year for a 6th round pick next year.   Both good moves considering they already need to find room for the 10 players they drafted this year.

The Vikings also signed 15 undrafted free agents after the draft concluded. 

Overall, I think the Vikings did well in the draft.  Their greatest needs were WR, OL and the secondary and they picked up help in all 3 of those areas.  The common trend amongst the players they drafted also seemed to be hard working, team first guys, I don't see any knuckleheads amongst them, this will pay off in the long run.


Jarius Wright - WR - Arkansas - 4th Round (#118 overall)


Rhett Ellison - TE - USC - 4th Round (#128 overall)


Greg Childs - WR - Arkansas - 4th Round (#134 overall)




Robert Blanton - CB - Notre Dame - 5th Round (#139 overall)


Blair Walsh - K - Georgia - 6th Round (#175 overall)


Audie Cole - MLB - North Carolina St - 7th Round (#210 overall)


Trevor Guyton - DE - California - 78th Round (#219 overall)