Purple People Eaters, Part Deaux
Time for a little sports blogging, because it's hardly spring and already I can't wait for fall.
The NFL draft is coming up this weekend. And here in Minnesota we're not too worried about it, because we're already pretty happy with the way the first and third rounds of the draft went for us. It went like this...
Last year we got Adrian Peterson - the BEST running back in the league - in the draft. This year we got the only missing piece in a pretty good defense - a dominating sack-machine at defensive end.
Jared Allen will join my spiritual cousins (hey, we share a surname) Pat and Kevin Williams on a defensive line already the league's best against the run. With the development of Brian Robison, and the occasionally healthy Erasmus James at the other end this should be the very best defensive line in the NFL next season.
Now all we need is for Brad Childress to prove he knows what he's doing and develop Tavaris Jackson into an NFL caliber quarterback and we're in business.
Um... drafting a quarterback in the second round this weekend might not be a bad plan either. Just, you know... as a backup plan. In case Brooks Bollinger gets hurt or something. Not that we're doubting the Tavaris part of the plan or anything.
UPDATE:
Holy crap, Jared Allen has already won over Patrick Reusse! Reusse doesn't even like football. He sees the entire sport as an annoying diversion between the end of baseball and start of arthritis, and makes it apparent in most every column he's forced to write about it. And yet he too seems enthused about an offense with Adrian Peterson and a defense with Jared Allen. Let the Super Bowl planning commence.
The NFL draft is coming up this weekend. And here in Minnesota we're not too worried about it, because we're already pretty happy with the way the first and third rounds of the draft went for us. It went like this...
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Four years ago this week, Jared Allen was an unknown defensive lineman at Division I-AA Idaho State projected to be little more than a long snapper in the NFL.
On Wednesday, the former fourth-round draft pick became the richest defensive player in the league, and is viewed as one of the missing pieces that could propel the Minnesota Vikings into the NFC's elite.
Allen, the All-Pro defensive end who led the league in sacks last season with 15 1/2, was traded from Kansas City to Minnesota in a blockbuster deal, making the Chiefs one of the major players in this weekend's NFL draft and the Vikings a serious contender in the NFC.
Last year we got Adrian Peterson - the BEST running back in the league - in the draft. This year we got the only missing piece in a pretty good defense - a dominating sack-machine at defensive end.
Jared Allen will join my spiritual cousins (hey, we share a surname) Pat and Kevin Williams on a defensive line already the league's best against the run. With the development of Brian Robison, and the occasionally healthy Erasmus James at the other end this should be the very best defensive line in the NFL next season.
Now all we need is for Brad Childress to prove he knows what he's doing and develop Tavaris Jackson into an NFL caliber quarterback and we're in business.
Um... drafting a quarterback in the second round this weekend might not be a bad plan either. Just, you know... as a backup plan. In case Brooks Bollinger gets hurt or something. Not that we're doubting the Tavaris part of the plan or anything.
UPDATE:
Holy crap, Jared Allen has already won over Patrick Reusse! Reusse doesn't even like football. He sees the entire sport as an annoying diversion between the end of baseball and start of arthritis, and makes it apparent in most every column he's forced to write about it. And yet he too seems enthused about an offense with Adrian Peterson and a defense with Jared Allen. Let the Super Bowl planning commence.
Posted by Doug Williams on
Thursday April 24, 2008 at 12:46pm
I kind of liked the Booty call (okay, a tad more dirty than I intended), given he excelled in a system designed to minimize the QB's role with a wealth of talent at other positions.
For a 5th round pick, we might have found someone who isn't a horrific backup quarterback. And given Jackson's erratic play and deer-in-the-headlights decision-making skills, Booty might be required to fill in faster than anyone expected.
I'm still worried about our depth at receiver and also wish we'd picked up another offensive tackle. Other than that this looked like a nice draft. Considering the number one win of this draft was the trade of the picks for Jared Allen, it doesn't look bad at all to me.