The Vikings Remain Confused
Last
night was one of the least eventful drafts in recent history, so indulge me
while I be a homer and make it all about the Vikings to start with.
Entering
this offseason, it was very clear that Minnesota was at a fork in the road. The
defensive bulwark that they had built their team around was entering the
downward stretch of their careers, and the window they had aimed for seemed to
have been missed. The options they faced seemed straightforward: load up for
one more desperate run at a championship, or break the team down and start
again.
There
were some changes that were made this offseason that were inevitable. Xavier
Rhodes was never going to be worth what they were paying him. Trae Waynes is a
good player, but he got more than he deserved from Cincinnati. And while Mackenzie
Alexander’s contract seemed like something they could have matched, it sounds
like he had soured on the Vikings organization due to his use in the slot and
an injury he suffered in a meaningless Week 17 game where all the other defensive
starters were rested.
There
was no way the Vikings could keep the whole team together, but they had the
option to try their best to maintain continuity going into next season. Their
initial moves seemed to suggest they were doing just that. They signed Kirk
Cousins to an extension so he wouldn’t be playing on the last year of his deal,
and they also re-upped GM Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer. There was
talk that they were trying to work on a deal with Dalvin Cook as he enters the
final year of his rookie contract. It very much felt like they were planning on
being the exact same team in 2020 that they were in 2019.
And
then there were the other moves. They released Everson Griffen and Linval
Joseph, expensive veterans on the defensive line who still had some juice in
them. They cut Josh Kline, a quality starting guard who wasn’t earning that
much. And then, of course, they traded away Stefon Diggs, their best receiver
in the prime of his career for a first round pick.
The
Vikings reached a fork in the road, and it seemed that they tried to go both
ways at once. They stretched out the core of what their current roster setup
is, and then they made moves that inarguably worsened their team. And so on
draft night they entered with two first round picks and no clear identity on
their path forward.
The
way they used those picks echoes that confusion. A team that is going for one
last run should throw caution to the wind, should make sacrifices for the future
for the benefit of now. They should take a risk and leap up in the draft to
grab a player they feel is a sure immediate impact contributor, a player that
can contribute right away to a championship team. The Vikings reportedly did
try to trade up at several points, but they weren’t willing to part with what
was being asked. In fact they actually traded down, adding later picks that
could hopefully turn into contributors a couple years down the line.
If
they weren’t willing to mortgage their future for next year, then the clear
choice was to go the other way. Continue the teardown, try to build from
scratch, and take some risks that could pan out three or four years down the
road. The beginning of a rebuild is the perfect time to gamble on high upside
players. If they need development, you aren’t wasting time that would otherwise
be used competitively. And if they don’t pan out, you have time to adjust your
strategy before you actually need those roles filled.
The
Vikings actually did a good job of this in 2013. They had three first round
picks that year, and the first—Sharrif Floyd—was a highly touted prospect who
fell right into their lap, so that doesn’t really apply here. The other two
were the sort of players I’m talking about: Xavier Rhodes and Cordarrelle Patterson.
Obviously they went one-for-two, getting a star cornerback in Rhodes and a bust
in Patterson. But the failure of Patterson occurred early enough that they were
able to take a few more swings at wide receiver, and one of those swings paid
off with a fifth round pick in Diggs.
So
now we get to the two players the Vikings did select: Justin Jefferson and Jeff
Gladney. I think both are good players, and I think both will be starters for
the team for a while. But both also feel a bit low-upside. They’re the sort of
players who would make you feel very good if they were your number two options
at a position, and uncomfortable if they were forced to be your number ones.
For
Jefferson the issue is his lack of explosiveness on the field, for Gladney it’s
his size that gives him difficulties against bigger, stronger receivers. They
make up for these issues by being advanced in skill and technique. They are the
sort of players who can slide into a starting lineup right away, filling out a
roster already built to compete.
But
the Vikings aren’t built to compete. They’re built to fall apart and then be
rebuilt from something new. And while Jefferson and Gladney may be some of the
best players at the position in 2020, I don’t think that will be the case in
2023. I think a few years down the line the Vikings will look back on this
draft and regret passing up on players like Denzel Mims and Jaylon Johnson.
Because Jefferson and Gladney won’t put them over the top in the near term, and
they aren’t a foundation to build on for the long term either.
Love in the Time of Coronavirus
Let’s
move on to the single most interesting selection of the night. After the top
three quarterbacks went off the board, every eye zeroed in on Jordan Love, the
talented but inconsistent quarterback out of Utah State. He was expected to go
somewhere in the 20s, and a bunch of different teams were rumored to be
interested in him. Both Miami and the Chargers were considered possibilities
before they used their earlier picks on quarterbacks. The Colts and Patriots
have long term holes under center, and even the Saints were thought to be a
possibility despite their constant attempts to throw the future to the wind and
chase after the dwindling years of Drew Brees’s career.
No
one saw Green Bay selecting him, particularly not leaping up four slots to do so. They have Aaron Rodgers, of course. And Rodgers has been both
quietly and openly badgering the team for years to spend more on support for
him. They haven’t spent a first round pick on an offensive player since 2011,
and they haven’t taken a wide receiver in the first round since 2002. It seemed
like selecting someone to be his eventual replacement would be a move designed
to piss off their most important player.
Of
course as soon as Love was selected people began pointing out that Rodgers is
the same age that Brett Favre was in 2005 when Green Bay used their first round
selection on Rodgers himself. They seamlessly transitioned from one Hall of Fame
quarterback to another before, and now they have a chance to do it again. The
upside for Love is absolutely that high, and sitting behind Rodgers could be
the perfect situation for him.
I’m
generally not a fan of sitting highly drafted rookie quarterbacks on the bench,
but this is the rare circumstance where it could work out. Rodgers is good
enough that there won’t be immediate calls for him to be replaced, and Love is
raw enough that he could be genuinely harmed by being pushed out there too
early. His biggest concern coming out was his high interception total his final
year in college, and no one in NFL history is better at avoiding interceptions
than Rodgers. Love has a lot of the very same skills that made Rodgers elite in
his prime—athleticism, creativity, arm strength, touch, aggression—and if they
can use the next few years to turn Love into a Rodgers mirror, they can
continue their unprecedented streak of quarterback excellence.
The
timeline is the concern though. Because there really is no path to getting Love
on the field anytime soon, barring an injury to Rodgers. It was less than two
years ago that Rodgers signed a four-year extension with the Packers, and that
contract is set to pay him around $30 million a year through 2023. In theory
they could cut him after the 2021 season, but that would still cost them $17
million against their cap in 2022. The most likely outcome I see is that he
stays for another three seasons before ceding the reins to Love in 2023.
That’s
where things get messy. The current structure of contracts for first round
rookies is four years plus a fifth-year option, with the decision on the option
being made prior to the fourth year. That means that the Packers will likely
have to decide whether to pick up the option on Love before he’s seen anything
more than spot duty. The option is guaranteed for injury only, so if he’s
completely inept in his first year of a starter they can probably get rid of
him. But in all likelihood we’re talking about someone who will enter his
second year as a starter with a one year contract that pays him $30-40 million.
Compare
this to when Rodgers was selected, and he signed a contract that locked him up
for five years at a max value of around $24 million. This meant that when he
first came in as a starter he still had two years under contract for relatively
little money, and this gave Green Bay the leverage to get him to sign a very
friendly six-year $65 million extension. They used this friendliness to keep the core of their
veteran roster intact, allowing them to go on their Super Bowl run in 2010.
Quarterback
salaries have exploded over the past decade, and one of the advantages of the
rookie wage scale is that it allows a team to build around a super cheap
quarterback for his early years. The Packers are basically punting those years
in the hope that they can develop a raw quarterback.
And
to make one things perfectly clear: Love is not what Rodgers was in 2005.
Rodgers was seen as the likely first overall pick for most of the draft
process, and after the 49ers elected to go with Alex Smith instead, he slid
past a lot of teams that really didn’t need a quarterback. He fell into Green
Bay’s lap, and they made a decision to take advantage of a good value. That isn’t
the case here. Love went about where he was expected to, and Green
Bay paid multiple picks to move up to select him. He’s a lot farther from being
ready than Rodgers was when he entered the league, and there is a lot more risk
that he pans out to absolutely nothing and the Packers just threw away a pick
at the tail end of their Hall of Fame quarterback’s career.
Additional Prospects
I
try to study every first round prospect prior to the draft, but there are
always some who slip in there unexpected. This year there were four such
players, three of whom I actually did watch some tape of prior to the draft,
even if I didn’t fully write them up. So I went back today and refreshed myself
on their games to give you the full breakdowns you rightfully deserve.
18) Miami Dolphins – Austin Jackson, OT, USC
I
get why Miami felt like they needed to shore up their offensive line to help
out rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. I’m just not sure why they decided to
make this tackle their selection. On paper I supposed Jackson looks like an
elite talent. He’s long, he’s thick, and he’s athletic. He moves very well
laterally on the field, able to get in position to make surprising reach blocks
and to get excellent depth on his drops when facing a wide defensive end. I’m
sure he excelled in all the drills they put him through at the Combine in
addition to the athletic testing.
Jackson would be a great offensive line prospect, except that he is bad at blocking. Every now and
then he’ll show up with a good play in the running game, where he’s able to
seal off a defender and sustain his block by latching on with strong hands. But
just as often he gets outleveraged by an inside defender who is able to plow
through his shoulder to make a play in the backfield. He can move well getting
to the second level, but it’s pretty easy for defenders to go around him to get
to the ball carrier.
He’s
shaky in the running game, and he’s downright bad as a pass blocker. The best
case scenario for him is when he just stands perfectly still and catches the
pass rusher in his chest. This limits his range and leaves him vulnerable to a
bull rush, but he’s at least decent at anchoring when someone strikes him
square. And it’s a far better outcome than when he tries to punch. He rarely
strikes his target, and when he does it doesn’t seem to do much of anything,
except knock him off balance and leave an easy path to the quarterback.
I
know I discussed above how early in a rebuild is a perfect time to take a
chance on a highly upside player, and the Dolphins are right there. But Jackson
is so far away that I struggle to see him ever putting it together. And with
the lack of talent on the Dolphins roster, they’ll have pretty much no choice
but to put him out there in front of Tagovailoa, which is just asking for a
disaster.
27) Seattle Seahawks – Jordyn Brooks, LB, Texas Tech
Brooks
was the only one of these players who I hadn’t watched at all prior to the
draft. In fact I had barely heard his name. But that seems to be a trend with
Seattle, and going forward I might just not bother breaking down whoever they
end up drafting. But for now, here are my thoughts on Brooks after watching two
games of his today.
Most
people had Brooks pegged in the third round, and there’s a good reason for
this. The most important thing a linebacker can do in the modern NFL is cover,
and across the games I watched I’m not sure I saw five plays where Brooks even
attempted to cover. He played mostly as a spy, or as a delayed blitzer who
floats around the line and then fires downhill when he sees a lane. It’s a
weird role, and one that will probably not translate to the NFL.
I’ll
say this about Brooks, he is certainly explosive. When he plants his foot in
the ground and shoots downhill, he moves faster than anyone else on the field
to the point he’s headed to. Strangely though he doesn’t seem to cover as much
space working laterally, and he can be outflanked towards the sideline. And
even when he does fire downhill, it rarely seems to work out. He’s easily
deflected by any sort of contact, and he takes very poor angles towards the
ball. This means that multiple times each game he comes soaring past well out
of reach as the ball carrier runs past him.
I
guess there’s some potential here, but the sort of potential I would feel more
suited to the third round. And even if Seattle had grabbed him there I would
have been a little confused. They have arguably the best duo of linebackers in
the league in Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright, and while both are getting up there
they are still the best players on a defense that is otherwise scattered with
holes. What good does grabbing a two-down run-stopping linebacker do you when
you can’t cover or rush the passer? I don’t know what Seattle is doing, but I
guess that’s hardly a new feeling.
29) Tennessee Titans – Isaiah Wilson, OT, Georgia
Wilson
isn’t Jackson, and he’s a good fit for Tennessee’s style of grinding the ball
on the ground with Derrick Henry. That’s most of the nice things I can say
about this pick. There were definitely better tackles available, and while Wilson
impresses in the size and explosiveness numbers, on the field he looks awkward
and slow-moving. He’s close in size to Jets selection Mekhi Becton but nowhere
near as athletic, and while I think he can probably be molded into a solid
right tackle I think he’s ultimately a project with a low ceiling.
Get
behind Wilson in the running game, and things can go very well for you. He isn’t
consistent, but when he’s on he swallows opposing defensive linemen and buries
them into the ground. He’s thick and he’s massive, and while he doesn’t use his
hands much he seems to envelop defenders with his bulk alone. This same width comes in handy in pass protection
when he is able to get into position and take the rusher into his chest.
And
yet, strangely, there are a few times each game where he gets absolutely
demolished by the defender in front of him. It doesn’t really make sense to see
a 350 pound man be pushed backwards like he has wheels on his shoes, but it
happens often enough that it can’t be dismissed as moments of bad footing. And
once he gets moving, he has no ability to change directions. His initial drop
is good, but he can’t reverse downhill to close off inside rushing lanes. He
gets his shoulders turned too easily, opening up easy lanes to the quarterback.
The Titans are going to have to give him a lot of help if they want him to
replace Jack Conklin, because right now he can’t be counted on to hold up in
pass protection.
30) Miami Dolphins – Noah Igbinoghene, CB, Auburn
I
wasn’t thrilled with this pick at first, but it’s slowly begun to grow on me.
It certainly seemed strange for Miami to go for a cornerback after handing out
the two largest cornerback contracts in NFL history over the past year. Byron
Jones and Xavien Howard are both locked up for eight figures a season for the
next five years, and though Howard’s contract is flexible enough they could let
him go after 2021 without much cost, that still leaves them with seemingly
little need for another cornerback.
But
of course, you don’t just need two cornerbacks these days. The base defense for
most NFL teams is a nickel lineup, and while most teams are willing to grab a
cheaper option to play the slot, Miami seems to be going all in on building a
coverage-first defense, much as New England has done over the past few years.
Jones is versatile enough to play a kind of cornerback/safety hybrid as he did
at times in Dallas, but for the money they’re paying him I expect they’ll use
him primarily on the outside matched up with one of the opponent’s top
receivers. Which means Igbinoghene will likely be the one playing in the slot.
As
I watched tape on Igbinoghene, I started to think that the slot is actually a
pretty great place for him. He played there some in college, though it will
likely be a little rough for him to transition full time to that position in
the NFL. But it suits many of his strengths while covering a lot of his
weaknesses.
The
biggest flaw I saw when watching Igbinoghene was on vertical routes. He does a
good job on the release of the ball squeezing receivers to the sideline, but
once he gets his hips turned and starts running he runs into some issues. He ran a 4.48 forty but looks slower on the field, and he
can be beaten both over the top and on long developing crossing routes. He
panics some when the ball is in the air as well and will get grabby once the
receiver is past him.
Moving
him to the slot will leave fewer vertical routes to challenge him, and it will
make it easier to keep safety help behind him. This will make life easier as he
comes up to play tight to the line, where he is more comfortable. He has good
lateral quickness, and he is excellent playing slant routes, with long arms and
an explosive burst that allows him to undercut the route and make a play on the
ball. He’s always in balance, and his recovery ability is strong. I’m a little
concerned that playing him in the slot will make it harder for him to use his
physicality to stack up receivers, one of the strengths of his game, but there
are still ways to utilize that even if the opposing receiver isn’t right across
from him on the line. I think he’ll make an excellent slot cornerback after a
year or two of growth, giving Miami the foundations of a true shutdown secondary.
Best Players Remaining
Round
two kicks off later tonight. There are a bunch of really talented players left
on the board, and the teams picking early in the night will likely get several
very good starters out of this pack.
Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor
I
mentioned Mims above, but I’m going to double up on him here. He’s the best
player left available heading into the second night of the draft, and I’m
guessing that several of the teams that selected receivers ahead of him are
going to regret this in the long run. Simply put, he has everything you want from a
receiver, just lacking consistency. He has size and leaping ability to pluck
jump balls out of the air. He has speed to break defenses over the top. He didn’t
run a wide array of routes in college, but he impressed in drills at the Senior Bowl. He’s raw, but he has the highest ceiling of any receiver in this
class, and I think there’s a good chance he reaches that ceiling in a couple of
years.
Josh Jones, OT, Houston
I
don’t really understand this one. Jones was viewed a notch below the top four
tackles because of the lower level of competition he played at, and no one was
shocked when those four went ahead of him. It’s a bit perplexing why teams
would take Jackson and Wilson ahead of him. Sure they have tremendous athletic
upside, but Jones is a very good athlete himself, and he actually knows how to
block people as well.
Yetur Gross-Matos, EDGE, Penn State
Only
two pure pass rushers went off the board in round one. In fact, only four
defensive linemen total were selected. This wasn’t a particularly great year
for those positions at the top end, but there are starters to be found on day
two. And topping those is Gross-Matos. He doesn’t have the pure burst up the
field to be an elite pass rusher, but his strength and quickness on the inside
give him some potential to work with there, as well as making him a terror in
the running game.
Zack Baun, EDGE, Wisconsin and Josh Uche, EDGE, Michigan
I’ll
lump these two together because they’re very similar players and are still
available for similar reasons. The two pass rushers who went in the first
round are both built to come screaming off the edge, play in and play out with
very versatile pass rush arrays. Baun and Uche are a bit different. They aren’t
as explosive off the ball, and their smaller size means they may not be able to
hold up on the edge on every play. But they make up for this with the
versatility to back off the ball and play a more traditional linebacker role.
Of the two Baun is the more polished player right now, while Uche has the
higher upside thanks to breathtaking closing speed. Used properly, they can
develop into unique and lethal defenders.
Antoine Winfield Jr, S, Minnesota
Winfield
is small, and he has a rough history with injuries, so it isn’t a surprise to
see him slide out of the first round. But he plays much bigger than his size,
both in his ability to come up and lay hits in the running game and his ability
to go up and get the ball when it’s in the air. He’s the best safety in the
class (depending on what position you classify Isaiah Simmons as), and I don’t
think it will take long for someone in the second round to take a chance on
him.
Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson
It’s
no surprise that Higgins fell. The NFL loves speed at receiver, and there were
concerns about Higgins there that were unfortunately not allayed, due to the
cancellation of his Pro Day and the lack of a forty time. He’s not as dominant
at the catch point as someone like DeAndre Hopkins, but he’s good enough to
make a few plays when he is otherwise covered. And what makes him truly
valuable in my eyes is his big frame and toughness going over the middle of the
field, an area that NFL offenses do not exploit nearly enough.
Jaylon Johnson, CB, Utah
I
didn’t prepare a full scouting report for Johnson, but I watched a couple games
of his in expectation that he might go in the first round, and I liked what I
saw. He is merely okay as an athlete, but he makes up for it in size and
aggression. He’s a pure boundary cornerback with the strength to disrupt
receivers in press coverage and the ball skills to contest deep throws down the
sideline. I think he’ll be a very good starter right away, and he has the
potential to round out into a reliable number one cornerback.
JK Dobbins, RB, Ohio State
The
final pick of the first round was also the first running back selected, and I
expect we’ll see the run continue tonight. For most teams my recommendation
when choosing a running back is to just go for whoever fits your scheme the
best, but Dobbins may be the exception to that. He’ll work in just about
any scheme, and while I don’t think he has the upside to be a true gamebreaker
on offense, he’s the sort of runner who can round out a well developed offense
into something truly dangerous.
Awards
And
now, time to hand out some hardware.
BIGGEST REACH – Los Angeles Chargers – Justin Herbert, QB,
Oregon
I
gave enough criticism to the Jackson and Brooks selections above, and even if I hadn't
this one is still an easy winner. I don’t really see any scenario in which Herbert
lives up to a top ten selection. I see a number of scenarios in which he busts
entirely, a few where he becomes a below average starter, and a very small
chance he becomes the definition of quarterback mediocrity. The Chargers missed
out on the top two quarterbacks, and they should have just accepted that and chosen
to roll with Tyrod Taylor for a year.
BIGGEST STEAL – Dallas Cowboys – CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma
I
don’t think anyone expected Lamb to be there for the Cowboys. They’ve stated
that they clearly didn’t. But pairing him with Amari Cooper in the passing game—not
to mention Ezekiel Elliott on the ground—and the Cowboys have the makings of
the best offense in the NFL.
BEST FIT – San Francisco 49ers – Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona
State
I
discussed this briefly last night, but I’ll repeat it here. Aiyuk is a
lightning fast receiver who is dangerous with the ball in his hands, and the
only concern with him is that he has a habit of getting outmuscled by physical
defenders. So what do you do with a receiver like this? You scheme up ways to
give him space to work in. And who is the best in the league at designing plays
to warp defenses and create space? Kyle Shanahan.
WORST FIT – Henry Ruggs, WR, Las Vegas Raiders
This
is based on the pairing of Ruggs—an elite deep threat—with Derek Carr—a
quarterback who is reluctant to throw the ball more than ten yards down the
field. Of course, if Carr is not in the plans for the Raiders after this
season, this becomes a different story.
OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati
Bengals
It
will be interesting given the abbreviated offseason how teams handle their
rookie quarterbacks. But in 2011 the Bengals had no problem starting Andy
Dalton coming off of a lockout, and while the head coach has changed since
then, Mike Brown is still the guy in charge of everything. I wouldn’t be
surprised to see Burrow under center right away, and even if he isn’t, he’ll be
there by week three or four. And he isn’t going to a bad situation. With a
healthy AJ Green and Tyler Boyd they have a decent pair of receivers. The offensive
line is more of a question, but if they can get last year’s first round pick
Jonah Williams healthy and contributing they can make a big leap there too.
DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Chase Young, EDGE, Washington
Redskins
I
know, I know, I’m just making the obvious choices. But Young’s talent is so
much above any other defender in this class that it’s hard not to go with him.
No one else in the first round is going to challenge him for the rookie lead in
sacks. A couple of the cornerbacks could put up big interception numbers, but
Young is as close to a sure thing as it gets, and like his former teammate Nick
Bosa a year ago he is being dropped into a defense already loaded with talent
along the front that will make it difficult for offenses to key on him.
PLAYER I AM MOST LIKELY TO BE WRONG ABOUT – Patrick Queen, LB,
Baltimore Ravens
There
are two main candidates for this. The first is Jerry Jeudy. I didn’t like
Jeudy as a prospect, not seeing the polish that so many other people raved about, but it’s
very possible that it’s there and I just don’t have the understanding of route
running subtleties to grasp it. With Courtland Sutton on the opposite side and
with Drew Lock showing flashes of promise a year ago, it’s possible that this
Broncos offense could break out in the next year or two.
I
ended up going with Queen mostly because I trust Baltimore’s player development
a lot more than Denver’s. I was very low on Queen, seeing him as a third round
prospect, but I can’t deny that Baltimore is an excellent destination for him.
He has the athleticism to make plays all over the field, and the defensive line
that Baltimore built this offseason should help shield him from blockers coming
downfield. I’m split with popular opinion on
whether or not he’s good in pass defense, and even if I’m right there early on
I will freely admit that he has the skills to become an elite pass defender,
and Baltimore is probably the best place for him to develop these skills.