Post by Jayme96 on Mar 8, 2017 11:26:20 GMT -6
According to Spotrac, the Vikings have 31.98 million in cap space right now. That's an awful lot of wiggle room to get very aggressive in FA. So I will do the same thing as before, and sign 2 premier OTs in Riley Reiff and Ricky Wagner, and 1 reclamation project in Luke Joeckel (a former #2 overall pick at LT that has been relegated to RG). Reiff is more ideally suited to play RT or OG, but he's the best young player out there that could be a serviceable LT. Now my thinking here is you sign him to play LT for now, for around 8 mill per, and you can get by this year where you will NOT find someone to help in the draft. Next year, maybe you can draft a more pure LT type, maybe Mike McGlinchey, and you slide Reiff inside to G. If Boone fails to live up to his contract, you can cut him in '18 with no cap penalty at all. So basically you'd be trading Boone for Reiff. Works for me. I think Berger, Easton, Kerin and Sirles could be quality interior OL as well. So you go into the draft with absolutely zero needs on the OL. That is vital in this draft, especially at OT, since it is by far the weakest position group in the draft along with QB.
So if you signed Reiff, Wagner and Joeckel to the calculated market values on spotrac (which I am inflating by 25%, 25% and 10% because I personally think that is what will happen due to the poor draft class), you would get this:
Riley Reiff LT: 4 years, 21.4 mill (avg salary 5.355 mill) *1.25 = 4 years, 26.75 mill, 6.69 avg salary
Ricky Wagner RT: 4 years, 27.679 mill (avg salary 6.92 mill) *1.25 = 4 years, 34.6 mill, 8.65 avg salary
Luke Joeckel RG: 2 years, 3.76 mill (avg salary 1.88 mill) *1.10 = 2 years, 4.136 mill, 2.068 avg salary
I would also front load those contracts so this year, when there is a ton of free cap space you can absorb it and save room for future years when you have bigger contracts on the books for Rhodes and Thielen for example. Keep in mind that I am anticipating cutting Boone after this season unless he really improves. Boone is due to make 6.7 mill in '17, '18 and '19. NO guaranteed money.
QB: Sam Bradford, Taylor Heinicke, Teddy Bridgewater
RB: Jerrick McKinnon, C.J. Ham, Bishop Sankey
FB: Zach Line
WR: Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Laquon Treadwell, Jarius Wright, Moritz Boehringer
TE: Kyle Rudolph, Rhett Ellison, David Morgan
LT: Riley Reiff $, Rashod Hill
LG: Alex Boone, Zac Kerin
C: Joe Berger, Nick Easton
RG: Luke Joeckel $, Jeremiah Sirles, Willie Beavers
RT: Ricky Wagner $, Austin Shepherd, Reid Fragel
LDE: Brian Robison, Danielle Hunter
DT: Sharrif Floyd, Shamar Stephen, Tom Johnson
NT: Linval Joseph, Toby Johnson
RDE: Everson Griffen, Stephen Weatherly
SLB: Anthony Barr, Edmond Robinson
MLB: Eric Kendricks, Audie Cole, Kentrell Brothers
WLB: Emmanuel Lamur
LCB: Trae Waynes, Marcus Sherels, Jabari Price
SS: Andrew Sendejo, Jayron Kearse
FS: Harrison Smith, Antone Exum, Anthony Harris
RCB: Xavier Rhodes, Mackensie Alexander
K: Kai Forbath
P: Jeff Locke
LS: Kevin McDermott
KR: Marcus Sherels
PR: Marcus Sherels
Draft (again using CBS's rankings which updated yesterday....this is how I do this. I go through the list and put the guys I am considering by each pick and then narrow it down that way, looking ahead at alternatives available later in the draft):
2-16 (48). Curtis Samuel WR 41, Fabian Moreau CB/FS 43, Dan Feeney OG 46, Adam Shaheen TE 51, Chidobe Awuzie CB/FS 52, Cooper Kupp WR 58
3-15 (77). Zay Jones WR 75
3-22 (86). Chris Godwin WR 80, Kevin King CB 83, Pat Elflein C 89, Ahkello Witherspoon CB 93, Chad Hansen WR 98, Trey Hendrickson DE 99
4-15 (122). Alex Anzalone OLB 111, Carroll Phillips OLB 117, Samaje Perine RB 122,
4-22 (129). Davis Webb QB, Brian Allen CB 145
5-16 (156). James Conner RB 160, George Kittle TE 173, Ryan Switzer WR 177
6-15 (199). KD Cannon WR 198, Trent Taylor WR 210
7-14 (232). Tedric Thompson S 243, Seth Russell QB 286, Jimmie Gilbert 294, Montae Nicholson SS 295
So my actual draft:
2. Adam Shaheen, TE, Ashland - I initially was going to draft Awuzie, because I think he's just a stud and I love a great secondary, but in looking at the alternatives in the draft, I decided to go with Shaheen after watching both of his videos on Draftbreakdown. I really think he can turn into a MONSTER. He moves so incredibly well for a giant, which is what he is at 6'7" 278 lbs. He also looks like a 4.6 guy, not a 4.79 guy, so I'm interested to see if he'll run at his pro day and if he does how fast it will be. He's a very willing blocker, plays hard every snap until the whistle and his movement skills at his size are just crazy. 24 reps was #1 for TEs. 32.5" vert is great for his size. 10'1" broad jump is good too. 7.09 3-cone, at 6'7" 278? Ridiculous. He moves like he's 6'3" 238, not 6'7" 278.
3. Zay Jones, WR, East Carolina - He was a no brainer in 3. The only debate was if I could wait and take Godwin or Hansen later, but they weren't far behind him. He looked to be your ideal WR. Ideal size, measurables, smoothness, production. The complete package unless you want an elite vertical threat or a jumbo WR. 6'2" 201, 4.45, he checks all the boxes for your "normal" WR.
3. Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado - I missed out on Awuzie in 2, but got the 2nd Colorado CB here. 6'3" 198 with 4.45 speed. His explosion numbers are off the chart with a 40.5" vert and 10'7" broad, to go along with impressive 6.93 3-cone, 4.13 SS and 11.6 LS. Led the nation in passed defensed with 23 (only 1 INT). Very narrow shoulders, so even though he's 6'3", he's a CB only. The knock on him is very passive in tackling and run support, which is logical when you see his shoulders, but if he can be a long, lanky, fast, elite cover man, that's just fine by me at CB.
4. Alex Anzalone, LB, Florida - I think he could play all 3 positions. 2 shoulder injuries and a broken arm this year are what drop him. Hopefully the shoulders won't be recurring problems, but who knows? He is a guy I love to watch play. He plays under control, but with a lot of fire and passion and aggression, which the lack of is part of why I'm not sold on Barr that much.
4. Brian Allen, CB, Utah - Another huge DB. 6'3" 215 with 34" arms and 10" hands, he ran a 4.48 40 with a 34.5" vert, 9'9" broad and an impressive 6.64 3-cone. He is new to defense, as a converted WR, but as you can see, he certainly passes the eyeball test and then some.
He went from being projected to go undrafted prior to the combine, to a 4 now. Still worth a look here due to his ceiling.
5. James Conner, RB, Pitt - I debated Perine in 4, but decided to go with Conner in 4 instead to replace Asiata and split carries with McKinnon. Conner reportedly played at 250, but tested at 233 at the combined where he ran a decent 4.65 in the 40. He is a very hard runner and would easily replace Asiata as the battering ram type RB to compliment McKinnon.
6. KD Cannon, WR, Baylor - A pure vertical threat here. Ran a 4.42 40 at 5'11" 182 lbs. The writeups say he has drops, but he doesn't drop the ball when I watch him play.
With an improved OL, and a QB that can actually throw the ball deep, it is again worthwhile to have a WR like this on the roster. Knowing he would be available later in the draft is why I didn't double up on WR in 2-3 with 2 of Kupp, Jones, Godwin and Hansen.
7. Tedric Thompson, S, Colorado - Yep, Colorado's secondary was loaded this year. I mentioned Witherspoon led the nation in passes defensed at 23? Well this guy was tied with him, but he had 7 INTs to go along with 16 passes broken up. The knock on him (to me) is he has 4.60 speed at 6' 204, combined with not having the hitting of a SS. But the dude is a big time playmaker and would be a quality backup at the least, and personally I'd take him over Sendejo any day to operate next to Dirty Harry.
QB: Sam Bradford, Taylor Heinicke, Teddy Bridgewater, Seth Russell UDFA
RB: Jerrick McKinnon, James Conner 5, C.J. Ham, Bishop Sankey
FB: Zach Line
WR: Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Zay Jones 3, KD Cannon 6, Laquon Treadwell, Jarius Wright, Moritz Boehringer
TE: Kyle Rudolph, Adam Shaheen 2, Rhett Ellison, David Morgan
LT: Riley Reiff $, Rashod Hill
LG: Alex Boone, Zac Kerin
C: Joe Berger, Nick Easton
RG: Luke Joeckel $, Jeremiah Sirles, Willie Beavers
RT: Ricky Wagner $, Austin Shepherd, Reid Fragel
LDE: Brian Robison, Danielle Hunter
DT: Sharrif Floyd, Shamar Stephen, Tom Johnson
NT: Linval Joseph, Toby Johnson
RDE: Everson Griffen, Stephen Weatherly
SLB: Anthony Barr, Edmond Robinson
MLB: Eric Kendricks, Audie Cole, Kentrell Brothers
WLB: Alex Anzalone 4, Emmanuel Lamur, Jimmie Gilbert UDFA
LCB: Ahkello Witherspoon 3, Trae Waynes, Marcus Sherels, Jabari Price
SS: Tedric Thompson 7, Andrew Sendejo, Montae Nicholson UDFA, Jayron Kearse
FS: Harrison Smith, Antone Exum, Anthony Harris
RCB: Xavier Rhodes, Mackensie Alexander, Brian Allen 4
K: Kai Forbath
P: Jeff Locke
LS: Kevin McDermott
KR: Marcus Sherels
PR: Marcus Sherels
Potential moves in '18 (if they're available...they're probably top 15 picks at worst):
Sequon Barkley, RB, Penn State
Mike McGlinchey, LT, Notre Dame - cut Boone and move Reiff or Wagner in to OG
Sam Hubbard, DE/LB, Ohio State - probably long gone, but he's a stud
Add DTs & DEs
Potentially cut Rudy with Shaheen already in place to replace him. Cutting Rudy and Boone allows you to re-sign Rhodes & Thielen with ease.
So if you signed Reiff, Wagner and Joeckel to the calculated market values on spotrac (which I am inflating by 25%, 25% and 10% because I personally think that is what will happen due to the poor draft class), you would get this:
Riley Reiff LT: 4 years, 21.4 mill (avg salary 5.355 mill) *1.25 = 4 years, 26.75 mill, 6.69 avg salary
Ricky Wagner RT: 4 years, 27.679 mill (avg salary 6.92 mill) *1.25 = 4 years, 34.6 mill, 8.65 avg salary
Luke Joeckel RG: 2 years, 3.76 mill (avg salary 1.88 mill) *1.10 = 2 years, 4.136 mill, 2.068 avg salary
I would also front load those contracts so this year, when there is a ton of free cap space you can absorb it and save room for future years when you have bigger contracts on the books for Rhodes and Thielen for example. Keep in mind that I am anticipating cutting Boone after this season unless he really improves. Boone is due to make 6.7 mill in '17, '18 and '19. NO guaranteed money.
QB: Sam Bradford, Taylor Heinicke, Teddy Bridgewater
RB: Jerrick McKinnon, C.J. Ham, Bishop Sankey
FB: Zach Line
WR: Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Laquon Treadwell, Jarius Wright, Moritz Boehringer
TE: Kyle Rudolph, Rhett Ellison, David Morgan
LT: Riley Reiff $, Rashod Hill
LG: Alex Boone, Zac Kerin
C: Joe Berger, Nick Easton
RG: Luke Joeckel $, Jeremiah Sirles, Willie Beavers
RT: Ricky Wagner $, Austin Shepherd, Reid Fragel
LDE: Brian Robison, Danielle Hunter
DT: Sharrif Floyd, Shamar Stephen, Tom Johnson
NT: Linval Joseph, Toby Johnson
RDE: Everson Griffen, Stephen Weatherly
SLB: Anthony Barr, Edmond Robinson
MLB: Eric Kendricks, Audie Cole, Kentrell Brothers
WLB: Emmanuel Lamur
LCB: Trae Waynes, Marcus Sherels, Jabari Price
SS: Andrew Sendejo, Jayron Kearse
FS: Harrison Smith, Antone Exum, Anthony Harris
RCB: Xavier Rhodes, Mackensie Alexander
K: Kai Forbath
P: Jeff Locke
LS: Kevin McDermott
KR: Marcus Sherels
PR: Marcus Sherels
Draft (again using CBS's rankings which updated yesterday....this is how I do this. I go through the list and put the guys I am considering by each pick and then narrow it down that way, looking ahead at alternatives available later in the draft):
2-16 (48). Curtis Samuel WR 41, Fabian Moreau CB/FS 43, Dan Feeney OG 46, Adam Shaheen TE 51, Chidobe Awuzie CB/FS 52, Cooper Kupp WR 58
3-15 (77). Zay Jones WR 75
3-22 (86). Chris Godwin WR 80, Kevin King CB 83, Pat Elflein C 89, Ahkello Witherspoon CB 93, Chad Hansen WR 98, Trey Hendrickson DE 99
4-15 (122). Alex Anzalone OLB 111, Carroll Phillips OLB 117, Samaje Perine RB 122,
4-22 (129). Davis Webb QB, Brian Allen CB 145
5-16 (156). James Conner RB 160, George Kittle TE 173, Ryan Switzer WR 177
6-15 (199). KD Cannon WR 198, Trent Taylor WR 210
7-14 (232). Tedric Thompson S 243, Seth Russell QB 286, Jimmie Gilbert 294, Montae Nicholson SS 295
So my actual draft:
2. Adam Shaheen, TE, Ashland - I initially was going to draft Awuzie, because I think he's just a stud and I love a great secondary, but in looking at the alternatives in the draft, I decided to go with Shaheen after watching both of his videos on Draftbreakdown. I really think he can turn into a MONSTER. He moves so incredibly well for a giant, which is what he is at 6'7" 278 lbs. He also looks like a 4.6 guy, not a 4.79 guy, so I'm interested to see if he'll run at his pro day and if he does how fast it will be. He's a very willing blocker, plays hard every snap until the whistle and his movement skills at his size are just crazy. 24 reps was #1 for TEs. 32.5" vert is great for his size. 10'1" broad jump is good too. 7.09 3-cone, at 6'7" 278? Ridiculous. He moves like he's 6'3" 238, not 6'7" 278.
3. Zay Jones, WR, East Carolina - He was a no brainer in 3. The only debate was if I could wait and take Godwin or Hansen later, but they weren't far behind him. He looked to be your ideal WR. Ideal size, measurables, smoothness, production. The complete package unless you want an elite vertical threat or a jumbo WR. 6'2" 201, 4.45, he checks all the boxes for your "normal" WR.
3. Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado - I missed out on Awuzie in 2, but got the 2nd Colorado CB here. 6'3" 198 with 4.45 speed. His explosion numbers are off the chart with a 40.5" vert and 10'7" broad, to go along with impressive 6.93 3-cone, 4.13 SS and 11.6 LS. Led the nation in passed defensed with 23 (only 1 INT). Very narrow shoulders, so even though he's 6'3", he's a CB only. The knock on him is very passive in tackling and run support, which is logical when you see his shoulders, but if he can be a long, lanky, fast, elite cover man, that's just fine by me at CB.
4. Alex Anzalone, LB, Florida - I think he could play all 3 positions. 2 shoulder injuries and a broken arm this year are what drop him. Hopefully the shoulders won't be recurring problems, but who knows? He is a guy I love to watch play. He plays under control, but with a lot of fire and passion and aggression, which the lack of is part of why I'm not sold on Barr that much.
4. Brian Allen, CB, Utah - Another huge DB. 6'3" 215 with 34" arms and 10" hands, he ran a 4.48 40 with a 34.5" vert, 9'9" broad and an impressive 6.64 3-cone. He is new to defense, as a converted WR, but as you can see, he certainly passes the eyeball test and then some.
He went from being projected to go undrafted prior to the combine, to a 4 now. Still worth a look here due to his ceiling.
5. James Conner, RB, Pitt - I debated Perine in 4, but decided to go with Conner in 4 instead to replace Asiata and split carries with McKinnon. Conner reportedly played at 250, but tested at 233 at the combined where he ran a decent 4.65 in the 40. He is a very hard runner and would easily replace Asiata as the battering ram type RB to compliment McKinnon.
6. KD Cannon, WR, Baylor - A pure vertical threat here. Ran a 4.42 40 at 5'11" 182 lbs. The writeups say he has drops, but he doesn't drop the ball when I watch him play.
With an improved OL, and a QB that can actually throw the ball deep, it is again worthwhile to have a WR like this on the roster. Knowing he would be available later in the draft is why I didn't double up on WR in 2-3 with 2 of Kupp, Jones, Godwin and Hansen.
7. Tedric Thompson, S, Colorado - Yep, Colorado's secondary was loaded this year. I mentioned Witherspoon led the nation in passes defensed at 23? Well this guy was tied with him, but he had 7 INTs to go along with 16 passes broken up. The knock on him (to me) is he has 4.60 speed at 6' 204, combined with not having the hitting of a SS. But the dude is a big time playmaker and would be a quality backup at the least, and personally I'd take him over Sendejo any day to operate next to Dirty Harry.
QB: Sam Bradford, Taylor Heinicke, Teddy Bridgewater, Seth Russell UDFA
RB: Jerrick McKinnon, James Conner 5, C.J. Ham, Bishop Sankey
FB: Zach Line
WR: Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Zay Jones 3, KD Cannon 6, Laquon Treadwell, Jarius Wright, Moritz Boehringer
TE: Kyle Rudolph, Adam Shaheen 2, Rhett Ellison, David Morgan
LT: Riley Reiff $, Rashod Hill
LG: Alex Boone, Zac Kerin
C: Joe Berger, Nick Easton
RG: Luke Joeckel $, Jeremiah Sirles, Willie Beavers
RT: Ricky Wagner $, Austin Shepherd, Reid Fragel
LDE: Brian Robison, Danielle Hunter
DT: Sharrif Floyd, Shamar Stephen, Tom Johnson
NT: Linval Joseph, Toby Johnson
RDE: Everson Griffen, Stephen Weatherly
SLB: Anthony Barr, Edmond Robinson
MLB: Eric Kendricks, Audie Cole, Kentrell Brothers
WLB: Alex Anzalone 4, Emmanuel Lamur, Jimmie Gilbert UDFA
LCB: Ahkello Witherspoon 3, Trae Waynes, Marcus Sherels, Jabari Price
SS: Tedric Thompson 7, Andrew Sendejo, Montae Nicholson UDFA, Jayron Kearse
FS: Harrison Smith, Antone Exum, Anthony Harris
RCB: Xavier Rhodes, Mackensie Alexander, Brian Allen 4
K: Kai Forbath
P: Jeff Locke
LS: Kevin McDermott
KR: Marcus Sherels
PR: Marcus Sherels
Potential moves in '18 (if they're available...they're probably top 15 picks at worst):
Sequon Barkley, RB, Penn State
Mike McGlinchey, LT, Notre Dame - cut Boone and move Reiff or Wagner in to OG
Sam Hubbard, DE/LB, Ohio State - probably long gone, but he's a stud
Add DTs & DEs
Potentially cut Rudy with Shaheen already in place to replace him. Cutting Rudy and Boone allows you to re-sign Rhodes & Thielen with ease.
