2012 Who Ya Gonna Draft? – Chris Polk

PJD is on vacation, STILL. During this time, we’ve decided we’ll take a quick look at potential Minnesota Vikings draft picks for the second or later rounds. With so many needs and so many draft picks to get this team back to a place where we can at least pretend they are respectable, we’ll have plenty of ground to cover. Let us know what you think of each prospect in the comments, and whether or not they’d be a good fit or impact player, and of course if you can think of a funny nickname for them.

Today, we look at Washington running back Chris Polk, which sounds like the name of an offensive guard. Doesn’t it?

From ESPN’s draft analysis, which is about as insightful as a kindergartner’s crayon pictures:

Chris Polk had been a bright spot on the Washington team for a while now. Him and Jake Locker combined to make a pretty decent duo, but since Washington also didn’t have much in the way of receivers, they were left with Chris Polk doing all the dirty work. With that said, he’s ended up with some tread on his proverbial tires, but he also has tons of solid experience coming into the NFL. In fact, he’d be the ideal type of back-up to both Purple Jesus and Toby Fathead because of this. He can stay fresh with less reps, learn the game behind (one of) the game’s best (I’m not talking Toby, FYI …) and you don’t have to worry about him screwing anything up when he comes into the game. He’s also really good out of the backfield, and is generally pretty well rounded as a talent. A Jack-of-All-Trades, if you will, and could maybe develop into a nice kind of Mewelde Moore type of player. AND! If we have to let Toby walk in two years, I’d be VERY pleased with Polk stepping up as the top back-up behind Purple Jesus at that time, maybe even prepping to take over the lead role in a handful of years after Purple Jesus’ inevitable, super depressing, decline. As he’s rated as the 94th player overall by ESPN, the Vikings could easily find a way to sneak in and draft him if needed. I doubt he’ll go that late (I personally think he’d go mid- to late-second round), but for the Vikings, this would again be somewhere in the 3rd round, and with the Vikings likely getting a couple of compensatory picks for losing Sidney Rice and Ray Edwards, we’d have the needed ammunition to move up, if it’s decided that a solid back-up would help the team.

With that said, I would still put running back so low on the list of team-needs that I’m pretty sure it’d be below “stadium,” “Voice of the Vikings,” and “General Manager,” probably in that order. But, hey, just in case.

What say you?