A Tale of Two Teams

I have a pair of NFL teams that I follow, the number reduced from three after San Diego management screwed up their quarterback situation. The two teams I follow, the Colts and the Vikings, are a pair of teams in different stages, and doing things at different skill levels. This year, the Colts seemed to a bit better job making their draft selections.
In the first round, Indianapolis was looking to draft a top flight running back to help replace Edgerrin James, now a Cardinal. Clearly, Reggie Bush wouldn’t be available, and they weren’t going to sacrifice anything to move up that far, so they were waiting on Laurence Moroney, until he got selected by the Colts’ foil, the Patriots. Well, I’m sure they thought, at least Deangelo Williams was still available. Until he got drafted by the Panthers at 27. Instead of panicking, the Colts looked to the next best available halfback, who happened to be LSU’s Joseph Addai. They didn’t need a superstar at any other position, and they weren’t about to give up picks to move up later, so this choice made sense. Addai, who may not be as talented as the Colts would have hoped, will have a chance to improve, as there will be virtually no pressure on him in the Peyton Manning led offense. Also, he has Dominic Rhodes to step in and ease the workload when necessary.
The next to choices the Colts made were athletic defensive players, the type Tony Dungy and the Colts have proven to appreciate. Tim Jennings and Freddie Keiaho will be able to buoy an improved special teams unit and will bring some versatility to their future defensive schemes.. Late round picks are always a crapshoot, but they filled holes in the depth chart instead of taking gambles just for gambling’s sake. That is the sign of a contented team that knows what they need to do.
Then you have the Vikings, who clearly don’t. I almost started to respect the organization after their pick of talented, needed linebacker Chad Greenway and cornerback Cedric Griffin, but then, well, their draft choices stopped making sense. First, they drafted a completely unnecessary center in Ryan Cook. What, an all pro who isn’t taller than the QB isn’t enough for you Coach Childress? You need a mediocre-should-have-been-a-fifth-rounder center picked here when a decent quarterback in Brodie Croyle is still out there? Well, luckily for him, Croyle was still on the board when his third round pick came up.
And he went with South Alabama’s Tavaris Jackson. Even he didn’t expect that. With 4 picks in the first 3 rounds, the Vikings snared 2 bona fide projects when really, they need guys that can help now or at least, very soon. Jackson won’t be ready for a long time, and we plain don’t need Ryan Cook. The final pick that didn’t make sense was Ray Edwards, defensive end from my alma mater, Purdue. It isn’t so much that defensive end is a deep position in Minnesota (it is) but that he has some known character and motivational problems. Now, after last year, is that what we want? Of all the people from Purdue to select, I don’t believe Edwards was the right one.
So that’s my draft report. The Colts get a solid B, while the Vikings will receive a C – from me this year. – Ryan