To be fair though, there are far more late round draft busts than first round draft busts. Brady and Purdy are exceptions. There will always be exceptions when trying to evaluate talent. There's also no guarantee the DT or Edge (or any other position) will be a pro bowl player. In 2015 the Vikings selected Trae Waynes #11 overall, a CB from Michigan State. That's probably an exception! Point being, nobody knows how a player will pan out when you draft them
But Sam Darnold hasn’t been a pro bowl player, and he was third overall. He will be playing for his fourth team in 7 years. Seems like he was a “bust”
So you want to keep finding a different QB each year, QB’s that nobody else wants.
As a Fr and Soph he threw 45 TDs to players other than Mike Evans. Obviously Evans was a huge part of his success, but all these guys have great players around them that are usually dominant vs. the competition most week. Hell, the question about Jefferson coming into the draft was whether or not he could adjust to being the man on the outside, when he had the luxury of being the #2 to Chase in college and do a lot of damage from the slot. The greatest WR on the planet was the number two at LSU.
Obviously, if the Vikings can get the QB they want at 11, there's no need to trade up. But I don't think that will be the case. And Penix's injury history is a huge concern to teams. Like I said, I like Penix. But if you're not durable in college, I don't know how much more durable you will be in the NFL where the DL/LB's are much bigger. faster, stronger. If you sit at 11 and Penix is on the board, the Vikings will be taking as big of a risk, if not more, than trading up.
Going by that draft pick trade matrix thingy they actually got decent value for those two trades. The problem is that thing takes nothing else into consideration and is so myopic it’s basically worthless. I hated both moves when they happened and still did after I saw the numbers from the matrix.
At the end of the day, you still have to actually pick NFL caliber players with the picks you have or get. MIN has struggled tremendously with that, apart from a few WRs, since... 2015 or so? Picks are just ordered numbers. The value is in the players.
Did you watch the Michigan game? He took a beating and was no where near effective
True. But he doesn't absorb hits very well. Watch Purdy. He will turn his body around to protect himself when he knows a big hit is coming. Penix can stand in the pocket well, but he exposes himself a lot.
It all depends on what you value your GM doing. If you wanted to win a SB by now and that's your standard for roster building, then no, Kwesi isn't for you. If you value future planning and steady repairs of MIN's cap situation, then Kwesi is absolutely your guy. Our books haven't looked this good in years in terms of long term flexibility.
In my mind, he's building to really make a run on the rookie QB contract. The roster building will come through FA moreso than the draft it appears, but the rookie QB contract will really help with that and then rely on KOC and Bflo to coach them into a super bowl window. The team was just never getting there with Kirk, might as well try something different
And then he traded down again, allowing another division rival to move up for Christian Watson. His first 3 draft picks (Cine, the Clemson CB, Ingram) are probably all busts.
