NFL Draft 2012: Reviewing the Minnesota Vikings' Draft Strategy

Unlike the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings' draft will be based on more of what they need than what they don't need.

That isn't to say this strategy can't be effective.

Here are the last five drafts (according to Wikipedia) where the Vikings had first-round picks (I replaced 2008 and 2010, since they had none and I wanted five seasons' worth).

2004	20	"Kenechi Udeze"	DE	USC
2005	7	Troy Williamson	WR	South Carolina
	18	Erasmus James	DE	Wisconsin
2006	17	Chad Greenway	LB	Iowa
2007	7	Adrian Peterson	RB	Oklahoma
2008	—	No Pick	—	—
2009	22	Percy Harvin	WR	Florida
2010	—	No Pick	—	—
2011	12	Christian Ponder	QB	Florida State

Of the seven first-round picks listed, three have been very good picks, while Ponder's career is still up for debate. I'd say that the pick for Ponder, while I liked him, was early, but the better quarterbacks were going to be gone by Round 2 anyway.

Interestingly, Rick Spielman became the Vikings VP of Player Personnel in 2006, which starts a nice run of solid to spectacular picks. He was named General Manager this year, and the whole draft is in his hands—he has final say. We don't know, really, how much say he had in the previous years, but we know he had enough to become GM.

While the Packers are rough to mock draft because they play so close to the vest and play the value game so well, the Vikes are much more need driven. They needed another wide receiver, so they took Harvin. They needed a running back—hello, Adrian Peterson. They needed a quarterback, so they took Christian Ponder.

They don't chase players, but they have also spent more than a few drafts of late with high picks. You don't have to chase picks when you have value all over the place in the upper end of the draft.

Of course, there's no guarantee that you'll make the right pick. But Spielman and the team have done a good job of making smart decisions (just ask the New York Jets and Vernon Gholston.)

The Vikings seem to pick the best possible player who fills a need. They don't always go with the top need, but frequently fill one of the biggest.

Where the Vikings seem to need the most help is later in the draft where most teams build their championships. Sure, you can win with a good batch of first-rounders and free agents. However, the perennial contenders build a solid top-to-bottom team consisting of depth as well as stars.

The Vikings have some real studs (and potential studs) but little real depth in some key positions (such as wide receiver.) They'll have to do better in the mid- to late-rounds if they want to really improve.

There is a saying that more picks are good—the more ammo, the more chances to hit something. Of course, you can have an ammo crate and it won't matter if you can't hit the broad side of a barn.

The Vikings have to start proving they can hit on more than just the early picks.