Smooth and by the Numbers: Reviewing the Minnesota Vikings' 2012 NFL Draft

Like in the case of Chicago Bears GM Phil Emery, we didn't really know what we had in Vikings GM Rick Spielman.

We have an inkling now, don't we?

Spielman started off the draft by managing to trade out of the three spot—which had been in the works for some time—and yet still get his guy, Matt Kalil.

If you look at the noise in the weeks prior to the draft, you could see Spielman working. Something we didn't really talk about predraft was his tireless efforts to move that pick for value, to keep teams guessing as to what the Vikings were going to do and keep multiple teams sure others were also after that pick for numerous reasons.

That we never really bought (well most of us) that Justin Blackmon was an option for them at three is besides the point—someone was convinced their guy was going to go.

Oddly enough, it was Cleveland worried about Trent Richardson.

As an interesting side note, I was at Radio City for the draft as a credentialed member of the media and the chatter that whole day before things got started was that teams were antsy.

So given that, it really didn't take much of a pebble to get things rolling into what seemed at times like full blown panic.

While the rookie wage scale was a large factor in the trading this year, I'd bet Kalil money that some of it was touched off by the very small move made by the Browns.That a team was worried about moving one spot made other teams with larger jumps more worried.

I digress. Whatever the reason, the Vikings started it and made the most of it throughout the draft.

I still don't like the trade back into the first for Harrison Smith, but given the trading, would it surprise us to learn this summer that some team was talking to Denver, St. Louis and New York, about moving up for him?

While I don't love the trade, I like that the Vikings went for their guy. I like that Spielman was unafraid of making some bold moves when need be.

This draft which showed that the Vikings were perfectly willing to wait for value to drop (Audie Cole and Trevor Guyton in the seventh come to mind) but equally willing to move when they wanted a player.

Like the Packers, the Vikings made ample use of the flexibility the compensatory picks allowed them. You can't trade those picks but knowing you have them means you can move other picks in order to go up and get a player.

It's good leverage to have and the Vikings used them wisely to shore up various pieces of their team.

I also was impressed with how many different needs the Vikings addressed by taking the Arkansas Twosome of Greg Childs and Jarius Wright.

Both fill different needs (a move the chains/slot guy in Wright, a big, field-stretching target in Childs) at the same position. They drafted a fullback in the hopes he can assist in blocking, several members of a new secondary, two deep round defensive players and a franchise left tackle.

Even a kicker.

This was a draft which took time to address many needs. Sure, some will be more effectively filled than others, but they made the attempt. They had a plan and they took their time to execute.

Maybe the trade up for Smith was a panic move, but I'd rather think it wasn't. Maybe I wouldn't have done it, but clearly they had their board and knew what he was worth it to them.

It wasn't terribly expensive so, really not a big deal, right? They had their plan and it went smoothly and by the numbers—just the way they wanted it to.

If Spielman runs the team like this, Zygi Wilf and Vikings fans everywhere will soon be very happy.