Re-Grading the Minnesota Vikings' 2014 Draft
The 2014 draft class looks like a successful one for the Minnesota Vikings one year in. It featured both immediate impact and promise for the future.
One season is hardly enough to put final grades on a majority of these picks, but contextualizing the rookie performances after one season gives a first view into what each will eventually become for the Vikings. The early success of numerous picks should have the team giddy about the future.
Each pick will be re-graded using all the new information acquired during the 2014 season. Grades are determined by considering contributions, playing time, potential shown and consideration of expectations. For example, a seventh-round pick cannot be expected to start every game or even contribute heavily. On the other hand, first-round picks should make some type of impact right away.
Minnesota's 2014 rookie class features a little bit of everything. Let's get to it.
Round 1: Anthony Barr
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Expectations for Anthony Barr's rookie season were tempered by how raw a player he was and by the fact that he was undergoing a positional change. The top-10 pick flew out of the gates with a rip-roaring start instead.
Between Week 1 and Week 9, Barr earned a grade of 10.2, according to Pro Football Focus premium (subscription required). His grade over that span ranked No. 4 out of 37 qualifying 4-3 outside linebackers. Barr did everything from plugging holes like a seasoned linebacker to blowing up screen passes. He contributed as a rusher too, notching three sacks over the first nine weeks.
Barr became the key that unlocked the potential within Mike Zimmer's defense. His athleticism allowed Zimmer to be more versatile with fronts, coverage and blitzes. Barr set the table for everything the Vikings wanted to accomplish schematically.
A knee injury would unfortunately cut Barr's season and campaign for Defensive Rookie of the Year short. The rookie LB was absent for the final four games, and Minnesota's defense struggled more than it thrived without him.
Next season will hold even greater expectations for Barr. Cleaning up the missed tackles and becoming a more diligent coverage LB will be his toughest tasks. He already looks like the type of player the Vikings will build their defense around moving forward. If Barr sharpens up those areas of his game, his grade will reach its ceiling.
Grade: A-
Round 1: Teddy Bridgewater
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NFL teams routinely trade the kitchen sink to acquire promising young quarterbacks. In order to climb the draft board and pluck their own QB, the Vikings only needed to sacrifice a fourth-round pick to Seattle, as described by Pro Football Talk.
Minnesota could have spent much more and come out looking smart, because they stole Teddy Bridgewater with the No. 32 pick from a league that could not stay out of its own way in the evaluation of the Louisville prospect.
Bridgewater's rookie season was frought with difficult circumstances. The lack of any consistent ground game, up-and-down play from receivers and an anemic offensive line contributed greatly to early struggles. Once Bridgewater settled in later on in his rookie campaign, he performed like a top-10 passer.
"Teddy has the #2 passer rating, #2 YPA, #9 TD passes and #1 completion % over the last five weeks.
— Darren Page (@DarrenPage) December 29, 2014"
Bridgewater outplayed expectations for a rookie QB who sank on draft day and was not even supposed to play in 2014.
Now the Vikings are marching into 2015 with a signal-caller they feel fully confident in. All the information obtained over the course of 2014 points to Bridgewater being a franchise QB. He thrives from the pocket, makes decisive reads of coverage, throws with anticipation and maneuvers well from the rush. He is also steadily improving, just like he did as a collegiate QB.
Without expending a big chunk of resources to do it, Minnesota has seemingly nailed the pick at the most important position in sports.
Grade: A+
Round 3: Scott Crichton
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Scott Crichton is undoubtedly Minnesota's most disappointing draft pick after a single season.
The rookie defensive end spent the majority of the season scratched from the active roster despite full health. Per Pro Football Focus premium, Crichton only played 16 snaps all season. Minnesota gave Corey Wootton, a DE who was brutally ineffective, 276 snaps. Justin Trattou was even getting snaps instead of Crichton at season's end.
Early in December, Zimmer finally gave a reason for how little Crichton was being used, via Brian Hall of FoxSportsNorth.com:
"Zimmer said Scott Crichton HASN'T been as versatile as he expected so far. Still early, Zimmer said big guys take a while to develop.
— Brian Hall (@MNBrianHall) December 11, 2014"
Crichton could still develop into a quality player for the Vikings. The team essentially admitted that he was not what it had envisioned he would be in 2014 though.
Grade: D
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Round 3: Jerick McKinnon
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Jerick McKinnon was another rookie who entered the season with big question marks about his ability to make an impact right away. Those inquiries were effectively answered.
The rookie back averaged 4.8 yards per carry behind the same offensive line that Matt Asiata averaged 3.5 behind.
The details behind McKinnon's success are the most promising part. He came from a triple-option offense at Georgia Southern where he played both quarterback and running back. He had not run behind a fullback or within a pro-style offense at all.
In 2014, though, McKinnon showed surprisingly impressive vision and decision-making skills in the backfield. He was effective running behind the zone-blocking scheme or running behind man blocking.
All signs point to McKinnon being a RB who can carry a bigger load than his frame indicates, which is a bonus asset for a Vikings team with an unclear future at the position. A back injury suffered in the weight room cut his season short, but he is definitively in the Vikings' plans going forward.
McKinnon has a few negatives that hold back his early grade, despite being a third-round pick. He struggled in pass protection and made little impact as a receiver. The Vikings need to find out what kind of contribution McKinnon can make in the passing game before they can hold him up as an obvious success. Early indications are positive, but McKinnon needs to keep improving.
Grade: B+
Round 5: David Yankey
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The book on David Yankey's rookie season follows a story similar to that of Crichton's. Minnesota felt no need to play him.
Despite the Vikings being down both offensive guards late in the season, Yankey still rode the bench. He was only activated for a single week and played no snaps. Vladimir Ducasse was hardly the type of performer who should have kept a highly skilled rookie off the field. Yankey's lack of playing time was a clear indictment of his NFL readiness.
Yankey expectations are slightly different, though. As a fifth-round pick, Minnesota will have an eye on morphing him into a starter down the road. That's an uphill road due to issues Yankey showed in his rookie season. Zimmer shared thoughts on Yankey as well, per VikingUpdate.com:
"Mike Zimmer on David Yankey: "He's got a ways to go." Mentioned balance and strength needing to improve. #Vikings
— VikingUpdate.com (@VikingUpdate) December 11, 2014"
The goal will now be for Yankey to compete for a starting job before the 2015 season. If he wins the starting spot at left guard, the verdict on him can immediately change.
Grade: C
Round 6: Antone Exum
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The Vikings spent a cheap pick in the sixth round on Antone Exum and immediately converted him from the cornerback spot he played at Virginia Tech to safety.
That transition meant Exum was unlikely to play a major role in 2014. As expected, he played only 16 defensive snaps in 2014, per Pro Football Focus premium. Those only occurred due to injury, not because Zimmer and the coaching staff wished to give Exum snaps with the first team. He held his own in that small window of opportunity, making a few tackles in the open field.
Exum mostly featured on multiple special teams units and made a measurable impact in a few games. Two costly penalties marred his work early in the season, but his act cleaned up as the season went on.
If Exum can eventually take the starting job opposite Harrison Smith in the secondary, his grade will skyrocket. Minnesota will settle for contributions in special teams and quality depth from sixth-round picks in the meantime.
Grade: B
Round 6: Kendall James
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Sixth-round pick Kendall James, a cornerback from Maine, is the only 2014 pick no longer in Minnesota.
After failing to make an impression in camp or in the preseason, James was among a wave of cuts late in August. He would then land on the practice squad, only to be released outright in favor of offensive tackle Austin Wentworth a few days later, per Vikings.com. James has since bounced around the league, never sticking for too long. His days in the NFL seem short-lived.
Not all picks work out, especially so late in the draft. Minnesota took a shot on a small-school player and was burned. James was the second stab at secondary help in the sixth round, so Minnesota's decision-makers will lose little sleep over his shortened stay.
Grade: D
Round 7: Shamar Stephen
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For a seventh-round pick, Shamar Stephen's rookie season was a smashing hit.
As the backup nose tackle and occasional backup 3-technique tackle, Stephen played just over 37 percent of defensive snaps, per Football Outsiders. That type of role is uncommon from seventh-round selections that make the roster, much less any player selected that late.
Stephen's performances themselves were hardly the stuff of legends. He was up-and-down for the most part against the run and did little as a rusher. But as defensive coordinator George Edwards notes via VikingUpdate.com, Stephen progressed over the course of 2014:
"George Edwards said Shamar Stephen has really improved in run defense this year. No problem giving him more snaps. #Vikings
— VikingUpdate.com (@VikingUpdate) December 4, 2014"
Getting quality depth from a seventh-round pick is all teams can reasonably hope for. Stephen looks like a defensive tackle the Vikings will keep around for a few more years.
Grade: A
Round 7: Brandon Watts
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Brandon Watts made the roster in a deep group of linebackers, so the first battle was a success for the late-round pick. He was inactive for most of the season, however, only playing six snaps all year, per Pro Football Focus premium.
The injury bug bit Watts multiple times in 2014. When the rookie LB had a chance to make his mark with an increased role in Week 16, he pulled up with yet another hamstring injury. Zimmer was less-than-pleased with his conditioning and let that be known, as quoted by Andrew Krammer of 1500 ESPN:
"Zimmer frustrated with rookie Brandon Watts: "I saw a pulled hamstring in six plays...third hamstring hes had this year."
— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) December 22, 2014"
So little can be used to evaluate Watts' rookie season in terms of on-field performance. If the injury situation does not clear up in the next training camp and preseason, though, the train will leave the station without him.
Grade: C+
Round 7: Jabari Price
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Jabari Price was the third seventh-round pick to make the roster, beating out the likes of James, Derek Cox, Robert Steeples and Julian Posey at the position. That by itself makes this pick somewhat successful.
Like Exum, Price's greatest contributions occurred in special teams in 2014, where he played 43 percent of the snaps, via Football Outsiders. His contributions on defense were predictably small.
Moving into 2015, issues off the field could become the primary concern with Price. As the Star Tribune's Matt Vensel reported (h/t Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk), Price was arrested and charged with driving while impaired less than 24 hours after the Vikings beat the Chicago Bears in the season finale. The charge, combined with his lack of identifiable value on the field, may lead the Vikings to make an example of him.
Depending on the outcome of the charge and what Minnesota decides is to be done with Price, the final grade of his pick could require slight tweaking. At worst, he is still a seventh-round pick who cracked the roster for a year.
Grade: C+
Statistics via ESPN.com unless noted otherwise.
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