Vikings not sold on Matt Kalil at No. 3?
Colts? Andrew Luck.
Redskins? Robert Griffin III.
Vikings? Matt K…
Well, maybe not.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on SportsCenter today that he doesn’t believe USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil is a lock to be the Vikings’ selection at No. 3 in this month’s NFL draft, “by any stretch.”
This is noteworthy because a) Schefter is one of the most plugged in reporters in the NFL, if not the most plugged in reporter, and b) Kalil has seemingly been a slam-dunk to the Vikings at No. 3 for the past month. Schefter appeared on NFL Live later in the day and said Minnesota was eyeing three players with the No. 3 pick: Kalil, Justin Blackmon and Morris Claiborne.
It has been reported that the Vikings would like to trade down, acquire more picks and still land an impact player later in the first round. But just like I’ve stated with the Browns (who also may want to trade down), which team is going to trade up and for whom would they trade up for? Trent Richardson is a hell of a prospect but running backs are becoming less and less valuable in a pass-heavy league. Ryan Tannehill, meanwhile is the next best quarterback prospect after Luck and Griffin but I don’t think he’s worthy of a top 5 pick.
I don’t see a team willing to move up for Blackmon, Claiborne or Kalil either. Thus, short of the Colts and/or Redskins shocking everyone by not taking Luck and/or Griffin, I firmly believe teams like the Vikings and Browns will be hard pressed to move out of their spots.
If the Vikings do pass on Kalil for Blackmon (we’ll use Blackmon for the sake of this example), then it’ll be interesting to see what St. Louis does at No. 6. Kalil could essentially fall into their laps and given the issues the Rams had up front last year, they’d almost have to pull the trigger on the best left tackle in the draft.
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