2011 NFL Mock Draft: The Vikings Are Reportedly Interested In Jake Locker

Since we're like, 99.99999% sure that Brett Favre is going to be retiring for real this time, so the Vikings have a pretty serious need for a new quarterback. There will be a few quarterbacks available to them in the upcoming draft, and according to Tom Pelissero of ESPN Twin Cities, they might have serious interest in Washington's Jake Locker, via Mocking the Draft.

And while it's too soon to peg Locker's spot on the Vikings' draft board -- team officials begin nine consecutive days of draft meetings on Monday -- there is a growing sense around the NFL they're preparing to pounce on the Washington quarterback at No. 12 overall.

Mocking the Draft adds an interesting parallel.

Some of Pelissero's column compares Locker to Favre. Fun fact: Locker completed 53.9 percent of his passes in college with 53 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. Favre completed 52.4 percent of passes at Southern Mississippi with 52 touchdowns and 34 interceptions.

Ooooo, eerie. I'm not sure how much weight this holds up because it's not like the Vikings are the team that drafted Favre. But it does show that just because you don't display accuracy at the College level that you can't be a success in the NFL.

2011 NFL Mock Draft (Update)

On Tuesday, the latest NFL Mock Draft by SB Nation had the Vikings taking Clemson DE Da'Quan Bowers, an intriguing talent at what many people consider the Vikings second biggest position of need.

A lot of fans and draft experts think that the biggest need, however, is at quarterback. 

The guys over at Walter Football have done another 6 round mock, and they have what I consider a surprise going to the Vikings in the first round, Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith.  I've seen DE picked quite a bit here, but this is the first time I've seen Smith name's.  What's interesting is that although another pick tied to the Vikings, Robert Quinn, is off the board, the other popular choice, Bowers, is still available.  Let's look at the rest of their picks:

2nd Round:  QB Jake Locker, Washington.  Great value and need pick here, but I still think Locker will be gone by this point in the draft.

4th Round:  Austin Pettis, WR, Boise State.  I don't see the Vikings letting Sidney Rice leave via free agency, but if he does, they'll need to get another one.

5th Round:  Richard Sherman, DB, Stanford.  The Vikes secondary was decimated by injuries last year, and the safety play was particularly horrendous. 

5th Round:  Julius Thomas, TE, Portland State.  I don't see the Vikings selecting a TE in this spot, as they have a lot on the roster, and even though Jim Kleinsasser is long in the tooth, it's still not a position of need.

6th Round:  Jarrard Tarrant, S, Georgia Tech.  I can't argue with as many bodies competing in the defensive backfield as possible.

Looking at this draft, I got to wondering:  is there a site that is collects data and gives you a consensus as to what individual team picks are?  Why yes, yes there is.

NFL Draft Day Insider combines a bunch of mock drafts and comes out with consensus #1 picks, and then also gives you a percentage of how many times a player is picked for your team.

For the Vikings, the consensus #1 pick, with 18% of mock drafts selecting him, is Washington QB Jake Locker.  The position that was selected the most was quarterback, 38% of the time, but another big need position, defensive end, was picked 30% of the time.

Things have settled a bit in the mock draft world, at least for the time being.  But the one thing I love about the draft is that as we get closer, seemingly insignificant things surface about a player or two, and it can lead to a ripple effect that alters the entire draft landscape.

So get your popcorn ready.

SB Nation Mock Draft: April Means We're Getting Close To The Real Thing

The new SB Nation mock draft hit the street a little while ago, and things are starting to come into focus, at least for the Vikings.

The two consensus first round QB picks, Cam Newton and Blaine Gabbert, are off the board in the first five picks, with Newton going #1 overall to Carolina and Gabbert being projected to Cincinnati.

When SB Nation did a mock draft with a blogger from each team making a selection, Chris Gates picked Wisconsin DE JJ Watt.  He had sound reasoning, saying two of the other big first round DE prospects,  Robert Quinn and Da'Quan Bowers, had a lot of questions that were unsettling.  Watt, on the other hand, might not have the natural talent, but makes up for it with a relentless moor and a desire to excel.

Apparently, the folks running the SB Nation mock didn't seem to give as much credence over the lingering questions around Bowers and Quinn, because the latest SB Nation mock has the Vikings taking Da'Quan Bowers.  According to Brian Galiford, the author:

12. Minnesota Vikings: Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson. It's quite possible that Bowers' lackadaisical pro day (as well as continuing knee concerns) cause him to slide on draft day. He's too good a football player to slide very far, however, and he'd be a great value pick for a Vikings team that excels at finding draft-day value.

While his reasoning is sound, what he didn't say is that the Vikings generally tend to avoid guys with more questions than answers, although WR/KR/Superman Percy Harvin was a notable exception.  If you're going on nothing but talent, it's tough to argue Bowers, but if you're taking everything into consideration, I can see the Vikings NOT going in that direction.  As for Quinn and Bowers, Quinn is projected at 15 ti Miami, while Watt goes to San Diego at 18.

Interestingly, Jake Locker, another QB that might or might not be a first round pick, depending on who you talk to, is projected at 16 to Jacksonville.  If Locker's on the board when the Vikings select, I can see them going in that direction as well, but with how unsettled the labor landscape is, and the fact that coaches aren't allowed to communicate with players during the lockout, QB is a HUGE risk in the first round.  Heck, it's a huge risk every year, but even more so this year.