The Vikings have picked ILB Ryan D’Imperio with the 237th overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  D’Imperio is 6’1″, 244 pounds and he runs a 4.6 40 so he’s a pretty good athlete for a inside linebacker.  He played in 13 games (12 starts) for Rutgers last season and he finished up with 75 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, he broke up 3 passes and he had 1 interception.  D’Imperio played in 50 games (26 starts) in his four years at Rutgers in which he had 184 tackles, he had 23 tackles for a loss, he had 9 sacks, broke up 6 passes and he had 2 interceptions.  D’Imperio plays hard all of the time and he could really help the Vikings out on special teams as a rookie.

The Vikings have picked TE Mickey Shuler out of Penn State with the 214th overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  Shuler’s father had a good NFL career and I’m sure that played a small part in his getting drafted as not many experts expected him to get drafted at all.  He is 6’4″, 245 pounds and he runs a 4.9 40.  He is not a strong blocker in the running game and he’s too slow to help much in the passing game.  Shuler played in 13 games (4 starts) for Penn State last season and he caught 11 passes for 89 yards (8.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He played in 39 games (13 starts) in his three years with the Nittany Lions and he caught 27 passes for 300 yards (11.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  This was a huge reach for the Vikings as I will be very surprised if he makes the team.

The Vikings picked QB Joe Webb out of UAB with the 199th overall pick (6th round) of the NFL Draft.  Joe Webb is 6’3″, 223 pounds and he runs a 4.6 40.  Webb is a outstanding athlete and I’m thinking that they drafted him with the idea of using him at WR.  But if Brett Favre decides to hang up the cleats Webb could be the #3 QB for the Vikings in 2010.  He played in 12 games for UAB last season in which he completed 162 of 271 passes (59.8%) for 2,299 yards with 21 TD passes and 8 INTs.  He also carried the ball 227 times for 1,427 yards (6.3 ypc) with 11 TD runs and he caught 2 passes for 12 yards (6.0 avg) with a TD grab last year.  In his four years at UAB, Webb played in 37 games in which he completed 468 of 792 passes (59.1%) for 5,771 yards with 37 TD passes and 25 INTs.  He also carried the ball 516 times for 2,774 yards (5.4 ypc) with 24 TD runs and he also caught 32 passes for 471 yards (14.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs at UAB.  Webb is a good athlete and you can never have enough of those so I like this pick for the Vikings no matter where they decide to play him.

The Vikings have picked ILB Nathan Triplett out of Minnesota with the 167th overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  Triplett is 6’3″, 239 pounds so he has the size to handle playing in the middle in the NFL.  This has the look of a homer pick for the Vikings as Triplett wasn’t supposed to be drafted according to most draft experts.  He had 104 tackles and 2 interceptions for the Gophers last season as he was a late bloomer.  He had 144 tackles and 2 interceptions in his three years with the Gophers.  Triplett’s best chance to make the Vikings will be on special teams.

The Vikings have picked OG Chris DeGeare out of Wake Forest with the 161st overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  DeGeare is a huge man at 6’3″, 325 pounds but he’s not much of a athlete.  He would function best in a power running attack which the Vikings do revert to some times.  But he will need to improve as a pass blocker before he’s allowed to play in front of Brett Favre (if he plays).  He started all 12 games at Wake Forest last season and he played in 50 games (35 starts) in his career there.  DeGeare will likely take some time to develop before he gets on the field.

The Vikings have selected DE Everson Griffen out of USC with the 100th overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Griffen is 6’3″, 265 pounds and he runs a 4.75 40 so he definitely has the athletic ability to excel in the NFL.  But, Griffen doesn’t come to play on every down and the Vikings will need to be on him to motivate him.  If they can motivate Griffen they have a solid player in him.  Griffen played in 12 games (all starts) for the Trojans last season and he finished up with 45 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, 8 sacks, he batted down one pass, forced 1 fumble and he recovered 1 fumble.  In his three years at USC, Griffen played in 37 games (17 starts) in which he had 84 tackles, 21 tackles for a loss, he had 18 sacks, batted down 3 passes, forced 3 fumbles and he recovered 2 fumbles.  Griffen could develop into a starter in the near future for the Vikings if he responds well to the coaching he’s going to get in the NFL.