The Minnesota Vikings picked 10 players in last April’s NFL Draft, but only seven of them got into games last year.  As of right now only two of the players the Vikings picked (Christian Ponder and Kyle Rudolph) project to be starting players down the road.  Here is a look at how the rookies did in 2011:

23-year old QB Christian Ponder came to the Vikings in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft.  He played in 11 games for the Vikings last year and he completed 158 of 291 passes (54.3%) for 1,853 yards with 13 TD passes and 13 INTs (70.1 QB Rating).  Ponder also carried the ball 28 times for 219 yards (7.8 ypc) last year.  Ponder needs to improve his game if he wants to remain the starting QB of the Vikings as he threw too many pickoffs last year.

22-year old TE Kyle Rudolph was a second round pick of the Vikings last April.  Rudolph played in 15 games for the Vikings last year and he caught 26 passes for 249 yards (9.6 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  The Vikings think that Rudolph will eventually replace Visanthe Shiancoe as the starting TE.

23-year old DT Christian Ballard was selected in the 4th round by the Vikings.  He played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he had 13 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  The Vikings hope that Ballard will show improvement in the near future.

22-year old CB Brandon Burton was picked in the 5th round of the draft.  He played in 10 games for the Vikings last year and he had 8 tackles.

23-year old OT Demarcus Love was picked in the 6th round.  Love didn’t get into any games for the Vikings last year.

24-year old safety Mistral Raymond was also picked in the 6th round.  Raymond played in 10 games for the Vikings last year and he had 22 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and 3 passes defensed.  He could earn a bigger role with the Vikings in the near future.

23-year old center Brandon Fusco was a 6th round pick last April.  He played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Vikings last year.

24-year old linebacker Ross Homan was picked in the 6th round by the Vikings.  He was cut before the season started and he didn’t hook on with another team.

24-year old DE D’Aundre Reed was picked in the 7th round by the Vikings.  He didn’t play in any games for the Vikings last year.

22-year old WR Stephen Burton was also picked in the 7th round by the Vikings.  He played in 3 games for the Vikings last year and he finished up with 2 grabs for 38 yards (19.0 avg).

GRADE FOR 2011:  D

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C-

The Vikings got rid of Donovan McNabb early in the year and they turned the job over to first round pick Christian Ponder.  23-year old Christian Ponder led the Vikings to a 2-8 record in his starts in 2011.  He played in 11 games (10 starts) for the Vikings last year and he completed 158 of 291 passes (54.3%) for 1,853 yards with 13 TD passes and 13 INTs (70.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 28 times for 219 yards (7.8 ypc) last year for the Vikings.  Ponder will likely go into the 2012 season as the Vikings’ starting QB, but he will have to play better than he did this year to keep the job.

25-year old Joe Webb often energized the offense when he came into games in relief of Christian Ponder.  Webb played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Vikings last year and he completed 34 of 63 passes (54%) for 376 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 INTs (74.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 22 times for 154 yards (7.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs last year.  Webb has now played in 14 games (2 starts) in his first two years with the Vikings and he has completed 88 of 152 passes (57.9%) for 853 yards with 3 TD passes and 5 INTs (66.6 QB Rating).  Webb has also carried the ball 40 times for 274 yards (6.9 ypc) with 4 TD runs so far in his NFL career.  He is 1-1 as a starting QB in the NFL.  Look for Webb to push Ponder for the starting QB job at some point in 2012.

The Vikings played outstanding football defensively yesterday, but it wasn’t good enough to win.  The Vikings sacked Bears’ QB Josh McCown 7 times yesterday.  LB E.J. Henderson (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss), LB Chad Greenway (8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit) and DE Jared Allen (5 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks and 4 QB hits) led the way for the Vikings on D in this game.  CB Cedric Griffin (interception), safety Jamarca Sanford (fumble recovery) and DE Letroy Guion (fumble recovery) also made big plays on D for the Vikings yesterday.  The Bears finished up with 92 yards rushing on 25 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 25 passes (60%) for 117 yards.

Christian Ponder was awful before leaving the game due to injury yesterday.  He completed 4 of 10 passes for 28 yards with 0 TD passes and a interception that was returned 22 yards for a TD by Bears’ CB Charles Tillman.  Joe Webb finished up this game at QB by completing 17 of 32 passes for 200 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 2 yards (0.5 ypc).  Toby Gerhart led the way on the ground with 67 yards rushing on 15 carries (4.5 ypc).  Lorenzo Booker carried the ball 2 times for -3 yards (-1.5 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 33 yards (11.0 avg).  Percy Harvin led the way in the passing game with 10 grabs for 115 yards (11.5 avg) and he also carried the ball 5 times for 13 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  WR Devin Aromashodu (3 rec, 53 yards) and TE Kyle Rudolph (3 rec, 15 yards) also pitched in for the Vikings in the passing game.  The Vikings finished up with 79 yards rushing on 27 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 42 passes (50%) for 222 yards as they had possession of the ball for 31:14.  The Vikings are now 3-13 on the year.

The Vikings and Bears are playing for pride and nothing more this weekend.  The Vikings snapped a six game losing streak last weekend when they beat the Redskins 33-26 in Washington.  The Bears have now lost five games in a row as they have looked horrible since Jay Cutler broke his thumb on his throwing hand.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings are without Adrian Peterson (torn ACL) for this game, but they are still in good shape at RB with Toby Gerhart.  Gerhart will likely have a heavy workload against a Bears’ D that is giving up 97.5 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  The Vikings hope to get a good running game going, so that the Bears’ pass rush will have to slow down a bit and give Christian Ponder time to throw the ball.  The Bears are giving up 256.2 yards passing per game, so Christian Ponder could be effective throwing the ball in this game.  His top target will likely be Percy Harvin, but the Vikings will need some of their other WRs and TEs to step up.

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears are likely going to come out running the ball with Kahlil Bell, who broke out with a big game against the Packers last weekend.  The Vikings are only giving up 3.9 yards per carry so far this year, so they should be able to handle slowing down Bell.  Josh McCown is getting the start at QB, but the Bears have had a lot of injuries to their WRs.  Roy Williams will likely be his top target, but he doesn’t scare the Vikings too much at this point in his career.

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 17, BEARS 16

29-year old DE Jared Allen will be the lone representative of the Minnesota Vikings in the Pro Bowl.  Allen has played in 15 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has 61 tackles, 18.5 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, 4 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Allen has now played in 124 games in his first 8 years in the NFL and he has 452 tackles, 101.5 sacks, 53 tackles for a loss, 26 forced fumbles, 16 fumble recoveries, 42 passes defensed and 5 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  Allen is one of the best defensive players on the planet, enough said.

The Vikings have placed 34-year old OG Steve Hutchinson on the Injured Reserve List due to a nasty concussion.  Hutchinson played in 14 games (all starts) for the Vikings this year.  He has now played in 89 games (all starts) in his first six years with the Vikings.  It will be interesting to see if the Vikings bring back Hutchinson for next season, as his play is starting to slip some.

The Vikings have waived 23-year old TE Allen Reisner.  Reisner played in 6 games for the Vikings this year and he caught 1 pass for 5 yards.  He also had 1 tackle.  The Vikings have solid depth at TE with Visanthe Shiancoe and Kyle Rudolph, so they shouldn’t miss Reisner at all the rest of the season.

24-year old RB Toby Gerhart is going to have his time to shine for the Vikings, starting this weekend against the Bears.  Gerhart has played in 15 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has carried the ball 94 times for 464 yards (4.9 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 22 passes for 187 yards (8.5 avg) with 3 TD grabs so far this year.  Gerhart has now played in 30 games in his first two years with the Vikings in which he has carried the ball 175 times for 786 yards (4.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he has also caught 43 passes for 354 yards (8.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Gerhart will take over as the Vikings’ #1 RB until Adrian Peterson is ready to return sometime next year.

The Vikings have lost 26-year old Adrian Peterson for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL and MCL.  Peterson played in 12 games for the Vikings this year and he carried the ball 208 times for 970 yards (4.7 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also caught 18 passes for 139 yards (7.7 avg) with 1 TD grab this year.  Peterson has now played in 73 games in his first five years with the Vikings and he has carried the ball 1,406 times for 6,752 yards (4.8 ypc) with 64 TD carries.  Peterson has also caught 137 passes for 1,309 yards (9.6 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his career with the Vikings so far.  He likely won’t be ready for the start of the 2012 season.

The Vikings got battered physically in this game as they lost QB Chrisitan Ponder (concussion) and RB Adrian Peterson (torn ACL in this game).  That is when QB Joe Webb and RB Toby Gerhart took over this game.  Ponder completed 8 of 13 passes for 68 yards without a TD pass or INT.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 20 yards (5.0 ypc) in this game.  Joe Webb replaced him and he was electric.  Webb completed 4 of 5 passes for 84 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 34 yards (6.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Toby Gerhart led the way on the ground with an amazing 109 yards rushing on 11 carries (9.9 ypc).  Adrian Peterson carried the ball 12 times for 38 yards (3.2 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 14 yards (7.0 avg) in this game.  WR Percy Harvin led the way in the passing game with 5 catches for 65 yards (13.0 avg) with 1 TD grab and he also carried the ball 4 times for 39 yards (9.8 ypc).  TE Kyle Rudolph pitched in with 2 catches for 23 yards (11.5 avg) and a TD grab.  The Vikings finished up with 241 yards rushing on 38 carries (6.3 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 18 passes (66.7%) for 148 yards as they had possession of the ball for 29:34.

The defense didn’t play too well for the Vikings though.  LBs Chad Greenway (16 tackles and 1 pass defensed) and E.J. Henderson (15 tackles) led the way on D for the Vikings in this game. Safety Mistral Raymond (6 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception) and DE Brian Robison (3 tackles, 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery) also had big games for the Vikings.  The Redskins finished up with 141 yards rushing on 24 carries (5.9 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 41 passes (63.4%) for 256 yards.  The Vikings are now 3-12 on the season.