The Minnesota Vikings drafted 22-year old DT Christian Ballard out of Iowa with the 106th overall pick (4th round) of 2011 NFL Draft.  Ballard is 6’4″, 298 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40, so he’s a good athlete for his size.  Ballard slid in the draft because he tends to run hot and cold.  When he focused and motivated, he gives offensive lines fits because of his speed.  Ballard played in 13 games (all starts) for Iowa last year and he had 43 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, he batted down 2 balls and he forced 1 fumble.  He played in 49 games (39 starts) in his four years with the Hawkeyes and he had 153 tackles, 21.5 tackles for a loss, 12.5 sacks, batted down 3 balls and he forced 2 fumbles.  Ballard has a nice upside and he was a great pick for the Vikings this late in the game.

The Minnesota Vikings took 21-year old TE Kyle Rudolph out of Notre Dame with the 43rd overall pick (2nd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Rudolph is 6’5″, 265 pounds but he runs a 4.7 40.  Rudolph has great hands and he’s a decent blocker, but he’s definitely not a homerun threat by any means.  Rudolph played in 6 games (all starts) for Notre Dame last season and he caught 28 passes for 328 yards (11.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He missed a lot of last season due to a hamstring injury.  Rudolph played in 29 games (18 starts) in his three years with the Irish and he caught 90 passes for 1,032 yards (11.5 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  I like this pick for the Vikings as Rudolph will give the next QB a nice, big target.

The Minnesota Vikings pulled a shocker last night when they used the #12 overall pick (first round) last night on 23-year old QB Christian Ponder out of Florida State.  Now, the Vikings were desperate for a QB but I think they could have traded back a little bit and still picked him.  Ponder is a big guy at 6’2″, 222 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40 as he is a solid athlete.  He played primarily in a shotgun at Florida State so he’s going to have to make adjustments to succeed in the NFL.  Ponder doesn’t have a great arm but he has the intangibles that remind me a lot of Chad Pennington.  Ponder played in 12 games (all starts) for Florida State last season and he completed 184 of 299 passes (61.5%) for 2,044 yards with 20 TD passes and 8 INTs.  Ponder played in 35 games (all starts) in his four years with the Seminoles and he completed 596 of 965 passes (61.8%) for 6,872 yards with 49 TD passes and 30 INTs.  This is going to be a boom or bust pick for the Vikings.  Hopefully they won’t throw Ponder to the wolves in 2011, at least to start the year, so they will need to sign a veteran to keep the position warm until he’s ready.

The Minnesota Vikings need WRs and a QB this weekend and I think they will fill up both those needs.  Here is who I saw the Vikings landed in my mock draft:

1st round (#12 overall) – Julio Jones, WR, Alabama

2nd round (#43 overall) – Andy Dalton, QB, TCU

4th round (#106 overall) – Terrance Toliver, WR, LSU

5th round (#139 overall) – Akeem Dent, ILB, Georgia

5th round (#150 overall) – Ricky Elmore, DE, Arizona

6th round (#172 overall) – Lawrence Guy, DT, Arizona State

6th round (#200 overall) – Virgil Green, TE, Nevada

7th round (#215 overall) – Scott Tolzien, QB, Wisconsin

7th round (#236 overall) – Stanley Havili, FB, USC

The Vikings would get a couple nice WRs (Jones and Toliver) to develop along with a QB of the future in Andy Dalton.  This would be a great draft for the Vikings.

The NFL Draft is an inexact science.  The Vikings didn’t do too well last April and the prospects aren’t too good for the guys they picked.  Here’s a look at how the rookies did in 2010:

Chris Cook:  CB Chris Cook came to the Vikings in the 2nd round (#34 overall) out of Virginia.  He played in 6 games (5 starts) for the Vikings and he had 21 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  Cook’s season ended early due to injury.  Cook has a lot to learn to become a solid CB in the NFL, but at the same time he does have the potential to succeed.  Only time will tell if Cook turns into a good player for the Vikings or a bust.

Toby Gerhart:  RB Toby Gerhart out of Stanford came to the Vikings in the 2nd round (#51 overall).  Gerhart played in 15 games (1 start) for the Vikings last year and he carried the ball 81 times for 322 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 21 passes for 167 yards (8.0 avg) out of the backfield.  Gerhart is a solid running back but he needs to work on his fumbling.  Gerhart will be a solid backup for Adrian Peterson down the road.

Everson Griffin:  DE Everson Griffin came to the Vikings in the 4th round (#100 overall) out of USC.  He played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Vikings last year and he had 11 tackles.  He didn’t show a whole lot last year, so he’s going to have to step up if he wants to get more P.T. in 2011 for the Vikings.

Chris DeGeare:  The Vikings took OG Chris DeGeare in the 5th round (#161 overall) out of Wake Forest.  He played in 8 games (5 starts) for the Vikings last year as he replaced Chris Hutchinson when he was injured.  DeGeare was kind of soft last year so he needs to get a tad meaner.

Nathan Triplett:  Inside linebacker came to the Vikings in the 5th round (#167 overall) out of Minnesota.  The former Golden Gopher got cut in the preseason before getting a chance with the Colts.  He played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Colts last year and he had 4 tackles.  The Vikings shouldn’t miss him too much, if at all.

Joe Webb:  The Vikings took QB Joe Webb in the 6th round (#199 overall) out of UAB last April.  They took him with the idea of converting him to WR but it just didn’t work out that way due to injuries to the Vikings’ #1 and #2 QBs.  Webb played in 5 games (2 starts) for the Vikings last year and he completed 54 of 89 passes (60.7%) for 477 yards with 0 TD passes and 3 INTs (60.9 QB Rating).  Webb also carried the ball 18 times for 120 yards (6.7 ypc) with 2 TD runs for the Vikings last year.  Webb looks like a developmental project for the Vikings at QB.

Mickey Shuler:  TE Mickey Shuler came to the Vikings in the 7th round (#214 overall) out of Penn State.  Shuler was cut before getting into any games with the Vikings.  He played in 6 games (2 starts) for the Miami Dolphins last year and he caught 2 passes for 44 yards (22.0 avg).

Ryan D’Imperio:  The Vikings took inside linebacker Ryan D’Imperio with the #237 overall pick (7th round) last April out of  Rutgers.  He didn’t get into any games for the Vikings last year as he is converting to fullback.

GRADE FOR 2010:  D

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C-

The Vikings have placed 23-year old cornerback Chris Cook on the Injured Reserve List with a knee injury.  Cook played in 6 games for the Vikings this year and he had 21 tackles and 2 passes defensed.   Cook was a second round pick (#34 overall) out of Virginia last April.  Cook has potential to be a good NFL player if he can just stay healthy.

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.