After the maddening finish to Friday came Saturday domination. Through three of the 13 picks, Minnesota hasn't made any more trades but the players that they got so far today may well all be contributors in 2020.
They started with a player that I had identified during mock draft season - DE D.J. Wonnum from South Carolina. Yes indeed, I wanted him and they got him! Wonnum, got em. He's been compared to the cyborg Danielle Hunter which is enough to make it a good choice. But here are his highlights anyway!
I'm choosing to not read too much into the fact that the only real highlight package for him was the team's official one. He almost surely won't be the starting edge opposite Hunter this year but if he works into the rotation and can get 2 or 3 sacks, that would be a good start! Another easy A here.
Minnesota followed that up with the Big 12 defensive player of the year. I wasn't aware that they played defense or sought to reward those who were good at it (joke) but Minnesota added another guy to the DL rotation. The James Lynch pick is colored by the fact that my favorite mid-round quarterback prospect was taken right ahead of them. No guarantee that Spielman would have finally addressed the position with some sincerity but James Morgan was a significant miss.
Here are the highlights for the guy who will be suiting up in Eagan.
He's a promising player but I can't go higher than a B for this one.
I have to believe that this pick was based on their board not synching up with reality. Linebacker was a moderate need but they still only have two Safeties and the Receiver spot is still thin. They just must have had too high of an opinion about him to pass. I can see why, he showed the ability to do a little bit of everything while at Do It U, but don't just take my word for it!
Not to put too much on the pick but those clips remind me of our current, top Linebacker from the West Coast. Not saying he'll be Eric Kendricks but in the middle of the fourth round that does indeed quantify as a value pick! So maybe you guessed it, that's another A.
10 more picks as of now so far from done but that's all for this one!