It's no secret that Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman doesn't shy away from trades during the NFL Draft.
This year's draft was no different, with the Vikings making six trades – including four in Round 3 alone. Minnesota's six were part of the 40 total trades that took place Thursday-Saturday.
CBS Sports' R.J. White recently **looked at all of the trades and ranked them**. Minnesota's only move up in the draft was from the 120th overall spot to nab guard Dru Samia at 114, and the trade was ranked smack-dab in the middle at No. 20. White wrote:
Everything about this deal was solid for the Vikings. They paid just about fair value in the move up, they addressed a position of need with the pick, and they got a guy at good value in Dru Samia. I can see him emerging quickly as a starter for a Vikings team that has to do a better job with protection, and he should have been on the radar for multiple teams between No. 114 and 120.
All of the other moves the Vikings made were down in order to accrue additional picks, and White generally implied that Minnesota got the better end of the deal. He called the Seahawks' exchange of 92 and 159 for 88 – to get Cody Barton – and 209 "a stretch" for Seattle and called it "not great value" for the Patriots when they moved up three spots to 159 but gave up a seventh-rounder in the deal. White said the following of a third-round trade that sent No. 93 to the Ravens in exchange for 102, 191 and 193:
Don't love the value here, especially trading three picks to make this move and with a deep receiver class leaving guys like Hakeem Butler and Riley Ridley still on the board. But Miles Boykin blew the doors off his athletic testing and his upside is massive. I think the Ravens could have afforded to wait, but I do like the prospect they got.
To see White's full rankings, **click here**.
Another day, another draft grade for Vikings
Several analysts have been grading teams' overall hauls during this year's draft, one of the more recent being NFL.com's Gennaro Filice. He **released his NFC North grades** on Thursday and graded Minnesota the highest with a B+. Filice wrote:
Was there a more obvious first-round fit than Bradbury to the Vikings? The uber-athletic center was born to play in Gary Kubiak's zone-blocking scheme. Reach-blocking savvy? Check! Second-level road-grading chops? Check-plus! Some question how the former tight end's anchor will hold up at the NFL level, but he fared just fine in multiple games against Clemson's dynamic DT duo of Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence (the 13thand 17thoverall picks of this draft). And given all of [Head Coach] Mike Zimmer's griping about the run game last season, it came as no surprise that [General Manager] Rick Spielman wasn't done on this front, spending his third- and fourth-round picks on a running back and an offensive guard.
Filice looked at the ways the Vikings could use second-round selection Irv Smith, Jr., in their offense and added a note about two late-round picks:
Lastly, seventh-round picks are undoubtedly low-yield lottery tickets, but keep an eye on [cornerback Kris] Boyd and [wide receiver Dillon] Mitchell, two talented guys who could have staying power.
Filice gave the Packers a B for their draft weekend, during which they added four players in the first three rounds. He opined that the Packers could have made a different pick with the 12th overall spot (Rashan Gary) but said the report card "got a major boost from the next four picks": safety Darnell Savage (21st), interior offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins (44th) , tight end Jace Sternberger (75th) and defensive end Kingsley Keke (150th).
The Bears were given a C+, and the Lions received a C.
