After the long wait, Thursday came.
According to the coach, the Purple made attempts to move up from pick 22 for Justin Jefferson and maybe others, I won't rule it out, but were unsuccessful. Nonetheless, they got the latest wide receiver to come from the talent factory that is Louisiana State. They followed that up with a characteristic trade-down to acquire a couple more selections and finished up the night by addressing another need - CB Jeff Gladney.
Even after sleeping on it, I'm unsure that the Jefferson pick was the right one. I respect the swing and they must consider him an all-pro caliber talent to go that direction. But in terms of getting maximum value for the pick, I'm skeptical. Because there are still so many other holes that need to be filled where starters may not be available in the fifth round. Have to wait and see what he can do but for now, that pick is a B (because letter grades matter so much) since there are so many receivers this year who will be able to contribute quickly.
But before moving onto the second pick of the evening, here's a good highlight package of what Jefferson can do.
After they waited a few extra selections, that only included one guy who would make sense for them in the first round, they came back with another first-round Cornerback in the Mike Zimmer era. Can't say I've seen many TCU games in recent years so let's go to the video.
It's his highlight reel so it's no surprise that he pops off but it's hard to not like his ability to intercept, run with receivers & knock the ball away (with good form, don't need another Rhodes!) and lay the wood every so often. As with receiver, need more than the one guy before Mr. Irrelevant but Gladney is an A in my book.
It was a successful evening for Minnesota, without even considering the pick that Green Bay made, which all Minnesota fans will revel in for quite some time. It was a good start to a draft that they absolutely have to nail for the current regime to remain in place and for them to not have the window slam down on them!
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