The Vikings' Weak Link

In the last two games, we have played teams that do what we have been unable to do in the last three year: draft players that strengthen our team. The Lions, since hiring Brad Holmes as GM, have been fantastic, drafting players like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alim McNeill, Penei Sewell, Aidan Hutchinson, Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch, and more. The Rams were supposedly stripped of draft capital by the Stafford-Goff trade, but still pull star players out of the mid-rounds of each draft like Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua. It also looks like they were laughing hard when the Vikings drafted Dallas Turner instead of Jared Verse.

Say, what happened to our "other" first rounder, Turner? I remember predictions that he would "almost certainly break the Vikings' rookie sack record". I guess jumping into a lineup that already had 11 players was his attempt to get back on track with that plan. OK, I will not declare Turner a bust 7 games into his rookie season; don't claim I did. But he was getting Von Miller comparisons by the overenthusiastic here. Don't tell me he's got a HOF career ahead of him but guys like Jihad Ward and Bo Richter are keeping him effectively 3rd team.

A few weeks ago, FSUVike respectfully suggested that Nailor and Chandler were starter-level players KAM had drafted. I was skeptical then, highly doubtful now. Nailor is effectively sharing WR3 with Brandon Powell and Trent Sherfield, and doing little even while Jordan Addison has slumped. Chandler looked like a better option than Alexander Mattison last year, but now that we can compare him with a genuine NFL RB in Aaron Jones, it's clear that he, like Nailor, is nothing more than an average reserve.

So what are KAM's draft hits? As of now they would be ranked as:
1. Jordan Addison
2. Will Reichard
3. Ed Ingram

KAM must be begging O'Connell to get Addison happy and producing again ASAP. If Addison is imploding, it will be hard to hang his GM credentials on a kicker and a guard who should be on the bench.

Does KAM do other GM things well? Sure. He's cleaning up the cap and he has brought in some great free agents. But the latter (acquiring veteran free agents) may suggest he can scout within the NFL but not college players.

Should we blame the scouting department instead of KAM. Sorry, but: Hell No. Kwesi doesn't need to personally scout college players, but if he can't, it's his job to hire scouts who can. 

If this season does go down the drain, a big reason will be that we don't have the depth to either step up for injured players like Darrisaw or to provide some new twists of talent when opponents have figured out what worked early or just blanket Jefferson. (Hey, notice both our superstars were Spielman picks? I didn't like a lot of his drafting, but KAM is making him look awesome.)

I'll stand by this: if you can't succeed in the draft, you can't be a good NFL GM.