Spielman discusses Rudolph pick, labor situation

By Chip Scoggins

Vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman said the Vikings selected Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph in the second round because his talent was too much to pass up even though the team has three tight ends on the roster -- Visanthe Shiancoe, Jim Kleinsasser and Jeff Dugan.

Spielman was asked whether taking Rudolph so high was related to the fact that Shiancoe is entering the final season on his contract.

"This was a situation, I know we have three tight ends on our roster right now, but when you have a player like that, it's just too good to pass up," he said. "I know we'll sort it all out as we get there. We just wanted to stay true to our board and he was by far the highest player on our board at this time."

The Vikings officials said before the draft that they wanted to get younger at tight end after losing Mickey Shuler to Miami last season. Rudolph battled hamstring injuries all season but Spielman said the Vikings had no concerns about that injury.

"We had no issues with him medically after he was cleared by our doctors," Spielman said. "When he fell to us, we felt that he was too good of a player to pass up. We felt that he has a lot of unique skills as a tight end and we wanted to stay true to our board. That was a situation where there was a player that normally, if he hadn't had that hamstring injury, we wouldn't of even had a shot to get. We feel that we got great value when we got Kyle."

Spielman was asked how Rudolph fits into Bill Musgrave's new offensive system.

"He has a lot of different skill sets," he said. "You can split him out wide, you can put him as an H, or you can put him on the line of scrimmage. He's going to develop into a starting tight end in this league. The most unique thing about him right now is his ability to catch the ball and his route running ability. He'll develop as a blocker as we go along, but the skill set there, it's hard to find guys like that."

Lockout returns

The Vikings were on the clock in the second round when Spielman's attention was briefly called to another matter.

The NFL lockout apparently was back on after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis granted the league's bid for a temporary stay on U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson's ruling that had brought the work stoppage to an end.

This will mean arguments can be heard on whether Nelson's ruling should be overturned.

The decision came after the NFL had essentially given a soft launch to the new league year by allowing players to begin using the team's facilities on Friday. Players trades and free agency had not yet started and it's unknown when they will.

Quarterback Christian Ponder, the Vikings' first-round selection, and all draft picks were allowed to spend the day visiting their new teams regardless of whether there was a lockout. With the lockout in progress, teams are only allowed to bring in the picks for media and marketing purposes.

"When it was not a lockout, they were allowed to spend time here to get [playbooks]," Spielman said. "Now that the lockout's back in, he'll probably be leaving here shortly."