Vikings stay patient in NFL draft, wait their turn for second-round moves

There was no late-night drama, not another bold trade into the first round.

For nearly four hours Thursday night, General Manager Rick Spielman and the Vikings, with no first-round selection, sat tight and watched their NFL rivals bolster their rosters and saw 32 talented young men get their lifelong dreams fulfilled, starting with Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, the No. 1 overall pick to the Cleveland Browns.

The Vikings won't get their chance to make someone's dream come true until the 48th overall pick in the second round Friday night — unless, of course, Spielman runs out of patience and jumps up to grab one of the offensive linemen who are surprisingly still on the board or another player the team loves sooner than that.

Spielman, holed up in the draft room at Winter Park all night, did not speak to reporters Thursday night. But on Tuesday, he said the Vikings would be prepared to potentially pounce on any first-round prospects on their draft board who plummeted into the second, even if that player doesn't fill an immediate need.

"Is that talent too great to pass up?" Spielman said. "We are not going to box ourselves into saying, 'Well, we have this need, so we have to take this position in this round.' "

But Spielman, with the Vikings still needing help up front, might not be able to resist trading up for an offensive lineman Friday night after the first round played out in their favor. Only two linemen were picked — Utah tackle Garett Bolles, by the Denver Broncos at No. 20, and Wisconsin tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who was taken by the New Orleans Saints with the first round's final pick.

That left Alabama offensive tackle Cam Robinson and Western Kentucky guard Forrest Lamp, both projected by most draftniks to go in the first round, sitting there for someone to seize in the second. Indiana guard Dan Feeney, Troy offensive tackle Antonio Garcia and Temple guard Dion Dawkins could also be of interest to the Vikings.

Even though the Vikings shelled out big bucks in free agency for offensive tackles Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers, Spielman could still select another lineman Friday night.

"I don't think it precludes you from what you're going to do in the draft," he said.

Other potential Day 2 targets include Michigan State defensive tackle Malik McDowell, Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara, Ohio State wide receiver Curtis Samuel, Washington safety Budda Baker and Florida State running back Dalvin Cook.

Talented but troubled running back Joe Mixon is also still available. Mixon, whom the Vikings thoroughly investigated, was suspended by Oklahoma for the entire 2014 season after punching a woman and fracturing four bones in her face. Spielman would not say Tuesday if the team had removed him from draft consideration.

The 2017 first round likely will be remembered for the aggressive plays for passers.

After the Browns selected Garrett to kick off the draft, the Chicago Bears traded up one spot to No. 2 overall to take North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

The Kansas City Chiefs made an even bolder move to get their quarterback, trading their 2018 first-round pick and more to leap 17 spots for Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes II.

Not wanting to miss out on all the fun, the Houston Texans traded up 13 spots to draft Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson at pick No. 12, two after Mahomes was selected.

Three signal-callers surprisingly going in the top dozen picks helped push highly touted position players such as Alabama defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, Ohio State safety Malik Hooker and Alabama tight end O.J. Howard down in the round and contributed to only two offensive linemen and one defensive tackle being drafted in Round 1.

Besides their most glaring needs at those two positions, the Vikings could use more able bodies at wide receiver and linebacker. Coach Mike Zimmer probably would like to get his hands on one of this draft's many intriguing defensive backs, too. And they likely will draft a running back even after signing Latavius Murray in free agency.

The Vikings own three Day 2 draft picks, including the No. 79 and No. 86 overall selections in Friday's third round. As of now, they have five more Saturday. Of course, with "Trader Rick" commanding the draft room, that probably will change.

Spielman has made 16 draft-weekend trades since 2012, including three to get back into the first round in 2012, 2013 and then 2014, for safety Harrison Smith, wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, respectively.

Despite sitting out the first night this year, after sending their first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles eight months ago to acquire quarterback Sam Bradford, Spielman expressed confidence Tuesday that the Vikings still will find some difference-makers in a deep draft class.

"I think it will be a big weekend for us," he said. "I know we're going to add a lot of quality players, and there will be a lot of new faces going into this season."