The NFL Scouting Combine going on this week in Indianapolis is one of many steps new Vikings GM Kwesi Odofo-Mensah must navigate preparing for his first NFL Draft April 28-30. Mensah reportedly has a four-year contract in his first opportunity to be an NFL general manager and the clock is already ticking.
Initially, Mensah and his staff of talent evaluators will be granted some leeway in trying to lift the Vikings out of mediocrity. But four years go quickly and things will get off to a rocky start if the franchise doesn’t select a first round standout in late April.
The Vikings select at No. 12 and that’s 20 spots ahead of other NFL teams. Picking at that spot isn’t a lock but Jeff Diamond believes Minnesota should be able to land a potential Pro Bowler.
Diamond is the former Vikings GM who was NFL Executive of the Year in 1998 after Minnesota finished the regular season 15-1. What is his advice for a new NFL general manager going into the draft? “Don’t go against your board,” he told Sports Headliners.
Draft board is a catchphrase for the data and information a team has accumulated and evaluated in the months leading up to the seven-round draft. Diamond’s belief is don’t draft for position need, especially in the first round, at the expense of passing up on the best player available. The exception, Diamond added, can be selecting a quarterback instead.
It was this philosophy that led to the Vikings drafting wide receiver and athletic freak Randy Moss in the 1998 draft. Diamond remembered his team needed help on defense and could have gone that way with the No. 21 selection of the first round.
The offense was loaded with playmakers like wide receivers Cris Carter and Jake Reed, and running back Robert Smith. But there on draft night after 20 picks by other teams was Moss—a talent the Vikings had rated on their draft board as a top five player. Diamond thought…“this could be great stuff, even though we needed a little bit more help on defense at that time.”
Moss dazzled from the opening game in 1998, making an already lethal offense into perhaps the franchise’s GOAT. Moss was NFL Rookie of the Year and the Vikings made it all the way to the NFC title game where they lost to the Falcons in overtime. Off-field baggage caused many NFL teams to pass on Moss but he was a superstar for the Vikings and eventually earned enshrinement to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
At No. 12 in the first round the Vikings could both find a player who fills a position need and rates very high on their board. Position help, Diamond said, includes cornerback, pass rushing and offensive line.
Defense might be a priority. “You gotta be able to cover guys,” Diamond said. “You gotta be able to rush the passer.”
Center could be a focus, too, where Garrett Bradbury, the first round pick from 2019, has been average at best. Diamond said Bradbury has “too much trouble with these big, strong defensive tackles.”
Reunion Will Celebrate March Magic
Every year long ago in late March—with winter still in full force and fingers crossed there would be no state tournament snowstorm—Minnesotans sat for three days in front of their televisions, content to be indoors. The state’s citizenry, including those fortunate enough to be ticket holders, were mesmerized by the boys’ state basketball tournament at Williams Arena. Most games drew capacity crowds of over 18,000 frenzied fans, and even a consolation matchup on a Friday morning could pull in 13,000 souls grateful to be in the arena.
The one-class tournament involved just eight teams and started on a Thursday, playing down to the championship game on Saturday night. The drama was nothing short of what Hollywood offered up in the movie “Hoosiers,” where small town Milan won the Indiana state high school title.
In the 1950s and 1960s this state’s fabled tournament was often the sports highlight of the year. The Gophers and pro teams couldn’t match the theatre of teams and players from the big city, suburbs and small towns. Minnesotans sat on the edge of their collective chairs in anticipation of who would emerge as that year’s “state tournament darlings.”
Small town teams against suburban or city teams created a David versus Goliath storyline. But not always, and there are chroniclers of state tourney history who consider the 1963 game between Marshall and Cloquet the greatest ever.
The game was tied 43-43 at halftime and ended 75-74 after Dennis Schroeder of Marshall made two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to give his team the state’s biggest prep prize. It was a back-and-forth exhausting competition—physically and emotionally. Schroeder told the Minneapolis Tribune after the game he “almost died” when his first free throw popped up in the air before going down through the net.
Howard Lavick was a Cloquet freshman back in 1963 and he has gone on to become a Hollywood documentary film maker. He is captivated by that Cloquet team and has posted a YouTube video called “Beyond the Prize.” Whether you lived through that era of state tournament glory or not, it’s highly recommended viewing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjgAf6gXSkM
Now here is something else cool: March 24 there will be a reunion for all players from 1960-1970 who played on teams from the last decade of the one-class tournament format. About 40 to 50 attendees are expected including Ben Trochlil, coach of the 1963 Cloquet team and now 86 years old. Many of his players and their rivals from Marshall will come together again, perhaps for the last time.
Jeff McCarron, a great player on the 1970 Sherburn team that won the last one-class state title, is helping organize a reunion luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 24 at The Graduate Hotel near Williams Arena. Fittingly, this year boys’ state tournament games will be played five straight days at the “Barn.”
The reunion is a passionate endeavor for McCarron. He wrote in an email that the gathering of men now 69 to 80 years old, from various teams and years, will “recognize a bond with not only their own teammates and coaches, but with their opponents.”
More information: jmac8144@yahoo.com
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