Matt Kalil Not The Sexiest Pick, But The Right Pick For The Vikings

We are already less then a week away from the NFL Draft, which is set for next Thursday at 7 P.M. Central time. As we speak now, and if everything goes according to plan, the Indianapolis Colts will select Andrew Luck number one, and Washington Redskins will select Robert Griffin III or RG3 number two, so that puts the Minnesota Vikings on the clock right now.

The Vikings have so many holes to fill like offensive line, wide receiver, and secondary. Lucky for the Vikings all three of those holes could be filled with the third pick, like Matt Kalil who is the younger brother of Ryan Kalil who is a Pro Bowler for the Carolina Panthers. Kalil right now is projected to be picked by the Vikings. Yet ESPN insider Adam Schefter has said Kalil is not a lock for the Vikings at number three. Kalil will fill that blind side for the next decade, and will protect Christian Ponder enough for him to develop into the quarterback the Vikings want him to become. Lets take a look at couple other players that could be picked by the Vikings at number three.

Morris Claiborne is a small corner back at 5 11', yet could help beef up the secondary. What Claiborne lacks in size he makes up with talent. 2011 Jim Thorpe winner, unanimous All American, and the 2011 first team all SEC. Claiborne is a fierce competitor, but could be become the next Patrick Peterson from last years draft or become the next Pacman Jones.

The dark horse for the third selection is a guy I really like in Justin Blackmon. Blackmon has won back-to-back Biletnikoff award which is awarded to the top college football wide receiver. Also Blackmon was 2010, and 2011 All Big 12 first team. Blackmon is fast with a 4,46 40 yard dash, yet the experts say he wont become the next Larry Fitzgerald, because Fitzgerald was 6 3' at the combine, but here is some parallel, both Fitz, and Blackmon had a 35 inch vertical, and Fitz was .05 slower then Blackmon on the 40 yard dash. With these stats it seems like Blackmon is like Fitz, but are the experts seeing something that I am missing? or does is it all about his height? I guess we will see how his height plays out this upcoming year on the field.

With all this said, and done Kalil is the better pick. It might not be the sexiest pick, but if we want Ponder to grow into the franchise quarterback then we will need to give him some protection. Blackmon might have the greatest upside, but he also could become a flop like Troy Williamson. Claiborne would also be a great pick too, but his size is called into question, and also he was not even LSU best corner back last year with the Honey Badger Tyrann Mathieu arguably better, yet Claiborne is still the best corner back in this years NFL draft. Viking fans expect to see Kalil be drafted next week. No we wont see Kalil run down the side line catching a 60 yard pass from Ponder, or see him step in front of a Aaron Rodgers pass, and return it back for a pick six, but instead he will be the guy doing the dirty work in the trenches to make sure Ponder is upright on his two feet, and give Adrian Peterson a brick wall to run behind.