2008 Minnesota Vikings Draft Needs

After the trade for Jared Allen, the Minnesota Vikings are left with no first-round pick and no third-round pick, leaving them with six draft picks this year. This dearth of picks has left me with little enthusiasm for doing my typical pre-draft research on possible Vikings' picks.

That said, these are the area I believe the Vikings will address.

With Bryant McKinnie facing a possible four-game suspension and with a lack of depth at the position regardless, it looks fairly obvious that the Vikes will take an offensive lineman with their second-round pick at number 16 (47th overall), preferably a left tackle.

Fortunately, this draft has a strong class of offensive lineman, particularly at the tackle position. With the second-round pick, the Vikings should be able to get a player who will at the very least be able to challenge Ryan Cook.

With the fourth-round pick, I could see the team taking a wide receiver ro a safety. The Vikings will need to find Darren Sharper's eventual replacement, and that could come soon, so a safety wouldn't surprise me at all here but only if value falls to them. The talent drops off sharply at this position after the top three players.

For that reason, it may be more likely the team picks a receiver here. While the addition of Bernard Berrian helps a lot, the team still doesn't have that breathtaking athlete that you want at the position.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the team draft a quarterback in the latter rounds as well. Childress really didn't want to lose Tyler Thigpen last year, so look for the Vikes to draft a QB to challenge Brooks Bollinger for the third string position and provide another developmental project should Jackson ultimately not work out.

In the sixth and seventh rounds, the Vikes will likely look for depth on the defensive or offensive lines and perhaps a cornerback or tight end.

Let's hope that last year's strong draft was no fluke because this year the Vikes will especially need solid talent evaluation acumen.