Why Doesn't Rick Spielman Draft Golden Gophers?

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Yes. I am friends with the head of turf and field management for the Vikings. He told me all about this while he was at TCF with the team

Yeah I know the gophers borrowed equipment from the Vikings at least on one occasion, I wouldn't be surprised if they did it previously too.

IIRC it was back in the Brewster days (edit, it was the Jerry Kill era) that the Gophers borrowed some Vikings sideline heaters so they could offer them to the other team. An assistant went on twitter to complain (bad choice....) and later MN said they were happy to offer them ... and required to do so.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Yeah I know the gophers borrowed equipment from the Vikings at least on one occasion, I wouldn't be surprised if they did it previously too.

IIRC it was back in the Brewster days that the Gophers borrowed some Vikings sideline heaters so they could offer them to the other team. An assistant went on twitter to complain (bad choice....) and later MN said they were happy to offer them ... and required to do so.

Exactly. I’m not saying they don’t use the Vikings equipment but it isn’t Rick calling up visiting coaches. Its the gophers calling the Vikings and working out a deal.

 

[stocker08]

Not really sure how much the "stole" Winfield and TJ. Winfield went in the first part of the 2nd round. The three teams that took safeties ahead of him in round 2 might regret the decision some at this point, but it isn't like he fell way past where he should have. He was projected as a late 1st early 2nd guy and that is where he ended up. And I am pretty sure that at the time Tampa took him he was the #1 safety left on the board.

As for TJ, tough to say how his NFL career will go and if the Bucs really got a steal. There were a lot of WR taken in the 2020 draft and I have no clue how they all fared during the season. I am sure there were some busts and also some guys who didn't play due to injury. Remains to be seen what kind of pro career he is going to have.

Maybe in the case of TJ, seeing him live played potentially served as a bit of tie breaker between him and other WR on the board at that point. But so much goes into the draft and player evaluation that it is really tough to say how big a role one game can play in the overall process. TJ certainly helped his case that day with the huge game but no team in their right mind would invest millions in a player based on one performance.

Sure they did. They stole him in the sense that he is much better than his draft position suggests. Several safeties went prior that probably shouldn't have in retrospect. Same situation as Jeremy Chinn who went at the end of the second. I think TJ will prove the same. The Bucs got major value at their drafting position.

 

[TurfGopher]

Yes. I am friends with the head of turf and field management for the Vikings. He told me all about this while he was at TCF with the team

Well I suppose your story beats mine. Say hello to Grant for me!

 

[HopHead]

If you want more details on the heated bench issue, look at this article. According to this, it was the Gophers who requested the benches from the Vikings. Not OSU.

Minnesota Vikings Offer Ohio State Heating Equipment Thanks To Minnesota Request - The Daily Gopher

 

[Replacement Gopher]

All success = winning the lottery?

What an incredibly stupid comic.

Where does it say all success = winning lottery?

 

[MaxyJR1]

The real question is why has he not taken a single Badger over his tenure? Quick look and it's 3 Hawkeyes, 1 Gopher, and 0 Badgers. It's obvious the school means nothing.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

The real question is why has he not taken a single Badger over his tenure? Quick look and it's 3 Hawkeyes, 1 Gopher, and 0 Badgers. It's obvious the school means nothing.

And nobody from McNeese State!

 

[MNVCGUY]

The real question is why has he not taken a single Badger over his tenure? Quick look and it's 3 Hawkeyes, 1 Gopher, and 0 Badgers. It's obvious the school means nothing.

I mean clearly, he hates the midwest....only explanation that makes any sense. Couldn't be because they just had other players they wanted to draft more, has to be intentional and done out of spite.

 

[MplsGopher]

All success = winning the lottery?

No.

Survivorship bias or survival bias is the logical error of concentrating on the people or things that made it past some selection process and overlooking those that did not

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I mean clearly, he hates the midwest....only explanation that makes any sense. Couldn't be because they just had other players they wanted to draft more, has to be intentional and done out of spite.

I have visited states.

I have never been to Tennessee ... clearly I have something against Tennessee!

 

[hello-world]

Honestly, I think it's a smart policy. He hears about MN players for 3 years, sees their highs and lows in the news, etc.

It's easy to overweight things that you're familiar with, and much harder to look at them impartially. If you make drafting local players a priority, then you're probably going to reach too far to get them.

 

[SJUgopher]

He is Ohio State Scum!!!! The Vikings would lend their heated benches to OSU whenever they played at TCF (post metrodome, pre-US Bank Stadium)

Is this a bit about the benches? You know the Gophers arranged this, right?

 

[SJUgopher]

Is this a bit about the benches? You know the Gophers arranged this, right?

Nm see this was discussed already.