The first round of the NFL Draft was a whirlwind on Thursday night. The Vikings got a gift when Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd fell to them at No. 23, and they got a replacement for Antoine Winfield in Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes at No. 25.
But the biggest story of the night was yet to come. The Vikings pulled off a deal with New England, sending four picks (Nos. 52, 83, 102 and 229) to the Patriots for the 29th pick, which they used to select Tennessee wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.
(One quick aside: The Purple needed a quality receiver for a couple of important reasons – to make up for the loss of Percy Harvin, and to give themselves the best chance possible to truly evaluate Christian Ponder this year. At the end of the 2013 season, they absolutely have to know whether Ponder is capable of being their franchise quarterback. Thus far, his rookie year was a wash due to the NFL lockout that robbed him of his first offseason, the presence of Donovan McNabb and late-season injury problems. Last year, it wasn't entirely clear whether Ponder's struggles were self-inflicted or caused by an anemic crop of receivers that became downright putrid when Harvin missed the last two months with an ankle injury. The additions of Greg Jennings and Patterson should remove any excuse for Ponder and allow the coaching staff to assess exactly what they've got in their third-year starter.)
The reaction to the Patterson trade was predictable. Fans gathered at Mall of America Field were beyond thrilled to see the Vikings maneuver back into the first round and grab a big-name player they could instantly envision slicing through opposing defenses in that slick new uniform. The national take was not as kind, in part because "four for one" always sets off alarms, and in part because the national media always swoons in the presence of Bill Belichick.
But what did the Vikings actually give up in that trade? The oft-cited Draft Trade Value Chart popularized by former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson in the early 90s has somewhat fallen out of favor among football insiders, but given that the talking heads on TV are usually about a decade late to the dance, you'll probably see the following breakdown at some point in the discussion:
Pick
Value to NE
Value to MIN
29
640
52
380
83
175
102
92
229
---
TOTAL
647
640
So, pretty much a push, right? Factor in the Vikings' desperate need at wide receiver, and it makes even more sense to spend that draft capital on a potential impact player at that key position in a critical juncture for the franchise, with a likely make-or-break year for Ponder looming.
As for history, what kind of return can the Patriots expect on those picks? Or to put it another way, let's slap some names on those draft picks and see who was taken there in the last five years. Players in bold are considered likely starters heading into this year.
Pick No. 52
Year
Player
Team
Notes
2012
Zach Brown, LB, North Carolina
TEN
16 games, 68 tackles, 5.5 sacks
2011
Marvin Austin, DL, North Carolina
NYG
7 games, 8 tackles, no starts
2010
Jason Worilds, LB, Virginia Tech
PIT
42 games, 45 tackles, 10 sacks
2009
David Veikune, DE, Hawaii
CLE
14 games, no starts, out of NFL
2008
Quentin Groves, LB, Auburn
JAX
on 4th team in 6 years, 29 starts
Pick No. 83
Year
Player
Team
Notes
2012
Mohamed Sanu, WR, Rutgers
CIN
8 games, 16 rec, 154 yds, 4 TDs
2011
Jerrel Jernigan, WR, Troy
NYG
17 games, 3 rec, 22 yds, 0 TDs
2010
Corey Peters, DT, Kentucky
ATL
2-year starter, lost job to injury
2009
Brandon Tate, WR, North Carolina
NE
solid PR/KR, 37 catches, 643 yards
2008
Jeremy Zuttah, G, Rutgers
TB
74 games, 60 starts
Pick No. 102
Year
Player
Team
Notes
2012
Kirk Cousins, QB, Michigan St.
WAS
Solid backup to RGIII
2011
Jordan Cameron, TE, Southern Cal
CLE
22 games, 20 rec, 226 yds, 1 TD
2010
Darryl Sharpton, LB, Miami
HOU
27 games, 11 starts, 60 tackles
2009
Donald Washington, DB, Ohio St.
KC
32 games, 5 starts, out of NFL
2008
Jeremy Thompson, DE, Wake Forest
GB
15 games, 3 starts, out of NFL
Pick No. 229
Year
Player
Team
Notes
2012
Bryce Brown, RB, Kansas St.
PHI
564 yds, 4 TDs, filled in for McCoy
2011
Jonathan Nelson, DB, Oklahoma
STL
2 games, out of NFL
2010
Eric Cook, C, New Mexico
WAS
6 games, no starts, out of NFL
2009
Manuel Johnson, WR, Oklahoma
DAL
2 games, 1 catch, out of NFL
2008
Cary Williams, DB, Washburn
TEN
2-year starter in BAL, now in PHI
Of course, the Patriots (like any organization) will argue that they'll do a better job of player evaluation and come up with a few diamonds in the rough, but the tables show that in the last five years, just 35 percent (7 of 20) of the players drafted in with the four picks the Vikings gave up for Patterson went on to become starters. That's not to say the Vikings robbed New England or vise-versa. We just wanted to lay out the facts and let you decide, rather than have one of the TV talking heads tell you who got the better end of the deal.
Patrick Donnelly is a Senior Editor at SportsData, a contributor to the 2012 Vikings Yearbook, and has covered the Vikings for FOXSportsNorth.com, Viking Update and the Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at @donnelly612.