VIKINGS DRAFT NEEDS: LINEBACKERS
When it comes to analyzing the Vikings' current roster and guessing, er, breaking down what they'll do in the 2015 NFL draft, no position is more intriguing and confounding than linebacker.
On the one hand, they have promising youngsters they really like as Chad Greenway's eventual heir apparent (Gerald Hodges) and Jasper Brinkley's replacement (Audie Cole, Casey Matthews or dark-horse candidate Michael Mauti).
On the other hand, the temptation to link them to a dynamic, three-down playmaker to use alongside potential All-Pro Anthony Barr seems too irresistible.
University of Miami linebacker Denzel Perryman has been called a sideline-to-sideline tackling machine who could be available in the second round. Washington's versatile Shaq Thompson, who could play three downs inside and eventually replace Greenway as an outside starter, is a first-round possibility but more likely a target if the Vikings trade down from No. 11.
But would it be all that bad if the Vikings stand pat?
When Cole was asked to start at middle linebacker at Green Bay in 2013, he had 18 tackles and a sack in his NFL starting debut. When asked to start outside in last year's finale, he had 14 tackles. He also has ideal size and strong instincts.
Meanwhile, in a start against the Jets, Hodges made one of the top-two defensive plays of the year, leaping for a one-handed interception and returning it for a touchdown 12 seconds into the game.
The Vikings also like Mauti, haven't fully given up on Brandon Watts and quietly signed Matthews, who started 11 games in Philadelphia a year ago.
