Hartman: Vikings gaining an Irish accent

There will be five Notre Dame products on the Vikings now that Harrison Smith and Robert Blanton were drafted to join center John Sullivan, who is in his fifth year, second-year tight end Kyle Rudolph and recently signed free-agent tight end John Carlson.Rudolph, who led all rookie tight ends last season with three touchdowns and finished second among rookie tight ends in receiving yards with 249 on 26 catches, played three years for the Fighting Irish with Vikings newcomers Smith and Blanton and is convinced the Vikings made a great move in drafting them.

"[Smith] is a very versatile safety who can play a two-high and cover, and he is also very familiar with playing down in the box," Rudolph said. "He's a guy who was the leading tackler for us at Notre Dame two years in a row, a two-time captain. He was a great leader and a great kid.

"I definitely think he'll compete for some playing time. He's going to come in and you know he's going to work hard and do everything he's asked to do -- whether it's playing safety or special teams. He's definitely a hard worker. A guy who was known as the first one in and one of the last ones out."

According to Rudolph, Smith is "more of a leader by example. A quiet guy who is not likely to say a whole lot."

Smith and Blanton finished second and third, respectively, in tackles for the Irish last season, but Rudolph recalled that both were key in his final game with the Irish -- a 33-17 victory against Miami in the 2010 Sun Bowl. In that game, Smith and Blanton ended four consecutive first-half drives by the Hurricanes with interceptions -- Smith grabbed three of the picks while Blanton had one. (St. Paul's Michael Floyd, drafted by the Arizona Cardinals, also caught two touchdown passes in the game.)

Rudolph said he had expected Smith to be drafted in the first round.

Long relationship with Blanton Blanton, a cornerback with whom Rudolph played in the Army All-American Bowl in high school, also came into Notre Dame in the same class.

Rudolph is excited about having five Notre Dame guys with the Vikings. "It's going to be awesome to have those guys in the locker room and they'll do whatever it takes to win football games," Rudolph said.

Rudolph also said that Sullivan is one of his favorite players and that it is no surprise because the center is one of the most popular players in the locker room -- you would have a hard time finding a Vikings player with more class than him.

"He helped me a ton last year," Rudolph said about Sullivan. "He kind of put his arm around me and walked me through the city, and he's an outstanding player as well."

Rudolph spent time this offseason working out in his hometown and with quarterback Christian Ponder, who's also entering his second year. "[I] worked out at my high school for the first few months and then left and Christian and I went down to Florida together and trained at a place down there," he said. "I really felt like I got myself in great shape for OTAs and am ready to start working.

"I feel a lot more comfortable going into Year 2. Having gone through it all and this still being my first offseason, because of having the lockout we didn't have one last year, I definitely feel good."

Future of Wolves Wolves owner Glen Taylor spent 3 1/2 hours with Wolves coach Rick Adelman and his assistant coaches Tuesday, getting their views on what it will take to make the team a contender next year.

It was obvious from what Taylor heard that they didn't expect forwards Michael Beasley or Anthony Randolph to be back next season.

And the coaches made it clear they need to find some outside shooters if they are going to win consistently, and Taylor promised that the team will be a minimum of $10 million under the salary cap next season.

Apparently, the coaches discussed the names of about 20 outstanding players who will be free agents at the end of this season. They pointed out a couple they would prefer, but Taylor refused to divulge those names.

Besides the cap room, with Adelman as coach, more good players will be interested in playing here.