Hartman: Vikings must do better in this draft

The Vikings certainly need better results from the 2011 NFL draft, which began Thursday night, than they had a year ago if the team is going to fill the many holes on their roster for next season.

The 2011 draft class is viewed as being much deeper than in 2010, when the Vikings traded their first-round pick (and 30th overall) to the Lions in an exchange of draft picks. When Southern California tackle Tyron Smith wasn't available through a trade and was taken by Dallas three picks before, the Vikings selected Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder at No. 12.

A year ago five of the eight players the Vikings drafted made the 53-man roster, but there weren't any big stars or contributors among them like in 2009 when the Vikings picked receiver Percy Harvin in the first round.

After the Vikings traded their 2010 first-round pick to the Lions, their first selection was cornerback Chris Cook of Virginia in the second round (the 34th overall pick). Later in the second round, they drafted Stanford running back Toby Gerhart with the 51st overall pick.

Cook missed 10 of 16 games because of various injuries and wound up on the injured reserve list. Gerhart didn't live up to his big buildup. He missed one game and was hampered in others because of injuries. He finished with 81 rushes for 322 yards and caught 21 passes for 167 yards.

Like this year, the Vikings didn't have a third-round choice last year. Their fourth-round pick, obtained from the Lions, was defensive lineman Everson Griffen of Southern California, who didn't play in the first four games and saw limited action the rest of the season. Griffen finished the season with 11 tackles.

Their fifth-round choice, offensive lineman Chris DeGeare from Wake Forest, started the final five games when an injury sidelined left guard Steve Hutchinson. DeGeare likely would not have seen action if it wasn't for that injury. A second fifth-round draft choice, Gophers linebacker Nate Triplett, was released and eventually signed with the Colts in December.

After being inactive for the first 11 games, Webb replaced injured quarterbacks Brett Favre and Tarvaris Jackson and played in the Vikings' final five games. He completed 54 of 89 passes for 477 yards and ran for two touchdowns.

Tight end Mickey Shuler Jr. of Penn State, drafted 214th overall in the seventh round, was claimed on waivers by the Dolphins after being on the practice squad.

Fullback Ryan D'Imperio of Rutgers also was selected in the seventh round, was cut in September, then later re-signed to the practice squad.

So vice president of football operations Rick Spielman, director of scouting Scott Studwell and all of the scouts have a big challenge to improve on the 2010 draft because the need is so much greater than it was after the 2009 season, when the Vikings were one victory away from going to the Super Bowl.

The team also is getting older and will need a number of replacements in the near future.

"I hope it works out where he's able to come back," Frazier said. "I've enjoyed working with Pat. He's made me look good on a lot of Sundays, I can tell you that. I'd love for him to finish his career in Minnesota. I love working with Pat, he's one of my all-time favorites.

"I think he still has some football left. He'd be the first to tell you he's not the Pat of say, five or six years ago, but he can still make a lot of plays. He still can energize a defense and energize a team, so there's still something left in the tank."

JottingsBrian Lawton, the former NHL general manager of the Tampa Bay Lighting, should be proud of the job he did putting together the team that edged Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday night. Lawton was fired just over a year ago after the team fell out of playoff contention down the stretch in 2010. Some club that is looking for a general manager should take a look at the great job Lawton did at Tampa Bay.

What a mistake Gophers junior center Ralph Sampson III will make if he hires an agent and tries to join the NBA. Teammate Trevor Mbakwe never filed for the draft and will be back with Gophers coach Tubby Smith next year. But Sampson, who isn't nearly as qualified for the draft as Mbakwe, has filed. The word is that his father, former three-time college player of the year and NBA great Ralph Sampson Jr., believes his son is not ready for the NBA while his mother, Aleize, believes the opposite.

Jac Sperling, who played a big part in bringing the Wild to St. Paul, is working with several big CEOs in Minneapolis who want a new Vikings stadium built at the Farmers Market site. Bob Starkey, who played a big role in getting Target Field built for the Twins, is no longer working with the Vikings. ... The Gophers men's basketball team ranked 24th nationally in home attendance last year with an average of 13,241 per game. Six Big Ten teams outdrew the Gophers.

Former Gophers baseball player Michael Kvasnicka is continuing to have a great start with the Lexington Legends, the Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros. Kvasnicka was hitting .303 through 18 games with five doubles, two triples, a home run, 16 RBI and 11 runs scored. ... Former Gophers starting pitcher Seth Rosin is 0-1 with a 3.63 ERA through three starts with the Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets, San Francisco's Class A affiliate. Rosin had a nice last start, throwing seven innings and giving up only one earned run. ... The new head baseball coach at the University of Texas at Tyler is New Ulm native Paul Wyczawski.

Hassan Mead, the six-time All-America distance runner in cross-country and track who missed last season with health issues, ran the second fastest 5,000 meters of his career (13 minutes, 45.68 seconds) recently at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. Mead is only running in big meets this year.