Upside outweighs questions about Griffen

The Vikings used a fourth-round selection in 2006 to select Purdue defensive end Ray Edwards, despite the fact there were some question marks surrounding the player. The move worked out pretty well as Edwards has become the Vikings' starting left end and last season was second on the team with 8.5 sacks.

The Vikings are hoping their latest fourth-round decision has the same results.

Using the second pick of the round (100th overall obtained from Detroit), Minnesota selected Southern Cal defensive end Everson Griffen. Pro Football Weekly's draft book has this to say about Griffen: "Has first-round talent and has long been viewed as a star-in waiting, but did not live up to the hype at USC. ... Comes with a 'buyer beware' label due to intermittent intensity, lack of discipline and questions about his mental makeup."

All of this might be true, but Vikings director of college scouting Scott Studwell sees plenty of upside with the 6-3, 273-pound Griffen. "He actually could be a standup player in a 3-4 [defense], too, so we've got a new toy and we may put him a lot of different places," Studwell said.

Studwell said Griffen can play either end or move inside in passing situations. Griffen started 12 games at right end last season as a junior for the Trojans and had a career-high 45 tackles, eight sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss. He finished his three seasons with 18 sacks.

"You hear it all the time but he was the highest-rated player on our board to be honest with you and he was just a player that was too hard to pass," Studwell said of Griffen. "He's got all the athletic traits that we are looking for in a defensive lineman. He can play on both sides, he could probably also even go inside in nickel, he can run, he's athletic. The consistency level has to improve somewhat in his play. There were games when he was a first-round pick and games when he would disappear. He's got great value where we took him and I think he will blossom as a pro. I think he's got great tutelage with [defensive line coach] Karl [Dunbar] and our defensive line coaches and him being surrounced by the defensive linemen that we already have on our roster I think will make him a better player as well."

Studwell called Griffen a "college student who enjoyed the college life a little bit," adding, "we're not going to kill him for that." Studwell thinks things will change for Griffen when he enters a defensive line meeting room that includes Dunbar and Pro Bowl types Jared Allen and Pat and Kevin Williams.

"Who knows why guys disappear at times in games," Studwell said. "Sometimes it might just be the scheme, it might be the opponent, it might be him. We're not worried about it because guys change a little bit and he'll see the sense of urgency and he's coming from a program that competes and plays hard every day in practice, too. So he's going to come into our tempo and understand it and I think he'll buy into it quick."