For Vikings, gems to be found in fourth round

[RedMcCombs]

For Vikings, gems to be found in fourth round
11 April, 2012 // Vikings // Tags : The Vikings can fill their biggest needs in the first three rounds, but they’ll have three chances to do damage on the fourth round after free agency losses from the year before landed them two compensatory picks.

The Vikings have found success in recent fourth rounds (Ray Edwards, Brian Robison, Everson Griffen), but in an effort to cast a wider net, a look at the entire fourth round of the 2009 draft showed NFL teams were getting productive players at a little over a 50 percent clip.

I combed through the fourth round of 2009 because that gives players three full seasons to make an impact with a team. The Vikings did not have a fourth-round pick that year.

Of the 36 picks that year (including four compensatory picks), research shows…

*Eighteen were starters or played key reserve roles in 2011 for the teams that drafted them.

*Seven players started at least half the games in 2011. (Bears DE Henry Melton, Jaguars WR Mike Thomas, Packers OT T.J. Lang, Dolphins WR Brian Hartline, Texans S Glover Quin, Chargers DT Vaughn Martin, Chargers OG Tyronne Green).

*Notable non-full-time starters from 2011: Bears CB D.J. Moore (nickel back recorded four interceptions last season), Colts WR Austin Collie (combined 15 touchdowns first two years in the league), Raiders WR Louis Murphy (groin injury slowed a promising first two seasons)

*One former starter who missed all of 2011 with injury: Cardinals CB Greg Toler (torn ACL, tendered by team this offseason)

*Sixteen players didn’t reach the full three-year mark with the teams that drafted them, in many cases because they were released (or by trade, as the case with former Panthers running back Mike Goodson getting shipped to Oakland)

*One third-string quarterback (Cowboys QB Stephen McGee)

In short: Not a lot of household names here, and certainly some flameouts, but there’s no reason the Vikings can’t find at least two quality production here. The Vikings can follow the blueprint of the Bears, who got a quality nickel back and defensive lineman out of the fourth round in 2009.