Minnesota Vikings: Phil Loadholt Injury To Test Rick Spielman’s Drafting Ability
There is no question that Rick Spielman has been scouting and evaluating talent for a long time. He’s been doing a role in that capacity in the NFL since 1990 when he started off as a college scout for the Detroit Lions. Here we sit, 25 years late with Spielman on his second crack at a general manager job in the NFL and a test of his drafting abilities.
The most important pick of Spielman’s four drafts as GM might have come in the fourth round of this past draft. With starting right tackle Phil Loadholt likely out for the season with a torn Achilles, it looks like 4th round pick, 110 overall, T.J. Clemmings will be given every opportunity to gain the starting job.
As the Star Tribune reports, the Vikings are only looking at in-house candidates and I’d expect it to stay that way unless just the right guy falls into their lap via the cutting room floor from other teams and even then the Vikings are good enough that they should have the mentality if someone is not good enough for their team, they probably are not good enough for the Minnesota Vikings.
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On the Vikings official website, Spielman raves about how Clemmings is an athlete and was a Division One prospect in basketball, too. The downside is that Clemmings is a late switch to this position in his football life, only playing right tackle his last two years of college, which could lead to us some potential issues, but a season ago he started all 13 games for Pittsburgh at right tackle and was voted as a Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-ACC.
The one thing you hate to see in the preseason is an injury and the one to Loadholt is a huge blow to the Vikings, especially with a young and still developing quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater. Trying to turn a big negative into a positive is two-fold.
One, we get to see what Clemmings is made of the best way to do so, by seeing him on the field. Two, we get to see how well Rick Spielman is in drafting. Spielman has made some great picks, Audie Cole in round seven in 2012 looks pretty good, and some that the jury is still out on, Cordarrelle Patterson, but this, if Clemmings gets the job, is a pretty good measuring stick of what Spielman brings to the table.
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