Vikings May Pass on Matt Kalil, and Jaguars Unable to Deal?

I wake up this morning, as you would on most mornings the week of the draft, to find a couple of headlines that I find particularly interesting. First of all, there are rumors swirling that the Minnesota Vikings are still contemplating whether or not they should take USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil with the third overall pick. Likely, the Vikings see what the Rams received in a trade with the Redskins moving down a mere four spots, and feel like if they can get something close to that, they would move down, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

My opinion is this: The Vikings will take Matt Kalil because their offensive line is terrible. Not only that, but there is really no better alternative out there at the moment. The Vikings need offensive line help more than most teams in the NFL, and getting a guy like Kalil is a no-brainer, even if he winds up being a bust someday. They could opt for Morris Claiborne if they feel like he has shut-down ability, but they would have to trade down to make that move. I don’t see the Vikings giving up the right to draft Kalil unless they plan on moving down just a couple of spots, and I don’t see any team in the top six or seven who will want to move up, save for maybe St. Louis, which has expressed interest in Trent Richardson.

In short, don’t expect the Vikings to pass on drafting Matt Kalil. It’s just not going to happen.

There is also a report from Peter King that the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are interested in trading down out of that 7th overall pick, are not having an easy time finding trade partners. It’s going to take a ton to move into that spot for some team, or even if a team like Seattle Wanted to move up, it would cost more than they are willing to pay. That being said, the Jags really aren’t going to have an easy time moving that selection.

I also caution you, as King did in his MMQB column, to not believe much of what you hear in these two weeks leading up to the draft. Rumors swirling about RG3 being selfish, Coby Fleener being the most overrated player in the draft, etc. are just rumors being spread by teams who are trying to get those players to fall to their picks. Some of that stuff they say will actually work, and some will just cause people to scratch their head.

Be careful what you believe…