https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/?d=4WordPress Posts: WordPress Postsenhttps://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/2018-consensus-big-board-who-signed-the-best-udfas/Every year, players that drop from the draft excite fans when they sign as undrafted free agents for their respective teams. Some of those players, like La'el Collins, Jason Peters and Nickell Robey-Coleman start quickly and play extraordinarily well. Other hyped undrafted free agents -- Isaiah Cr...4828Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/crunching-the-numbers-the-analytics-behind-the-udfas/The Minnesota Vikings are an organization that has prioritized, to some degree, measurables and data-based approaches to player acquisition. They, more than most teams, target high-level athletes at most of their positions, and tend to target players who enter the draft earlier.   There are alway...4825Sat, 05 May 2018 09:57:08 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/crunching-the-numbers-the-analytics-behind-the-devante-downs-pick/Since Rick Spielman took over primary responsibilities for general manager duties in Minnesota, he's drafted a linebacker in the seventh round every single year. Audie Cole, Michael Mauti, Brandon Watts, Edmond Robinson, Stephen Weatherly and Elijah Lee all represent the kinds of athletic lineback...4822Tue, 01 May 2018 19:54:54 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/crunching-the-numbers-the-analytics-behind-the-ade-aruna-pick/The Vikings consistently draft athletic edge rushers. Those players don't always have high-level production -- Danielle Hunter is the prototypical example, but Stephen Weatherly and to some extent Ifeadi Odenigbo didn't have extraordinary production -- but they always beat the NFL average in eithe...4818Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/crunching-the-numbers-the-analytics-behind-the-colby-gossett-pick/It wasn't until late in the draft that the Vikings grabbed an interior offensive lineman, signaling that they will likely stick with the group that got them there instead of improving in the short term.   For that to bear out, Gossett should have reasonable upside as a late-round pick. For the mo...4809Mon, 30 Apr 2018 21:11:55 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/2018-consensus-big-board-the-consensus-big-board-grades-the-draft/People often say that one should "wait three years" to grade a draft, but it only makes sense that anyone willing to offer analysis of players before a draft should be prepared to offer analysis of how teams did selecting those players.   To that end, the 2018 Consensus Big Board has a ranking of...4803Sun, 29 Apr 2018 12:01:19 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/2018-consensus-big-board-the-top-undrafted-free-agents-remaining/With the draft over, the mad dash for undrafted free agents has begun. Many of the players atop consensus boards will have previously unknown injury or off-field concerns, some strong enough to ward teams off entirely. In 2014, when projected second-round pick Antonio Richardson fell out of the dr...4800Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/crunching-the-numbers-the-analytics-behind-the-tyler-conklin-pick/The Vikings, in the fifth round of the NFL draft, elected to round out their tight end depth with the selection of Tyler Conklin, a Central Michigan alum without a lot of draft steam in a class that wasn't nearly as spectacular as last year's.   Nevertheless, Conklin comes somewhat well-recommend...4799Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/crunching-the-numbers-the-analytics-behind-the-jalyn-holmes-pick/The Vikings finally dipped into the defensive line in the draft, selecting hybrid defensive end/defensive tackle Jalyn Holmes along the lines of former Mike Zimmer player Wallace Gilberry, as well as recent picks B.J. Dubose and Scott Crichton.   The defensive end/defensive tackle hybrid doesn't...4791Sat, 28 Apr 2018 17:03:42 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/2018-nfl-draft-day-3-consensus-big-board-the-best-available-players/With Day 2 of the NFL draft in the books and Day 3 in the offing, there are 19 players left in the top 100 players of the Consensus Big Board that could prove to be steals. Below are them and player 101, Nyheim Hines. Consensus Forecaster Evaluator Analytic Player School Pos Pos Rk 19 31...4787Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/crunching-the-numbers-the-analytics-behind-the-brian-oneill-pick/The Vikings in the second round addressed the offensive line with Brian O'Neill, a player whose athleticism has kept him atop the tackle conversation throughout the draft process.   While there's certainly a conversation to be had about O'Neill's development curve, the data suggests a solid offen...4783Sat, 28 Apr 2018 08:00:32 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/crunching-the-numbers-the-analytics-behind-the-mike-hughes-pick/With the Vikings' pick of Mike Hughes, general manager Rick Spielman has selected another player with a mountain of appealing data backing up his acclaim. Hughes impresses on the field, in the gym and does it all as a young prodigy.   While at Central Florida, Hughes only gave up a 34.5 passer ra...4774Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/2018-consensus-big-board-printable-consensus-board/The NFL Draft begins this evening. So why not print out a card and keep score? We’ve compiled a Consensus Big Board so you can keep track of the picks at home. There are four ranking columns. The first set of rankings is the rank by the whole consensus board, with every analyst included. The next...4765Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/a-machine-mocks-the-draft/What does it look like if a machine mocked the draft?   Not the Zone Coverage Football Machine, but a computer simulation using the Consensus Big Board and a team needs list compiled from the SB Nation websites.   James Keane at Bleeding Green Nation, an Eagles fan site, conducted the simulation...4763Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/an-analytics-big-board-and-which-prospects-are-the-analytic-darlings-of-the-class/OTHER CONSENSUS BOARD CONTENT: 2018 Consensus Big Board Most Polarizing Players 2018 Big Board Awards Forecasters vs Evaluators   Adding data and analytical tools to the NFL draft process is a story as old as time -- Gil Brandt and programmer A. Salam Qureishi developed a computerized process...4751Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/2018-consensus-big-board-forecasters-vs-evaluators-and-which-prospects-will-drop-in-the-draft/OTHER CONSENSUS BOARD CONTENT: 2018 Consensus Big Board Most Polarizing Players 2018 Big Board Awards Top 20 Analytic Profiles   With the 2018 Consensus Big Board live, we can start drilling down on what having all these big boards available to us means for draft analysis.   We’ve explained...4742Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/danny-etling-qb-lsu/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-cePbBqucU   Though stellar running games often required Danny Etling to be simply a game manager at LSU, it’s impossible to deny he was pretty efficient in 2017 with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions.   Etling spent his first two college seasons in the Big Ten...4654Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/kurt-benkert-qb-virginia/  You might say Kurt Benkert upgraded when he left East Carolina of the AAC for Virginia of the ACC, but he did so under uncertain circumstances. After tearing his ACL before the 2015 season, Benkert thought he’d lost a chance at being a starter.   But he found new life at Virginia, where he q...4653Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/siran-neal-s-jacksonville-state/  A small-school prospect from Jacksonville State, Siran Neal had the flexibility to play three different positions in his final three years in college: safety, linebacker and corner. As his 6-foot, 205-pound body suggests, he is probably cut out to be a safety in the future, but it never hurts...4652Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/troy-apke-s-penn-state/  A converted wide receiver, Troy Apke has plenty of athleticism. He’s 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, which may be a bit too light, but it helped him place top five in virtually every agility drill at the combine, including a combine best 40-yard dash, 20-yard shuttle and three-cone drill (amongst safet...4651Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/dorian-odaniel-lb-clemson/  This undersized linebacker out of Clemson plays much bigger than his 6-foot-1, 220-pound frame would indicate. He put together a monster senior season once he became a full-time starter, recording 88 tackles, five sacks and two pick-sixes.   His 47 career special teams tackles is tied for th...4650Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/matthew-thomas-lb-florida-state/  After a topsy-turvy career at Florida State shrouded by ambiguous violations and injury issues, Matthew Thomas is looking for a fresh start at the NFL level.   Thomas was recruited as a five-star talent out of high school, then dealt with a shoulder injury early in his career, as well as a s...4649Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/genard-avery-lb-memphis/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aPImbz9GdM   Genard Avery took his game to the next level as a senior at Memphis, likely solidifying his spot as a Day 3 draft pick. Avery recorded career highs in all major categories with 80 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He fini...4648Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/tyler-conklin-te-central-michigan/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHz3wod1Sbo   A converted Division II basketball player, Tyler Conklin made a name for himself at Central Michigan in 2016, when he caught 42 passes for 560 yards and six touchdowns. His senior season saw a dip in production since Conklin had to battle back from a...4647Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000https://wolvesdaily.com/news-rumors/guide/ian-thomas-te-indiana/  Ian Thomas has one of the best stories of the draft. After losing both of his parents before the age of 10, Thomas was raised by his older brother in a tough part of Baltimore. He became a multi-sport high school star, attended junior college for two years and eventually landed with the India...4646Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000