Quarterback REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEACH

Minnesota tried to trade.  They also needed a quarterback.  The best quarterback left on the board is a late first round talent, early 2nd round at best.  So they had a problem.  Do they trade up and go for the Newton, Gabbert, Locker crowd?  Or, do they try to trade back and get the guy they want and maybe get some more picks to boot?  The  second strategy is obviously what they tried to do, but there's a problem.  They needed a willing party to trade up into the 12th spot.  No takers.  Therefore, the Vikings were stuck.  They have a glaring need at QB (as do a lot of teams).

Christian Ponder was not the best player on the board, not by a long shot.  However, the Vikings had a HUGE need that could not wait until the 2nd round.  Therefore, after exhausting all possible trade options, the Vikings had to take him.  It was not an ideal situation by any stretch, but they got the guy they wanted, just a little bit higher than they would have liked, so they will probably have to pay him a little bit more as well (Darrius Heyward-Bey anyone?).  Quarterbacks are doing pretty well this year, despite being tagged a "weak class."

Elsewhere, Detroit took my boy Fairley.  Immediately, Boomer starts to go gaga over the possibility of Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley as the immovable objects in the Lions' 4-3 defense.  This means the Redskins are going to have to scramble now (we had our chance to get him at 10).  Top defensive options and quarterbacks are dropping like flies off the board....Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.