It all got so very confusing on Sunday during an endless final day of the 2008 draft.
The details are fuzzy, but it seems the Bears landed the next Hines Ward, a new John Lynch, a guy on probation, a guy just off probation, a guy with two knees, another with a shoulder, someone from Alaska, someone who has eaten baked Alaskan and a tight end with as many sacks as the defensive lineman taken two rounds earlier.
And that was before the seventh round, which the Bears dominated with five picks. That included the first selection of the round, used on Michigan State defensive end Ervin Baldwin, an international man of mystery who wasn’t invited to the NFL Scouting Combine and didn’t make the cut in the draft guides. Baldwin later was hilariously asked in a conference call how he earned the moniker ”The Big Cheese,” which actually is the preferred nickname of Chester Adams, an offensive lineman selected 14 picks after Baldwin.
Confused? It was just that kind of day. The Bears landed 10 players to go with two chosen Saturday, and it will take years to figure out exactly how they fared.
That didn’t stop general manager Jerry Angelo — who said last week he was hoping to select four starters — from declaring he actually drafted five potential starters, counting safety Craig Steltz of LSU, who was taken in the fourth round over USC quarterback John David Booty.
If Angelo can pull off that feat, he’ll be in rare company. An examination of the last five drafts reveals that only two teams exceeded Angelo’s goal. The Buffalo Bills came up with six starters in their 2006 draft and the Philadelphia Eagles five in 2005. No other team selected more than four, and generally speaking, if a GM can find three, it’s a great draft.

suntimes.com

Well, the feeding frenzy for players that weren’t selected with any of the draft’s 253 picks has started, and somebody had better call Mr. French and/or Mary J. Blige, because the Vikings have made this a family affair.
According to Judd Zulgad of the Star-Tribune, here are the Undrafted Free Agents that the Vikings have agreed with:
Husain Abdullah S Washington State
Martail Burnett DE Utah
Leger Douzable DT Central Florida
Marcus Griffin S Texas
Steven Hauschka K NC State
Erin Henderson LB Maryland
Nate Jones WR Texas
Travis Key CB Michigan State
Jeremy “J” Leman LB Illinois
Tim Mattran C Stanford
Drew Radovich T USC
Darius Reynaud WR West Virginia
Brandon Sumrall CB S Mississippi
Marcus Walker CB Oklahoma
Kyle Wright QB Miami (Fla.)
Albert Young RB Iowa
Erin Henderson is the younger brother of Vikings linebacker E.J. Henderson, while Marcus Griffin is the younger brother of Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin. Both players attended the same college as their older brothers did. Gee. . .you suppose the Vikings had the inside track on those two signings?
Looking at where The Sporting News had each of them ranked, Reynaud was listed as their 15th best WR and the highest WR not drafted. Henderson was their 8th ranked outside linebacker. Leman was the #13 inside linebacker, and Griffin was the #14 safety in their listings.
Not sure how many of these guys are actually going to have a shot at making the roster, but it’s good to see that the Beloved Purple didn’t just sit on their hands after the final name was called out.
Thanks for the great weekend, everybody. Despite not seeing a lot of action, the Vikings made the draft weekend a pretty successful one in my book, as well as a pretty successful one for the Daily Norseman. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday night, and we’ll see you all back here tomorrow!

dailynorseman.com