EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -Everson Griffen left Southern Cal a year early, fully convinced he was going to be a first-round draft pick.
Plenty of mock drafts supported his theory, but then the real draft started. Round one came and went. So did rounds two and three.
“I watched some of the second round, then I just couldn’t watch it no more,” Griffen said. “Then I just waited for that phone call.”
The call finally came early in the fourth round, when the Minnesota Vikings selected the physically gifted defensive end with the 100th overall selection on Saturday. Concerns about his consistency caused Griffen to plummet down the draft board, and the Vikings didn’t hesitate to grab him at the top of the fourth round even though they don’t have an immediate need for a defensive end.
‘s got great tutelage with (defensive line coach) Karl Dunbar. Being surrounded by the defensive linemen that we already have on our roster will make him a better player as well.”
With established – and vocal – veterans like Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams and Ray Edwards already entrenched on the defensive line, Griffen can expect to be challenged early to shed that label of not giving effort on every down.
“I know that they have the best D-line in the NFL,” Griffen said. “I’m just happy to be a part of them. I just want them to take me under their wing and show me the ropes around there.”
The first order of business for Griffen will be to prove that he can give 100 percent effort on every down.
“The consistency level has to improve somewhat in his play,” Studwell said. “There were games where he was a first-round pick and games when he would disappear.”
That analysis sounds almost exactly like what the Vikings heard when they took Edwards in the fourth round in 2006. The former Boilermaker had all the physical tools to be a high pick, but attitude concerns pushed him down much further. After an up-and-down first three years in the league, Edwards had a breakout season in 2010 with 8 1/2 sacks. He also had three sacks in a dominating performance against Dallas in the playoffs.
nt maturity levels in all of these players. Some of them get it right away and some of them take a little more time than others. That is not a flaw, it’s just the way they are wired.”
At 6-foot-3 and 273 pounds, Griffen has the strength and the speed to be a successful pass rusher. He had eight sacks in his junior season with the Trojans and was considered one of the top defensive ends in the country when he arrived at USC in 2007.
Griffen said a turf toe injury contributed to his inconsistency last season and never quite lived up to all the hype he received in the recruiting process.
“He’s a college student that enjoyed the college life a little bit,” Studwell said. “We are not going to kill him for that. … We are not worried about his background. We are not worried about his character. He has to grow up a little bit like they all do.”
On Friday, the Vikings chose running back Toby Gerhart from Stanford and Virginia cornerback Chris Cook.
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