The Minnesota Vikings introduced their first-round draft picks Friday afternoon at Winter Park.
UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr was selected by the Vikings with the 9th pick in the first round and Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was selected 32nd overall, after the Vikings traded back into the first-round with Seattle.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer called both Barr and Bridgewater are high-character guys.
“Rick [Spielman] did an unbelievable job,” said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer. “We want to continue to bring in people like this to help us win.”
At the end of the season, Bridgewater was considered a top five pick, but after a poor showing during his pro day, Bridgewater’s value dropped to the point where the Vikings selected him with the last pick in the first-round.
Bridgewater said the criticism wasn’t difficult to deal with. He said his mindset was “worry about the things you can control.”
Bridgewater says we can "best believe" that he will play with a chip on his shoulder after most of the NFL passed on him.
— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) May 9, 2014
He joked that the most unfair of the comparison was one that compared him to Willie Beamon, (Jamie Foxx) the fictional quarterback from the movie “Any Given Sunday.”
Bridgewater said the one thing he didn't like the most was being compared to Willie Beamon. Hard to blame him since Willie doesn't exist
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) May 9, 2014
Bridgewater, who is a native of Florida, said that he isn’t worried about the cold weather in Minnesota with the Vikings playing outdoors the next two seasons.
Bridgewater: “I think it won’t be a big adjustment [to playing in cold weather]…it’s a mental thing I’ll be able to block that out.”
— Aj Mansour (@AjKFAN) May 9, 2014
Vikings players seemed happy with the Vikings chose Bridgewater. According to 1500 ESPN, wide receiver Greg Jennings told reporters that Bridgewater is a better fit for the Vikings than Johnny Manziel would have been.
Their first pick was Barr, who was originally recruited to UCLA as a running back.
Anthony Barr: "A couple years ago I never could have imagined this…my teammates and coaches at UCLA helped me along the way." #Vikings
— KFAN1003 (@KFAN1003) May 9, 2014
In his two years as a linebacker though, Barr quickly changed his body and became regarded as one of the top play-making linebackers in all of college football, recording 23.5 sacks and more than 40 tackles for loss.
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