Day two of the NFL Draft could be an interesting one for both Vikings and Gopher football fans.
Former Gophers defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman and safety Brock Vereen could both be drafted, Friday.
Hageman was thought by some to be a borderline first-round pick, while Vereen is thought to be a third or fourth round pick.
At 6-foot-6, and 310-pounds Hageman is regarded as one of the top defensive tackles in the draft. NFL.com predicts that he is a top 50 pick in the draft and he was one of 30 players invited to New York, but Hageman was not picked on Thursday.
Ra'Shede Hageman's "drop" really anchored by teams not loving his tape. Too inconsistent. Even with very good flashes, not worth it in Rd1.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) May 9, 2014
NFL Media’s Gil Brandt has Hageman as his 7th best remaining prospect. Brandt writes:
Hageman (6-foot-5 7/8, 310 pounds) has size, power and explosion but lacks consistency, otherwise he would be ranked higher. He might be too tall to play defensive tackle in the NFL but is good enough to convert to end. At the combine, he ran the 40 in a hand-timed 4.97 seconds. He has 34 1/4-inch arms and posted 32 reps in the bench press.
While he won’t be the first Gopher taken in the first-round since Laurence Maroney in 2006, Hageman will likely be drafted fairly early Friday evening.
Vereen is a 6-foot, 200-pound safety, but would have the flexibility to play either safety or corner. He played both positions with the Gophers.
He comes from a football family, his dad was drafted by Tampa Bay and his brother, Shane, is a running back for the New England Patriots.
Vereen’s 25 bench-press reps were the most among defensive backs at the combine, and his 4.07-second short shuttle was second amongst safeties.
As for the Vikings, they could have to wait a while on Friday evening, then again, maybe not.
After their trade to get back into the first-round to select quarterback Teddy Bridgewater the Vikings currently do not have a second-round pick.
But they could still be a team to watch, in the second-round. They have two third-round and two fifth-round picks remaining and could again be looking to move back into the second-round.
Day two of the NFL draft starts at 6 p.m.
