What a busy sports weekend. We will cover it all with another “Four Downs”:
FIRST DOWN- The Minnesota Vikings had a mixed weekend regarding roster improvement, in my opinion. They entered the weekend needing depth at defensive line, offensive line (especially center), running back and secondary help. They accomplished those things by drafting: 1st round-DL Caleb Banks, Florida; 2nd round-LB Jake Golday, Cincinnati; 3rd rounders-DT Domonique Orange, Iowa State; OT Caleb Tierman, Northwestern; Safety Jakobe Thomas Miami; 5th rounders-FB Max Bredeson, Michigan; CB Charles Demmings, Stephen F. Austin; 6th round-RB Demond Clairborne, Wake Forest; and 7th round-Center Gavin Gerhardt, Cincinnati. They also traded Johnathan Grenard to Philadelphia, primarily because he wanted a pay-raise and the Vikings are constrained by the salary cap.
If I was the General Manager of the Vikiings I would have been more conservative and picked in the first three rounds-Dillion Theinaman, the safety out of Oregon, Jake Slaughter the center out of Florida in the second round; and in the third round Darrell Jackson Jr., defensive tackle out of Florida State. The front office and coaching staff study these players much more than I do, so as a fan I hope they are right and I am wrong. I gave them a C grade coming out of the draft, but the true grade won’t be known until four years from now.
SECOND DOWN-There is nothing as stressful as overtime hockey in the postseason. The Wild and Dallas Stars are in an amazing series, featuring two overtime games. It is now essentially a best-of-three series with game five Tuesday night in Dallas. It is a shame one of these two teams will be eliminated after the first round because of this silly playoff format the NHL matching up division opponents in the first round instead of just doing seeds 1-8 in each conference.
THIRD DOWN- As I am writing this, the Minnesota Timberwolves are up three games to one in their series against Denver. Game five is Monday (4/27) night so when you read this, Minnesota will either have won the series or will be playing game six at Target Center Thursday night. Regardless, it will be tough for Minnesota to advance deep into the postseason without guard Dante Divincenzo who tore his Achilles tendon Saturday night and is out for the remainder of the season and Anthony Edwards is out a few weeks because of a hyperextended knee. So far Bones Hyland and Ayo Dosunmu have stepped up, but can they do it all the way to the NBA Finals? That might be a tough ask for players who are really good, but not as talented as the superstar that is ANT.
FOURTH DOWN-The Twins are struggling right now after being swept by the Reds, losing a series on the road against the Mets, and then being swept again this past weekend in Tampa. No one expects great things from Minnesota this year, but they have shown glimpses of being a competitive team. The timely hitting has been insufficient to win more games and the bullpen needs more defined roles. They will be a streaky team all season long, but hopefully they can stay relevant at least until this weekend.
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