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Doug Flutie Jersey

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    As he maneuvered through the NFL draft on Saturday La'el Collins Jersey , Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman certainly had his eye on filling team needs.

     

    Trusting his coaches to develop players, Spielman also had a specific focus on athleticism.

    Minnesota, after trading out of the third round and holding the second pick in the fourth round, selected Ohio State defensive lineman Jalyn Holmes to start Saturday's third day of the draft. Later, the team added two former basketball players as part of a six-player, final day haul.

    "Sticking with the athletic traits we're looking for and relying on this coaching staff to develop a lot of this young talent," Spielman said. "A lot of the traits that they have, you can't teach, you can't coach, but you can sure develop them."

    Spielman continued to move around the board on Saturday. The Vikings then made a pair of trades with the New York Jets, adding tight end Tyler Conklin from Central Michigan and the first kicker taken in the draft in Auburn's Daniel Carlson in the fifth round.

    Minnesota added guard Colby Gossett from Appalachian State, Tulane defensive end Ade Aruna and California linebacker Devante Downs.

    Holmes, a 270-pound defensive end at Ohio State, likely will play inside for the Vikings. He ran 4.82 in the 40-yard dash at the combine, sixth among defensive ends.

    Conklin and Aruna were both former basketball players.

    Conklin left behind a scholarship at Northwood University as a basketball player to walk on to the football team at Central Michigan. Aruna came to the United States from Nigeria to play high school basketball before switching to football prior to his senior season.

    Conklin had the second-best mark among tight ends in the vertical jump and 60-yard shuttle at the combine.

    Aruna also flashed his traits at the combine. The 6-foot-6, 265-pound end was second among all defensive lineman in the 40-yard dash with a time of 4.60 seconds and had the top vertical jump and broad jump.

    "We'll have a hell of an intramural team Rigoberto Sanchez Jersey ," Spielman joked. "All these guys are long. All these guys can jump out of the gym. All these guys can run. When you have those traits, to me and to this coaching staff, our philosophy if we can get athletes in like that, it gives you a chance to hit on some guys that can be pretty special."

    Spielman referenced the team's selection of defensive end Danielle Hunter in the third round in 2015 after Hunter had 1陆 sacks as a senior. He's developed into a starting end and has 25陆 sacks in three seasons.

    Aruna's basketball background even included a matchup with NBA forward Andrew Wiggins where Aruna was responsible for defending the eventual Minnesota Timberwolves player.

    "As soon as we got down to the stadium to play that game, my coach told me, 'Hey, I want you to guard Andrew Wiggins. He's going to be your assignment tonight,'" Aruna said. "I told him, 'No problem, if that's how you want it I will get it done, just like that.' I gave him one of the lowest scoring games of his high school career, that night."

    EXTRA POINTS: Carlson could replace Kai Forbath as Minnesota's kicker after hearing his name selected in the fifth round. Carlson was a three-time finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the best kicker in college football, and was a second-team All-American the past two seasons.

    Forbath re-signed with the Vikings in March on a one-year contract after an inconsistent season in which he led the NFL with five missed extra-point attempts and hit just 84.2 percent of his field-goal attempts.

    In four years at Auburn, Carlson was perfect on 198 extra-point attempts.

    "At this next level, extra points are backed up a little so it is going to take that much more focus and hopefully that can continue to keep that streak alive and take pride in making sure I am mentally locked in Marcus Cooper Jersey ," Carlson said.

    He hit 80.7 percent of his field-goal attempts, including an 87.5 percent mark in 2016 before hitting 23 of 31 (74.2 percent) last season.

    Spielman said Carlson and Forbath will compete for the job during the summer.

    CURLING FOR PICKS: Minnesota's fourth-round pick was delivered via the St. Paul Curling Club from the U.S. Olympic men's gold medal-winning curling team. The team led by captain John Schuster, a Minnesota native, announced the pick of Holmes.

    Holmes was selected 102nd overall, which was the same pick Washington used to get quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2012. In his first chance at free agency, Cousins signed a three-year contract worth $84 million in March.

    STILL NEED: Minnesota went for need during the three days of the draft, hitting the most important spots along the lines and at cornerback. Perhaps more work is needed after the Vikings weren't able to come away with an expected immediate starter on the right side of the offensive line.

    One spot Minnesota didn't address was safety, where it returns All-Pro Harrison Smith along with starter Andrew Sendejo. The top backups are Anthony Harris and Jayron Kearse.

    Julio Jones remains in coach Dan Quinn's good graces even after missing the opening day of the Atlanta Falcons' mandatory minicamp.

     

    Quinn said Tuesday he thought Jones, who missed voluntary offseason workouts , would participate in the minicamp. The coach said he found out Monday that Jones would skip the minicamp.

    Quinn wouldn't share details of his conversation with Jones but said "Sometimes football and business intersect and that's OK and that happens a lot."

    Jones has three years remaining on his five-year, $71.3 million deal with $47 million in guaranteed money but could soon have the deal tweaked. Quinn said the team is "right in the middle" of talks with Jones, a five-time Pro Bowl selection.

    Quinn has emphasized "brotherhood" and making sure players do everything as a team. Players stood together as a team on the sideline during the national anthem for all games after two players kneeled in protest early in the 2017 season.

    Could Jones' absence hurt the Falcons' unity?

    "No," Quinn said. "I recognize the question, for sure. Do we want everybody here all the time? Hell yeah, like all the time. ... What I'd say is if you ask to a man, the guy is a hell of a teammate and the time he spends here D'Onta Foreman Jersey , the way he mentors people, how hard he plays, there is plenty of brotherhood in Julio."

    Receiver Mohamed Sanu said he and other players were not impacted by Jones' absence.

    "Whether he's present or not, we were just focused on what we have to do today," said Sanu, the team's No. 2 receiver behind Jones.

    Jones, 29, remains one of the league's top receivers. He earned his fourth straight Pro Bowl berth last season when he had 88 catches for 1,444 yards. It was his fourth straight season with at least 80 receptions and 1,400 receiving yards.

    Jones' salary cap figure of $12.9 million for 2018 ranks seventh among NFL receivers, well behind recent deals signed by Tampa Bay's Mike Evans ($18.252 million in 2018) and Cleveland's Jarvis Landry ($15.5 million).

    Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said Monday he has been in talks with Jones and Jones' agent, Jimmy Sexton.

    Sexton did not return a message from The Associated Press.

    Jones' holdout comes after the Falcons made quarterback Matt Ryan the league's top-paid player this offseason with a five-year extension that could be worth $150 million.

    Quinn said he was not disappointed in Jones' decision to miss minicamp because Jones remained in constant communication and explained why his plans changed.

    "Sometimes circumstances change and as long as players communicate with me on why circumstances change, then I never am disappointed as long as communication with me is very clear," Quinn said. "... The things that jam me up are when people don't communicate."

    Quinn wouldn't say if Jones will be fined for missing the first day of the three-day minicamp.

    Without Jones on the field, Ryan's top targets included Sanu, rookie first-round pick Calvin Ridley and Justin Hardy. Like Jones Doug Flutie Jersey , Ridley played at Alabama.

    An undrafted rookie, Christian Blake, from Northern Illinois, reached up to make an impressive catch over the middle.

    "All those guys, Calvin, Christian Blake, it was good to see those guys make plays and do what they do," Sanu said.

    Quinn praised the rookies' speed and said the class "has a chance to be an excellent one."

    NOTES: The team waived S Quincy Mauger, who spent his 2017 rookie season on injured reserve with a knee injury. He was an undrafted free agent from Georgia. ... RB Devonta Freeman, who was slowed by a sprained right knee late last season, appeared to be fully recovered on his runs with the first-team offense.

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