2014 NFL Draft: Could the Minnesota Vikings Wind Up Taking Two Quarterbacks?

It’s all but certain the Minnesota Vikings will use an early pick in May’s draft on a quarterback, with Matt Cassel in line to start next season and nothing but potential questions beyond that. If one of the top available quarterbacks falls to them at No. 8 overall things would be pretty cut and dry, but with multiple possible scenarios before the Vikings are on the clock general manager Rick Spielman may look to trade down, accumulate more picks and wait on drafting a potential quarterback of the future.

The Washington Redskins moved up to select Robert Griffin III second overall in 2012, and then followed up by selecting Kirk Cousins in the fourth round, Could the Vikings follow a similar blueprint as they look to bolster their quarterback depth?

Tony Pauline of Draft Insider.net has passed on speculation that Vikings’ offensive coordinator Norv Turner is “intrigued” by Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd. Boyd has fallen of the radar as a top prospect in this year’s group of quarterbacks, despite the numbers he put up as a senior last season (3,851 yards, 34 touchdowns, 11 interceptions) not being all that different from a 2012 junior season (3,896 yards, 36 touchdowns, 13 interceptions) that earned him ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors.

Boyd has not been widely talked about over the last few months, with the emergence of Blake Bortles, Jimmy Garoppolo, Derek Carr and others in the eyes of draft analysts, but leaving aside any perceived flaws he has I think that lack of buzz has helped propel Boyd down pre-draft prospect rankings. The team that drafts him has a real chance to get a potential steal in the mid-to-late rounds, and even without the high ceiling of a player like Bortles Boyd’s downside would be mitigated by his draft position and his experience as a three-year starter at Clemson.

The Vikings are doing a lot of due diligence as they look to find a viable option among this year’s class of quarterbacks, and Turner’s background has me optimistic they’ll settle on the right guy. Boyd should not necessarily be the only quarterback they come out of the draft with, but I like him as a potential long-term starter and I don’t want to see the Vikings blindly use a top-10 pick on an overrated prospect like Carr.

Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradberreman24 or connect on Google +.