INDIANAPOLIS – The Vikings' first two drafts under Rick Spielman saw the team use a pair of picks on developmental quarterbacks, when they selected Tyler Thigpen in the seventh round in 2007 and John David Booty in the fifth round the next year.
Since then, they have turned to the quarterback position in the draft for only one reason: to spend a first-round pick on a passer who might end their hunt for a franchise cornerstone.
The Vikings marked the end of Brett Favre's two-year stint in Minnesota by spending the 12th overall pick in 2011 on Christian Ponder.