Stanford RB Gerhart joined Vikings as 51st pick

After drafting Virginia cornerback Chris Cook with the second pick in the second round, the Minnesota Vikings used another second-round pick to draft a running back from Stanford. Being the 51st overall being picked in 2010 NFL draft, Toby Gerhart could be feeling luck that he had the chance to put on Vikings jersey and work with Adrian Peterson, one of the best running backs in the league.

At the beginning of Friday night, the Vikings already showed strong intention to pick the former winner of the Doak Walker Award. At the cost of a second-round pick at No. 62 and a third-round pick at No. 93, the Vikings traded for the 51st overall pick from the Houston Texans and moved up 11 spots to have the right of picking Gerhart before other interested teams made the choice. With height of 6-foot and weight of 231 pounds, Gerhart was strong competitor for the Heisman Trophy and eventually managed to win the Doak Walker Award, which is prized to honor the nation’s best college running back.

Gerhart showed his power as a running back by rushing for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns last year while leading the Cardinal to the school’s first appearance in bowl game in eight years. The addition of Gerhart is expected to add more depth in Vikings’ running back. Besides, picking a cornerback and running back instead of a quarterback made more people to believe that the No. 4 Brett Favre jersey is very likely to appear with the team for the new season.