Vikings select OT Willie Beavers in 4th round of NFL draft

The Minnesota Vikings have added another offensive tackle, taking Western Michigan's Willie Beavers in the fourth round of the NFL draft.

The Vikings took six picks into Saturday for the final four rounds, and they started the afternoon by targeting a critical position in front of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and acquiring Beavers with the 121st overall selection.

This was the second straight year the Vikings used the fourth round to take a tackle, after picking Pittsburgh's T.J. Clemmings in 2015. Clemmings started the entire season as a rookie at right tackle. Matt Kalil, the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft, didn't miss a game at left tackle. The Vikings returned right tackle Phil Loadholt from an Achilles tendon injury that kept him out for all of 2015, and they signed veteran Andre Smith as a free agent.

Kalil, Loadholt and Smith are all playing on expiring contracts, though, and Clemmings had his share of struggles. The other tackles on the roster, Carter Bykowski, Austin Shepherd and Jeremiah Sirles, are 25 and under with limited NFL experience.

Beavers started every game at left tackle last season as a fifth-year senior for Western Michigan, earning a first team All-Mid-American Conference selection. The Broncos finished 8-5 after the program's first postseason victory, over Middle Tennessee in the Bahamas Bowl. The 6-foot-4, 324-pound Beavers first cracked the lineup at the end of his freshman year and never lost his spot, starting 40 straight games.

Beavers initially signed with Illinois out of high school in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, but the program overcommitted with that class in 2011 and Beavers was essentially cut.

"That was the dream of mine, playing in the Big Ten, and when they told me that it was hurtful," Beavers said, adding: "God got me through it."

Western Michigan doesn't typically face many premier pass rushers in the MAC, so Beavers will have to use his well-regarded agility to his advantage in the challenging tradition to the NFL. He played some guard at the Senior Bowl.

"Wherever they put me on the offensive line, I'll be good," Beavers said.

After taking Mississippi wide receiver Laquon Treadwell in the first round Thursday, the Vikings picked Clemson cornerback Mackensie Alexander in the second round Friday. General manager Rick Spielman traded the third-round selection to Miami for a sixth-rounder this year and picks in the third and fourth rounds in 2017.

Here is his pre-draft STATS Inc. bio:

Despite his smaller-school pedigree, Beavers showed at the Senior Bowl and in higher-level matchups with Michigan State and Ohio State the skill and athleticism to go along with the size and length required of a legitimate NFL left tackle prospect. The three-year starter for Western Michigan fires well off the snap and possesses a wide base to hold up well against power rushers, though an overall lack of core strength may make him a better fit for zone-blocking schemes that can accentuate his solid movement skills. Beavers' impressive agility allows him to be an effective second-level blocker in both the run game and on screens and he plays with an aggressive streak that's also endearing to scouts, though that exuberance can work against him at times in the form of balance and positioning issues. Though he started 40 games in college, the 2015 first team All-MAC selection remains somewhat of a raw product that will require time to develop and fine-tune his unfinished technique, as well as adjust to a raise in competition from the lower FBS ranks. Still, Beavers stands a good chance of being the Broncos' highest draft choice since Louis Delmas went to Detroit in the 2009 second round.