MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings had one of the youngest rosters in the league in 2014, and over the last several seasons, they've made a concerted effort to establish a foundation through an aggressive draft strategy that's seen general manager Rick Spielman make seven first-round picks in the last three years.

As ESPN NFL scout Matt Williamson sees it, that strategy is working.

In an ESPN Insider piece published earlier this week, Williamson ranked the Vikings' crop of 25-and-under players the fourth-best in the league, behind Indianapolis, New England and St. Louis. Four of the Vikings players Williamson highlights in the piece -- Teddy Bridgewater, Anthony Barr, Sharrif Floyd and Harrison Smith -- were taken with first-round picks. Two of those four (Bridgewater and Smith) were acquired when the Vikings traded back into the first round.

Bridgewater is, of course, the biggest piece of the Vikings' future, and if he continues to progress like he did at the end of his rookie season, the Vikings could be set for a long time. He should have a more stable supporting cast in his second year, and he fashioned the seventh-highest rookie passer rating in league history with plenty of disparate parts around him.

It's interesting to note how much young talent the Vikings seem to have in spite of the first-round picks whose futures appear more uncertain. The team will have to decide in May whether to pick up Matt Kalil's fifth-year option after a pair of disappointing seasons, and Cordarrelle Patterson is facing a pivotal offseason after catching just 33 passes in his second year. The Vikings spent big to trade up for Patterson -- New England used one of the four picks it received to take linebacker Jamie Collins, who will start in the Super Bowl this weekend after an impressive second year -- and the onus will be on Patterson to prove he was worth the investment.

Overall, though, the Vikings' aggressive draft strategy appears to have yielded some fruit. The DNA of championship-level teams almost always includes more than a few elite players. If a few of the Vikings' draft picks can reach that level, the team will be well on its way to where it wants to go.