In the weeks and months leading up to each NFL Draft, the Vikings gather their scouts, coaches and front-office types inside the draft room for vital meetings that help shape the team's board.

Spielman is the ultimate decision maker on draft day, but he gives all persons in the room a chance to say their piece on any given player during the debate process.

And oftentimes, the conversation has ended with a statement by Studwell, who is as respected and revered as anyone in the room.

"We go around the room and say our opinion on a guy when we do a film study. When he speaks, everyone listens. He has a different eye for this," said Kelly Kleine, the Vikings College Scouting Coordinator. "We all have to say our opinion, but then Stud talks, and he always knows what to say. If we have a discussion about a couple players, or people aren't agreeing on something, then Rick goes to Stud and asks Stud. He just always knows what to say … it's so impressive.

"He's not afraid to say his opinion, and no one is, but he relates it back to the coaches or the scouts from an All-Star game. Rick is going to be the ultimate decision-maker, and he always is, but Rick really, really cherishes Stud's opinion and really listens to him," Kleine added. "I think that helps Rick a lot in making big decisions. Stud has seen the whole overview and knows the whole process and if they have spiraled up or spiraled down. We can get stuck in draft meetings, but he has a way of saying, 'OK, go back here. Or remember this part of it.' "

Vikings Vice President of Player Personnel and Assistant General Manager George Paton added: "When he talks, he's respected more than anyone in that room. No disrespect to Rick. [Studwell has] been around it. He has so much common sense and so much knowledge and is so intelligent, everything he says makes sense. It doesn't mean he's always right, but he's not afraid to say it. It's easy to agree with everyone, but he doesn't care. He's going to say how he feels. We're going to miss that. He's an incredible voice in our draft room and in our meetings."

As he sat in his office a little more than a week after the 2019 NFL Draft, Spielman reflected on the impact that Studwell has each spring as the Vikings prepare to bring in a new crop of talent.

"As I go around the room, I usually circle back to where Stud feels everything is," Spielman said. "I value his opinion so much since we've been together, and he's been a voice of reason in there.

"He listens to everything that's being said in there, and he can decipher through that and then give his own opinion [about a player or another person's opinion]," Spielman added.

Yes, almost 30 years after playing his final snap for the Vikings, Studwell has still had a hand in shaping the organization.

While he hung up his cleats after the 1990 season, he only went away for a few months before he was hired on June 1, 1991, in a hybrid role as a quality control coach and player development specialist.

But he quickly found his niche as a scout. It turns out that the ferocious linebacker was pretty good at discovering talent and determining how prospects would project to Minnesota's roster.

"I had the foundation and the background, and I knew how to identify what people were doing offensively and what people were doing defensively, and the game was not as complicated back then as it is today," Studwell said. "It was really more learning how to manage your time and learning how to create contacts at schools. The evaluation piece of watching tape and watching film was some of the easy stuff.