Welcome to the final mock draft roundup for the 2023 NFL draft cycle!
Heading into this week, there were 436 industry mock drafts with 54 unique players since January 1st. That says a lot about this draft class. There is talent, but the disparity from picks 20-60 isn’t that much. That fact explains the multitude of players sent to the Vikings over the last 16 weeks.
In this final mock draft roundup, it will only encompass the last four days before the draft. Folks, we made it.
Maryland CB Deonte Banks
Who:
The 33rd Team’s Scouting Department
SB Nation’s Staff
Athlon Sports’ Luke Easterling
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar
Pro Football Network’s Arif Hasan
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso
Yahoo! Sports’ Charles McDonald
The Ringer’s Danny Kelly
USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar
Fantasy Pros’ Thor Nystrom
Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Hanson
Banks is an outstanding press corner who has strong hands and plays with top-level balance. One of the most explosive corners in the draft, Banks was one of the top testing corners at the combine, running a sub-4.4 40 and jumping out of the building. He could be an impact player for the Minnesota Vikings early.-The 33rd Team
USC WR Jordan Addison
Who:
The Sporting News’ Jacob Camenker
Pro Football Focus’ NFL Podcast
CBS Sports’ Heath Cummings
Pro Football Focus’ Staff
Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio
Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt
MMQB’s Albert Breer
CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah
Panthers Wire’s Anthony Rizzuti
ESPN’s Todd McShay
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler
The Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer
The Draft Network’s Brentley Weissman
The Draft Network’s Damian Parson
Fantasy Pros’ Matthew Freedman
Fantasy Pros’ Matthew Jones
Pro Football Network’s James Fragoza
The Vikings would probably be thrilled to land Addison and pair him with Justin Jefferson. Addison averaged over 1,000 receiving yards per season in college and recorded 29 touchdowns while playing with Kenny Pickett and Caleb Williams at quarterback.
Addison is just 5-11 and 173 pounds, but he is a good route runner and has enough speed to do damage. He projects as an ideal No. 2 wideout. Having him alongside Jefferson, K.J. Osburn and T.J. Hockenson would make the Vikings’ offense potent again.-Jacob Camenker
Alabama CB/S Brian Branch
Who:
USA Today’s Nate Davis
Vikings Wire’s Tyler Forness
Boston Globe’s Ben Volin
Cowboys Wire’s K.D. Drummond
The board doesn’t fall great for the Vikings and they need talented football players to continue building around. Branch is a excellent football player who can do a little bit of everything in the back seven for Brian Flores. This is exactly what the Vikings should be doing if they strike out at the top of this wide receiver and quarterback class.-Tyler Forness
South Carolina CB Cam Smith
Who:
New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard
Brian Flores has arrived to fix the defense. He gets a talented corner with some flags to start the process.-Pat Leonard
Mississippi State CB Emmanuel Forbes
Who:
NFL.com’s Eric Edholm
Pro Football Network’s Dalton Miller
ESPN’s NFL Nation
Pro Football Network’s Adam Caplan
Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon
NBC Sports Edge’s Connor Rogers
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein
The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler
Fantasy Pros’ Kent Weyrauch
Forbes’ slight build (6-foot-1, 166 pounds) will be highly scrutinized, but his playmaking prowess is unquestioned (14 INTs over three seasons, with an NCAA-record six pick-sixes). He’d be a strong replacement for Patrick Peterson on what was the NFL’s 31st-ranked pass defense a year ago. New defensive coordinator Brian Flores could use a man corner with Forbes’ length and skill set.-Eric Edholm
Boston College WR Zay Flowers
Who:
CBS Sports’ Bryant McFadden
Fantasy Pros’ Matthew Freedman
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco
Football Outsiders’ Benjamin Robinson
SB Nation’s JP Acosta
The Draft Network’s Jack McKessy
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco
The Vikings lost Adam Thielen, so WR depth is needed.-Bryant McFadden
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker
Who:
Fox Sports’ Jason McIntyre
Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon
NBC Sports Edge’s Chris Simms
NBC Sports Edge’s Kyle Dvorchak
CBS Sports’ Dan Schneier
Heavy On Sports’ Matt Lombardo
Sports Illustrated’s Craig Ellenport
Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline
Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs
Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian
Washington Post’s Jason LaCanfora
Fantasy Points’ Scott Barrett
Fantasy Points’ Brett Whitefield
NFL Network’s Peter Schrager
Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema
Establish The Run’s Evan Silva
CBS Sports’ Kyle Stackpole
Because I want off the Kirk Cousins coaster. Because Hooker would be a top-15 prospect for me if he were both healthy and two years younger. Because I want to stay unpredictable if I’m GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.-Jeff Risdon
TCU WR Quentin Johnston
Who:
CBS Sports’ R.J. White
NFL Wire’s Staff
Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer
The 33rd Team’s Rick Spielman
Vikings Wire’s Kevin Fielder
Pro Football Focus’ Cris Collinsworth
The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov
I expected when we made this move down for Minnesota that it’d be taking Hendon Hooker at this slot, but with Johnston still on the board despite being just -155 to go Over 26.5, he’s the value play for a team that is favored to go receiver with its first pick. Perhaps the market shifts in Hooker’s favor before Thursday, but with the Tennessee quarterback sitting at -120 to go Over 31.5, we can’t slot him him here over a guy who is -400 to be a first-round pick.-R.J. White
Pitt DT Calijah Kancey
Who:
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson
The Athletic’s NFL Staff
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy
Fox Sports’ Rob Rang
Kancey was just about unblockable at times during the 2022 season for the Panthers and his 6-foot-1, 281-pound frame will (unfairly, perhaps) draw comparisons to Aaron Donald. The biggest physical difference, however, is that while Donald had 32 5/8-inch arms, Kancey’s arm length came in at a shade under 31 inches, and that’s a major concern when going up against NFL offensive linemen who have 33-34-inch arms. That said, turn on the tape and show us where arm length is an issue for Kancey, who wins consistently with twitch, speed and power.-Ryan Wilson
Michigan DT Mazi Smith
Kentucky QB Will Levis
Tyler’s Scouting Report
Who:
CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell
Fantasy Pros’ PJ Moran
The Draft Network’s Justin Melo
The Minnesota Vikings halt Will Levis’ slide down the draft board by trading their 23rd overall pick, their 87th overall pick (third round), and their 2024 first-round selection. The Vikings put a succession plan in place for Kirk Cousins, a free agent next offseason, after seeing his inability to get past the New York Giants at home in Round 1 of the playoffs this past season. Levis gets to sit and learn the ropes from Cousins for a year before taking over as the Vikings’ new starting quarterback in 2024.-Garrett Podell
Florida QB Anthony Ricahrdson
Who:
Bears Wire’s Jarrett Bailey
The Film Room’s Brett Kollmann
Bears Wire’s Jarrett Bailey
Vikings Wire’s Tyler Forness
The Draft Network’s Chris Schubert
The Draft Network’s Jaime Eisner
This is somewhat of a shocker, but it really shouldn’t be. The Vikings need a quarterback of the future and the tea leaves are coming into focus. The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling has the Vikings trading up to 11 to take Anthony Richardson and he makes sense for what the Vikings are trying to do moving forward. He has every single tool you could ask for and with a year behind Kirk Cousins, Richardson will be afforded time to work on his mechanical consistencies.-Tyler Forness
Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr.
Who:
CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell
Barstool Sports’ Steven Cheah
For The Win’s Christian D’Andrea
Sportsnaut’s Benjamin Allbright
Saturday Down South’s Adam Spencer & Connor O’Gara
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
Eagles Wire’s Glenn Erby
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson
Fantasy Pros’ Russell Brown
Fantasy Pros’ John Supowitz
Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger
Joey Porter Jr., the son of retired four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter, has high-end physical traits for a cornerback, standing at 6-2 while weighing 193 pounds. That type of size and strength will allow him to physically match up with some of the NFL’s best wide receivers starting in Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season since he takes advantage of his frame well in press man coverage. The Vikings desperately need help in the secondary as they were the second-worst pass defense in the NFL last year, allowing 265.8 passing yards per game. This would be a nice value for them at 23.-Garrett Podell
Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Who:
Putting a polished route runner opposite Justin Jefferson will enable Kirk Cousins to stay in attack mode at all times. JSN is a big-play specialist with the talent and skill to produce explosive plays from anywhere on the field.-Bucky Brooks
Georgia EDGE Nolan Smith
Who:
I’d be willing to wager substantially that this first Vikings pick is a defensive player from either Clemson or Georgia.-Will Brinson
Iowa EDGE Lukas Van Ness
Tyler’s Scouting Report
Who:
The Vikings would have loved to add a QB here, but are also excited to grab this Hawkeye and continue to improve a defense that struggled often in 2022. Van Ness will be put to good use quickly by new defensive coordinator Brian Flores.-Charles Davis
Clemson DT Bryan Bresee
Texas RB Bijan Robinson
Who:
Bijan falls to Minnesota and an already-good offensive team gets the best offensive player in this draft.-Peter Schrager
Minnesota C John Michael Schmitz
Clemson EDGE Myles Murphy
Who:
Minnesota desperately needs to bolster the defensive line in Round 1. They lost Dalvin Tomlinson to the Browns. The only worthwhile defensive line additions were ex-Saints defensive lineman Marcus Davenport and ex-Packer Dean Lowry.
The Vikings drafted EDGE Esezi Otomewo in the fifth round last season, and a close comparable to him in this year’s class is Clemson’s Myles Murphy.-Andrew Erickson
LSU EDGE B.J. Ojulari
Who:
The Vikings need a lot of help, and there will be temptation to trade down one more time, but Ojulari is a fast edge rusher who can pay off dividends this year and beyond. That latter part is very important — Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith and Marcus Davenport are all on the older side and all three might be off the Vikings roster by 2024.-Dave Richard
Overview
Since January 1st, I have compiled
-545 industry mock drafts
-54 unique player
This week alone:
-109 industry mock drafts
-21 unique players
| CB Deonte Banks | 62 |
| WR Jordan Addison | 52 |
| QB Hendon Hooker | 36 |
| CB Emmanuel Forbes | 30 |
| CB Joey Porter Jr. | 30 |
| CB Cam Smith | 28 |
| WR Quentin Johnston | 27 |
| WR Zay Flowers | 25 |
| CB Kelee Ringo | 23 |
| WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 19 |
| CB/S Brian Branch | 19 |
| QB Will Levis | 15 |
| DT Bryan Bresee | 14 |
| DT Calijah Kancey | 14 |
| CB Clark Phillips III | 12 |
| EDGE Lukas Van Ness | 12 |
| CB Devon Witherspoon | 11 |
| EDGE Nolan Smith | 11 |
| QB Anthony Richardson | 11 |
| CB Christian Gonzalez | 9 |
| EDGE Myles Murphy | 9 |
| LB Trenton Simpson | 8 |
| EDGE B.J. Ojulari | 6 |
| WR Josh Downs | 5 |
| EDGE/LB Drew Sanders | 5 |
| DL Keion White | 5 |
| WR Jalin Hyatt | 5 |
| S Antonio Johnson | 4 |
| DL Mazi Smith | 4 |
| C John Michael Schmitz | 4 |
| DL Adetomiwa Adebawore | 3 |
| RB Bijan Robinson | 3 |
| WR Rashee Rice | 2 |
| NT Siaki Ika | 2 |
| OT Peter Skoronski | 1 |
| OT Blake Freeland | 1 |
| OT Anton Harrison | 1 |
| QB Tanner McKee | 1 |
| CB Jaylon Jones | 1 |
| WR Kayshon Boutte | 1 |
| OL Cody Mauch | 1 |
| CB Tyrique Stevenson | 1 |
| EDGE Felix Anudike-Uzomah | 1 |
| OT Broderick Jones | 1 |
| CB Kyu Blu Kelly | 1 |
| EDGE Isaiah Foskey | 1 |
| C Joe Tippmann | 1 |
| CB D.J. Turner | 1 |
| OG O’Cyrus Torrence | 1 |
| CB Garrett Williams | 1 |
| DT Jalen Carter | 1 |
| CB Julius Brents | 1 |
| EDGE Will McDonald IV | 1 |
| TE Dalton Kincaid | 1 |
| Total | 545 |
