Draft season is never too early to be a focus. The future is always right in front of you and needs to be looked at as such.
For the Minnesota Vikings, they are currently in a situation where they have 10 wins in just 13 games utilizing what the organization is calling a competitive rebuild. They have taken mostly the same team from last season and made it one win away from a division champion.
As we continue to look forward, we at Vikings Wire will be keeping track of who the media mocks to the Vikings. That tally will start on January 1st, but there are some good mock drafts coming during the season.
We found three of them that we want to shine a light on and they all went to the boundary to give the Vikings an upgrade.
Draft Wire's Luke Easterling-WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
It’s no secret that Justin Jefferson is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL but he needs a running mate. Adam Thielen is getting older and declining, plus both K.J. Osborn and Jalen Reagor are not long-term solutions and free agents after 2023. Here is what Easterling said about the star wide receiver from Ohio State.
“Adam Thielen isn’t getting any younger, and the Vikings should find a younger understudy to eventually take over as Justin Jefferson’s running mate at receiver. Smith-Njigba missed most of the 2022 season due to injury, but his 2021 tape should be enough to make him a first-round pick, and a potential steal here.”
Touchdown Wire's Doug Farrar-CB Clark Phillips III
The Vikings are in a weird space at cornerback. They heavily invested in the secondary this offseason with two corners and a safety in their first five picks. They are all currently on injured reserve with both Patrick Peterson hitting free agency this offseason and Cameron Dantzler set to hit free agency after 2023. Phillips III is an intriguing prospect that Farrar is a fan of.
“Few teams have positional needs like the Vikings need cornerbacks. Patrick Peterson has been a revelation at age 32, but that speaks for itself. Neither Cameron Dantzler nor Chandon Sullivan have done a lot to impress, and as this defense is on a streak of five straight games allowing more than 400 yards to their opponents (a franchise record, and the Vikings have been around since 1961), the desperation for addition here is obvious. Utah has a pretty decent history of preparing defensive backs for the NFL, and Phillips is next in line. This season, he’s allowed 41 catches on 66 targets for 511 yards, 286 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, six interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 68.4. Those are the stats; the tape shows a player as expert at closing to his receiver as anybody in this class.”
ESPN's Todd McShay-WR Zay Flowers
Wide receiver is going to be a common theme in mock drafts over the course of the next four months and McShay got in on that with sending the Boston College star to the Vikings.
“If one of those six corners slides, I could see them landing here. Or maybe the Vikings reach down the board for linebacker Drew Sanders (Arkansas) or center John Michael Schmitz (Minnesota). But with Adam Thielen turning 33 this offseason, they should be looking for another complement to Justin Jefferson at receiver. Flowers has terrific instincts and elusiveness, forcing missed tackles and scoring 12 touchdowns this season. He’s only 5-foot-10, but he could do damage out of the slot in this offense immediately as a rookie.”
Overview
The Vikings’ needs are going to be focused heavily on both wide receiver and cornerback. However, those could see some changes as free agency progresses, especially with the futures of star players like Dalvin Cook, Za’Darius Smith and Eric Kendricks up in the air. I am all-in on a wide receiver with the first pick and would probably trade down into the second round to take that player to get some extra draft capital. The second round appears to be the sweet spot for wide receiver, as I currently have four second-round grades at the position through seven studied.
