Mock draft season is upon us and that means our mock draft roundup is back!
What we do every week is track the mainstream outlets mock drafts and aggregate how many times a player gets selected. Last season, we tallied up 173 mock drafts and only 10 of them were on offense. This season could end up being much of the same.
We will track them and try to determine trends and patterns, along with giving my own analysis on how they could fit with the Minnesota Vikings.
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker
Who:
ESPN’s Todd McShay
CBS Sports’ Will Brinson
Fantasy Points’ Brett Whitefield
Pro Football Network’s Dalton Miller
CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards
The Vikings have quietly been putting in some work on this QB class. Despite the team’s 13-win season, Kirk Cousins was just 23rd in QBR at 49.9. Plus, he’s turning 35 this summer and will be entering the final year of his deal. Sitting behind Cousins for a year to learn the pro game and fully recover from his torn ACL could be the perfect setup for Hooker, who led the nation in QBR last season before the injury (89.5).
Hooker is accurate to every level of the field but really thrives throwing deep. Some scouts might be wary of drafting a 25-year-old QB, but he has the talent to lead an NFL offense. I’ve talked to folks with a few teams that even have Hooker above Levis on their internal boards. He has interviewed really well this spring, and the tape is phenomenal. Alternatively, Minnesota could try to get another receiver alongside Justin Jefferson, go back to the cornerback well or bring in another big tight end.-Todd McShay
Maryland CB Deonte Banks
Who:
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar
Vikings Wire’s Kevin Fielder
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy
USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Fantasy Pros’ Matthew Freedman
The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner
CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell
Under new defensive coordinator Brian Flores, you can expect the Vikings to be focused on man coverage, aggressive press pre-snap, and a lot of blitzing that forces cornerbacks to ply their trades on relative islands. Banks would be an ideal fit for what Flores prefers — he had the highest rate of press coverage (45%) among all cornerbacks in the 2023 draft class, and when pressing receivers, he allowed nine catches on 23 press targets for 46 yards, and only seven of those targets were deemed successes. Watching Banks’ press tape is funny, because it’s just bust after bust after bust for opposing receivers.-Doug Farrar
Arkansas LB Drew Sanders
Who:
Sanders spent one season at inside linebacker and absolutely filled up the stat sheet at Arkansas. He’s big and a solid athlete; he can be a capable pass rusher for Minnesota to deploy when needed.-Lance Zierlein
TCU WR Quentin Johnston
Who:
USC WR Jordan Addison
Who:
Pro Football Focus’ Mike Renner
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco
Pro Football Network’s Joe Broback
Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings
The Vikings need a route winner across from Justin Jefferson who can make defenses pay when they put all their attention toward the star receiver. Addison is precisely that.-Mike Renner
Clemson LB Trenton Simpson
Who:
The Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer
The Vikings have a big void in the middle of their defense. They should covet Simpson’s toughness and speed with which to cover a ton of ground and make plenty of plays in coverage and against the run.-Vinnie Iyer
Georgia Tech EDGE Keion White
Who:
Is Za’Darius Smith still a Viking in 2023? He doesn’t seem to think so. But even if he is, Minnesota needs to get better rushing the passer — it’s why Brian Flores was brought in as defensive coordinator, after all. White has been relatively overlooked, with bigger edge names eating up most of the conversation, but he could be an immediately impactful piece to the Vikings’ now-aggressive outside rotation.-Carmen Vitali
Georgia EDGE Nolan Smith
Tyler’s Scouting Report
Who:
The Vikings get a classic 3-4 outside linebacker for Brian Flores’ defensive scheme. Upside galore with his explosiveness.-Chris Trapasso
Clemson DT Bryan Bresee
Who:
Bears Wire’s Jarrett Bailey
Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon
The Vikings are undergoing a defensive rebuild. A big playmaker in the middle of the defensive line would serve Brian Flores well.-Jarrett Bailey
Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr.
Who:
If he’s still on the board, Porter would be a good fit in the scheme of new defensive coordinator Brian Flores.-Sam Farmer
Georgia CB Kelee Ringo
Who:
The Draft Network’s Damian Parson
Cameron Dantzler is a Commander and the Vikings’ secondary is in need of talent. Kelee Ringo is a talented and athletic cornerback. Ringo allowed 147 yards in man coverage in 2022. I believe he is versatile to operate in both man and zone. New DC Brian Flores should enjoy coaching up this toolsy cover corner.-Damian Parson
Georgia DT Jalen Carter
Who:
The slide had to end at some point. Carter’s prodigious talent won’t let him fall too far, but his horrible last couple months may cost him a spot in the top 10. The Vikings are a team with the culture and roster to make the risk worthwhile.-Adam Stites
Alabama CB/S Brian Branch
Who:
The 33rd Team’s Scouting Department
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli
The Minnesota Vikings are in need of help at the back end of their defense and with this pick, they secure the most talented safety in the draft. Brian Branch is “Mr. Geography” — he can align anywhere. He lined up for Alabama in the slot, on the hash and in the post. The Vikings will love his versatility and instincts.-The 33rd Team
Kentucky QB Will Levis
Who:
Fantasy Pros’ Andrew Erickson
NFL.com’s Chad Reuter
The reason he makes sense landing in Minnesota is twofold. Kirk Cousins‘ guaranteed money will be gone after this season. And Levis’ experience and success in Coen’s offensive system would be a great fit in Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell‘s offense — considering both of their resumes tie back to the Los Angeles Rams/Sean McVay.
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s analytics-driven background also suggests that Minnesota will be in the conversation to select a rookie quarterback, with how advantageous it can be to have one for salary-cap and team-building purposes.-Andrew Erickson
Boston College WR Zay Flowers
Who:
NBC Sports Edge’s Kyle Dvorchak
After cutting Adam Thielen, the Vikings are set to start K.J. Osborn as their second wideout and …Jalen Reagor at WR3. They would add a free agent if they left the first day of the draft without a receiver, but I doubt they want to go down that road. Flowers will take over slot duties and plays with enough physical to move outside when necessary.-Kyle Dvorchak
Overview
Through the first 14 weeks, the Vikings have been mocked 51 different players across 339 industry mock drafts.
| CB Deonte Banks | 42 |
| CB Cam Smith | 23 |
| CB Kelee Ringo | 23 |
| WR Jordan Addison | 21 |
| CB Emmanuel Forbes | 17 |
| CB Joey Porter Jr. | 17 |
| WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 16 |
| WR Zay Flowers | 13 |
| CB/S Brian Branch | 13 |
| CB Clark Phillips III | 12 |
| CB Devon Witherspoon | 10 |
| CB Christian Gonzalez | 9 |
| QB Hendon Hooker | 9 |
| EDGE Lukas Van Ness | 8 |
| EDGE Nolan Smith | 8 |
| DT Bryan Bresee | 8 |
| WR Quentin Johnston | 8 |
| QB Will Levis | 7 |
| LB Trenton Simpson | 6 |
| EDGE B.J. Ojulari | 5 |
| EDGE Myles Murphy | 5 |
| WR Josh Downs | 5 |
| DT Calijah Kancey | 5 |
| EDGE/LB Drew Sanders | 5 |
| S Antonio Johnson | 4 |
| DL Keion White | 4 |
| DL Mazi Smith | 3 |
| WR Jalin Hyatt | 3 |
| C John Michael Schmitz | 3 |
| DL Adetomiwa Adebawore | 3 |
| WR Rashee Rice | 2 |
| QB Anthony Richardson | 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 |
| RB Bijan Robinson | 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 |
| Total | 339 |
