PFF Sends the Vikings a CB in Latest 2023 NFL Mock Draft
It turns out that I’m not the only person on the trend of sending cornerbacks to the Vikings in mock drafts. As the NFL trade deadline has come and gone, many outlets have been posting updated 2023 NFL mock drafts in response. Pro Football Focus got in on the action as well. In their latest mock draft, PFF sends the Vikings a CB.
In their draft, the Vikings select Clark Phillips III out of Utah. So far in 2022, the redshirt sophomore has had a banner season with the Utes. He’s already recorded an NCAA-leading five interceptions through nine games, including a pair of pick-sixes. This isn’t unprecedented success, either. In 2021, Phillips recorded 13 pass defenses, leading the PAC-12 and ranking eighth in the NCAA.
Of course, the Vikings selected defensive backs with their first two picks in the 2022 Draft, so it may not be as appealing to do so in the first round of the 2023 Draft.
That said, we’ve barely seen anything of those first two picks, Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr., so far this season. Cine is out for the remainder of the 2022 season with a compound leg fracture. Meanwhile, Booth has been buried on the depth chart after suffering a quad injury early in the year. Fellow rookie Akayleb Evans appears to have passed Booth by on the Vikings depth chart.
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Because of this lack of success from these two picks, it’s not infeasible that the Vikings continue selecting players to help the secondary. Here’s what Trevor Sikkema had to say about the potential pick:
Phillips may not fit your positional cut-offs, but he’s a damn good football player. He’s picked off five passes already this season and earned an 84.1 coverage grade in the process. After loading up in the secondary last year, the Vikings continue that trend.
Pff’s Trevor Sikkema on Clark Phillips III
Sikkema states the important part here that perhaps the Vikings won’t select him because of where he ranks among CBs in this class. In this mock draft, four CBs go off the board before Phillips. In my own mock draft, Phillips did not go off the board in the first round, with four CBs being selected in round one. For comparison’s sake, I gave the Vikings Eli Ricks out of Alabama.
Of course, that pick looks a little less likely after Ricks struggled against the LSU offense this past weekend. However, Ricks still has had a strong collegiate career, and he carries much more imposing size compared to Phillips. He stands at 6’2 and 196 pounds compared to Phillips at 5’10.
No matter what, we are still extremely early in this process. They only thing that seems apparent right now is that the QB position may be a much bigger priority in Round 1 than it was last year. Both my mock draft and PFF agree that, in some order, it will be Will Levis, CJ Stroud, and Bryce Young taken as the first three picks.
That can still change as the draft order is still not set, but there’s a much better chance that talented players at positions like cornerback or wide receiver could fall to the Vikings due to this emphasis on QBs. That should be considered good news as April approaches.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.