Two 2023 NFL Draft Prospects Will Visit the Vikings Today
Josh Frey
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We are in the thick of draft season, and throughout the past month or so, teams have been conducting their top-30 visits ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft. Today, the Vikings have two NFL Draft prospects visiting them, as reported by multiple sources. Those prospects are LSU G Anthony Bradford and USC CB Mekhi Blackmon.
Bradford spent three seasons at LSU, and he is one of the largest prospects in this draft along the offensive line at 6’4 and 332 pounds. He didn’t see much playing time in 2020 as a freshman, and in 2021, his season was cut short to just six games due to injury. However, he bounced back from the injury in 2022 playing 13 games.
Interestingly, Bradford switched time between right guard and left tackle over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, appearing in 12 games at right guard and five at left tackle. Here is what NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein had to say about the prospect:
Massive, scheme-specific guard prospect with plus power but obvious athletic limitations. Bradford has functional quickness as a pulling guard and can work from one block to the next with adequate timing. He can be effective as a single blocker but really shines on double teams, where he can help clear the pathway. His lack of lateral quickness and reactive athleticism can put him in a bind against one-gapping defensive tackles and sub-package rushers with short-area twitch. Bradford has the potential to become an eventual starter for gap and power teams.
The Vikings obviously selected Ed Ingram in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, who also spent his collegiate days at LSU. Minnesota could use more depth at the guard position, and with Bradford likely being available in Day 3 of the draft, he could be a viable target with a pick in the later rounds.
The other prospect set to visit the Vikings today, Blackmon, is a prospect that we actually mocked to the Vikings in the latest seven-round mock draft this week. In that mock draft, he was the fifth-round pick, so again, he could be a prospect to keep an eye on in Day 3.
As for his NFL potential, the USC CB’s main strength is his aggressiveness in coverage. He has decent length which allows him to compete even against receivers that are larger than him at 5’11 and 178 pounds. Take a look at what Zierlein wrote on Blackmon:
Aggressive man-cover cornerback whose physical play brings both passes defensed and penalties. Blackmon gives receivers a rough ride over the first five yards, but his extended grabbing will be less tolerated by NFL officials. He’s capable of phasing routes when matching from press, but he doesn’t have the hips to transition smoothly when playing off-man coverage. He’s talented at squeezing the catch space and timing his challenges, but Blackmon’s lack of size and fluidity could limit his pro chances.
As Zierlein notes, there are multiple things that Blackmon needs to clean up before he can become a viable NFL cornerback, particularly his grabbing due to some over-aggressiveness at times.
Regardless, the Vikings desperately need more depth at corner for this upcoming season. They employ only five CBs right now, and with Kris Boyd joining the Cardinals, that is yet another of their own free agents to leave the team. If Blackmon is still on the board heading into the middle portion of the third day, he becomes a potential target for Minnesota.
There will be more visits to come in the following days ahead of the draft for the Vikings so expect more names to pop up soon on this site. The 2023 NFL Draft gets started on Thursday, April 27th.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.