NFL.com Suggests the Vikings Had the Worst Draft in the NFL
Every year, NFL Draft pundits put grades on draft classes before we’ve seen them play a single snap of NFL football. We here at PurplePTSD certainly aren’t immune to such a phenomenon, either. That being said, more often than not, at least of few of these grades will turn out to be incorrect a few years down the road.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Eric Edholm’s draft grades from the 2023 NFL Draft. The NFL.com writer ranked each team’s draft from Nos. 1 to 32, and the Minnesota Vikings have the honor of holding the worst draft grade in the entire league.
This is a far cry from the rest of the NFC North division, with each of the other three teams ranking within the top 10. The Chicago Bears came in at No. 8, the Detroit Lions at No. 9, and the Green Bay Packers rounded out the top 10.
Edholm gave the Vikings six picks a combined grade of ‘D+’. These six selections were, of course:
- Round 1, Pick 23: WR Jordan Addison
- Round 3, Pick 102: CB Mekhi Blackmon
- Round 5, Pick 134: DB Jay Ward
- Round 5, Pick 141: DT Jacqueline Roy
- Round 5, Pick 164: QB Jaren Hall
- Round 7, Pick 222: RB DeWayne McBride
Of all the Vikings selections in this draft, Edholm stated that the pick of McBride is his favorite. It’s an understandable favorite considering where the Vikings drafted him, how productive he was at UAB, and the uncertainty surrounding Dalvin Cook’s future potentially opening up an opportunity to get touches in the Vikings offense.
He was also notably wary of the Vikings lack of an early CB selection in this draft. Minnesota instead opted to use their only top-100 pick on WR Addison, and they traded away the 87th overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers.
This is a valid concern, especially considering, as Edholm mentions, Deonte Banks was available when the Vikings went on the clock at No. 23. Minnesota is going to be entering the 2023 season with Byron Murphy and a number of unproven players at the position.
Considering Edholm gave the Vikings rookies a ‘D’ grade for 2022, it makes sense that he’d be a bit worried about the Vikings secondary.
In all, we must reiterate that immediate draft grades aren’t the ‘end all, be all’ for a class. Again, we need to see these prospects actually step on the field before truly evaluating what they can do at the NFL level. However, the idea that Minnesota could have given a bit more attention to their secondary is not an outlandish one.
Does it mean Minnesota had the worst draft in the league, though? That remains to be seen. Perhaps the combination of Andrew Booth Jr., Akayleb Evans, Blackmon, and Jay Ward can stabilize the group at cornerback.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. 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.
