Latest 3-Round Mock Draft from NFL.com Sends the Vikings Down an Interesting Path
Josh Frey
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The 2023 NFL season is officially behind us, which means mock draft season is in full-swing like never before.
Following the conclusion of the Super Bowl, Chad Reuter of NFL.com released a three-round mock draft laying out each of the first 102 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft. That mock draft included a trade up the board from the Vikings to land a QB, but perhaps not in the fashion that many fans have envisioned to this point.
3-Round Mock Draft from Chad Reuter Is Interesting for Vikings
Things go relatively normally for Minnesota to start out. After QBs get selected in three of the first four picks (including the Denver Broncos trading up to land Drake Maye), the Vikings opt to stay put at No. 11 and select pass rusher Dallas Turner out of Alabama as the third defender to go off the board.
Reuter wrote of the Vikings’ selection, “Assuming Kirk Cousins re-signs with the Vikings, the team takes Turner to replenish its soon-to-be depleted pass-rush depth.”
This is sensible reasoning. Turner is a very intriguing prospect given his age and elite athletic ability off the edge. Danielle Hunter is set to become a free agent in March, and there is no certainty that he will return to Minnesota in 2024, particularly if he can get big money to go play elsewhere.
Turner piled up 14.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks for Alabama this past season, and for his efforts, he was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year. At just 21 years old, he still has areas to improve upon in his development, but the building blocks of a star player are certainly there.
While Round 1 is rather tame for Minnesota, things get very interesting heading into the second round. Currently, the Vikings hold the 42nd overall pick (10th overall in the second round). However, we all know at this point that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has an itchy trigger finger when it comes to trades, and he pulls it right away.
Rather than sticking at No. 42, the Vikings opt to swing a trade with the Carolina Panthers to take over the 33rd overall pick. With that selection, Minnesota opts to take QB Bo Nix while trading fourth, fifth, and sixth round selections in order to snag the Oregon product.
While Reuter doesn’t have full commentary for the second and third rounds of the mock draft, he offered a tidbit of info alongside the Turner selection, writing, “Minnesota makes its move for a quarterback in Round 2, trading fourth-, fifth- and sixth-round picks to Carolina to swap second-round picks and grab Oregon’s Bo Nix as Cousins’ successor.”
After a shaky start to his collegiate career with the Auburn Tigers, Nix transferred to Oregon prior to the start of the 2022 season. While with the Ducks, Nix completed 74.9% of his passes for 8101 yards, 74 touchdowns, and just 10 interceptions over the course of 27 games. He also offers plenty of mobility in the pocket, and he rushed for an additional 20 touchdowns over the past two seasons.
The knock on Nix largely comes from the fact that Oregon’s system heavily catered to him, offering a number of one-read passes and plenty of checkdown options. These checkdowns were often taken advantage of. 130 of Nix’s 470 pass attempts in 2023 were to a target behind the line of scrimmage, the second-most of any FBS quarterback in 2023. Meanwhile, he attempted just 51 passes that traveled 20+ yards through the air, ranking 51st in the FBS, per PFF.
Additionally, Nix is an interesting choice for Minnesota’s Cousins replacement because of his age. He will turn 24 years old at the end of February while a QB like J.J. McCarthy (who wasn’t selected until 13th overall) just turned 21. Age certainly isn’t the end-all, be-all for a QB prospect, but it is something to consider when younger prospects are available.
At the end of the day, though, this is an example of how the Vikings can get a touch creative in the draft while trying to fill needs both at EDGE and QB for the current and future.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Sports Reference CFB.
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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.