Top DT Prospect Visits the Vikings Today
Josh Frey
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In 17 days, the 2024 NFL Draft will kick off, and teams will begin selecting prospects to fill out their rosters for this upcoming season.
Ahead of that event, many teams are utilizing these last couple weeks of evaluations to visit with some of the top prospects of this year’s draft class. On Monday, the Vikings are slated to conduct three top-30 visits, including one with a top DT prospect, Byron Murphy.
Vikings Visit with Top DT Prospect
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweeted on Monday morning, “#Texas DT Byron Murphy II, one of the top prospects at his position in the Draft, is visiting the #Vikings on a Top 30 visit today, source said. Minnesota picks at No. 11.”
Murphy has been a dominant force on the Texas defensive line for the past three seasons, and he managed to take his game to another level in 2023. After recording 6.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks over the course of his first two years, the defensive tackle piled up 8.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks during the 2023 season, helping the Longhorns make the College Football Playoff for the first time.
The Vikings have a pretty major need at the defensive tackle spot, particularly one of the pass rushing variety. As a result, if they don’t find a way to trade up for a quarterback, Murphy could be the selection with the 11th overall pick.
Murphy isn’t the only prospect visiting with the Vikings, though. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network followed up Rapoport’s tweet with his own, which read, “More #Vikings visits today: – LSU IOL Charles Turner III, who impressed at the Senior Bowl and visits the #Cardinals on Tuesday. – Former four-star Tennessee (via Cal and UC-Davis) TE McCallan Castles, a potential sleeper whose strong pro day has him projected as a Day 3 pick.”
Tight end could be a very intriguing position to keep an eye on in the draft for Minnesota, particularly considering that T.J. Hockenson could miss the first portion of the season with his torn ACL suffered back in December. As a result, McCallan Castles is evidently on Minnesota’s radar.
Castles has been through a long journey throughout his collegiate career. He began at the University of California back in 2018 before transferring to UC Davis for two seasons in 2021 and 2022. Finally, he got a chance to be true starter at the FBS level with Tennessee in 2023 and lived up to the expectations. He put together 22 receptions for 283 yards and five touchdowns in the Vols offense.
Charles Turner would be another player the Vikings could bring in for depth on the interior of their offensive line. Turner, yet another LSU prospect on Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s radar, primarily played center for the Tigers. With Minnesota’s lack of depth on the offensive line, he could provide a bit more security behind Garrett Bradbury.
Finally, Darren Wolfson of KSTP reported another visit for the Vikings, tweeting, “Former Apple Valley HS, Harvard, and North Carolina OL Spencer Rolland is among #Vikings draft visitors today. Started 26 games last two years at RT for North Carolina. Was honorable mention All-ACC. Had a nice chat with him last week and he spoke very glowingly about Drake Maye.”
Using a similar thought process to Turner, it’s easy to see why the Vikings would be interested in adding another offensive tackle in the draft. As of now, David Quessenberry and Coy Cronk are the only depth tackles on Minnesota’s roster, and with both Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill dealing with injuries in the past couple years, more quality depth at the position absolutely is a need.
All in all it’s looking like a busy day for the Vikings as they wrap up their draft process.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via 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.