The Vikings’ Draft Classes Are Being Gutted
Right off the top, let’s deal with the tragedy.
Khyree Jackson, the No. 108 pick in the most recent draft, lost his life in a summer car accident. The piece is by no means seeking to minimize the tragedy of that event and nor it is including it among the broader discussion of the Vikings’ draft classes.
Rather, the goal of the current piece is to consider the work Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has done across a trio of drafts since becoming the GM.
In 2022, there were ten additions. In 2023, there were six. Finally, the 2024 crew consisted of seven new players (with Jackson passing away, the total is down to six). Add it all together and Adofo-Mensah is dealing with twenty-two draft picks since taking over as the team’s GM. How has he done? What kind of contributions has he been getting from the draft picks?
The Vikings’ Draft Classes and Adofo-Mensah’s History
Credit where it’s due: Adofo-Mensah does a nice job when it comes to adding UDFAs.
Unusually aggressive, Adofo-Mensah routinely takes the most promising players out of the undrafted free agent cluster. That’s how he got starting linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., someone who had a magnificent rookie season and who looks to be a building block for the future.
There have been other successes, though. Punter Ryan Wright was a UDFA add and so, too, was special teams ace NaJee Thompson. Edge rusher Andre Carter is still developing on the practice squad and he got onboarded with the UDFAs. Most recently, the successes have been corner Dwight McGlothern and defensive tackle Taki Taimani, who have both made the team.
Oh, and keep an eye on linebacker Dallas Gant on the practice squad; he has potential.
By swinging for the fences with the UDFA talent, Adofo-Mensah is almost able to create draft picks out of thin air. Yes, they come at the expense of cap space, but the deals are worth it if it involves snagging someone like Mr. Pace. Even landing one impact player from every cluster of UDFA players — alongside some special teams help and/or depth — should be considered a success.
So, full marks for the strong work he’s doing in that facet of team building.
Adofo-Mensah hasn’t been as impressive with his draft selections. The most obvious examples, of course, come from the 2022 Draft Class. Safety Lewis Cine and corner Andrew Booth Jr. are now long gone. They were supposed to inject youthful vigor into the secondary. Instead, both played so poorly that they barely cracked the lineup. One got cut; the other got traded.
Consider the full gamut of players who have been chosen by Mr. Adofo-Mensah. The text with a line going through it points toward players who have either been let go or who have been traded away. Take a look:
The Vikings’ 2022 NFL Draft
| Player | Round & Number | Position | College | Conference |
| Ingram, Ed | 2nd RD – 59th | Guard | LSU | SEC |
| Asamoah, Brian | 3rd RD – 66th | Linebacker | Oklahoma | Big 12 |
| Evans, Akayleb | 4th RD – 118th | Corner | Missouri | SEC |
| Chandler, Ty | 5th RD – 169th | Running Back | North Carolina | ACC |
| Nailor, Jalen | 6th RD – 191st | Wide Receiver | Michigan St. | Big 10 |
| Muse, Nick | 7th RD – 227th | Tight End | South Carolina | SEC |
The Vikings’ 2023 NFL Draft
| Player | Round & Number | Position | College | Conference |
| Addison, Jordan | 1st RD – 23rd | Wide Receiver | USC | Pac-12 |
| Blackmon, Mekhi | 3rd RD – 102nd | Corner | USC | Pac-12 |
| Ward, Jay | 4th RD – 134th | Defensive Back | LSU | SEC |
The Vikings’ 2024 NFL Draft
| Player | Round & Number | Position | College | Conference |
| McCarthy, J.J. | 1st RD – 10th | Quarterback | Michigan | Big 10 |
| Turner, Dallas | 1st RD – 17th | Edge Rusher | Alabama | SEC |
| Jackson, Khyree | 4th RD – 108th | Corner | Oregon | Pac-12 |
| Rouse, Walter | 6th RD – 177th | Offensive Tackle | Oklahoma | Big 12 |
| Reichard, Will | 6th RD – 203rd | Kicker | Alabama | SEC |
| Jurgens, Michael | 7th RD – 230th | Center/Guard | Wake Forest | ACC |
| Rodriguez, Levi Drake | 7th RD – 232nd | Defensive Tackle | Texas A&M Commerce | ? |
The opening draft class is down to 6/10 players (60%). Making things look even worse is that right guard Ed Ingram is struggling to hold onto his spot in the starting lineup while players like corner Akayleb Evans and linebacker Brian Asamoah are backups.
The encore looks a bit better, but not by too much. The final three selections from 2023 — Jaquelin Roy, Jaren Hall, and DeWayne McBride — have all been cut. That means Minnesota is moving forward with 3/6 picks (50%) a year after the event. The simple fact that Blackmon is staring down a missed sophomore season (while not his fault) and Addison a suspension makes things even more depressing.
The upside is that the most recent draft class all got kept around. Did Adofo-Mensah feel any pressure to keep his picks from 2024 given how poorly things have been going? Losing McCarthy for the season really takes the wind out of Minnesota’s sails, but there’s still plenty of optimism about where he can go. The Vikings think they have their QB1 already in-house.
Edge rusher Dallas Turner looks like he’ll become an excellent player and kicker Will Reichard has had a phenomenal offseason. Seeing Walter Rouse develop into a strong swing tackle and/or Levi Drake Rogriguez become a disruptive force along the d-line would really push this group over the edge.
The discouraging detail is simply that the GM who values value so heavily has so often failed to get strong value out of his picks. Seven of his twenty-two players are gone from the team, the most damning of which coming from that 2022 draft.
We’ll see if Minnesota’s roster has what it takes to overcome those misses as the 2024 season gets going in mere days.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.