The Vikings’ Stunningly Poor Decision Making Looks Even Uglier as the 2025 Season Arrives
The Vikings’ stunningly poor decision making in the 2022 NFL Draft and 2023 NFL Draft is at a point where there’s no more debating. Collectively, those two events have been disastrous.
For a little while, there was some hope that 2023 was going to be better. After all, Jordan Addison is a tremendous receiver, someone who inspires fear in a defense due to his ability to win over the top while also being an assassin in the red zone. Could corner Mekhi Blackmon alongside safety Jay Ward continue to push things in a positive direction? Tack on some UDFA success and maybe Minnesota had made contact after striking out in the first at bat.
The Vikings’ Stunningly Poor Drafting
Ivan Pace Jr. was a great signing, but the linebacker can only do so much heavy lifting.
He has proven to be a very good off-ball linebacker, someone who fits well within the attacking Brian Flores defense. Partner Mr. Pace with Mr. Addison; that’s at least something, right? That’s a starter at receiver and a starter at linebacker. Salvaging things even further would have been Blackmon becoming a starting corner — a tremendously valuable job within the modern NFL — but that possibility is going to get pursued as a Colt after yet another trade.
Combine the pair of drafts and there have been sixteen selections. Consider the dozen (75% of the initial picks) who have already been shown the door:
- No. 32, Lewis Cine, Safety (2022)
- No. 42, Andrew Booth Jr., Corner (2022)
- No. 59, Ed Ingram, Guard (2022)
- No. 66, Brian Asamoah, Linebacker (2022)
- No. 118, Akayleb Evans, Corner (2022)
- No. 165, Esezi Otomewo, Defensive End (2022)
- No. 184, Vederian Lowe, Offensive Tackle (2022)
- No. 227, Nick Muse, Tight End (2022)
- No. 102, Mekhi Blackmon, Corner (2023)
- No. 141, Jaquelin Roy, Defensive Tackle (2023)
- No. 164, Jaren Hall, Quarterback (2023)
- No. 222, DeWayne McBride, Running Back (2023)
Just an insane amount of draft failure in the above list. The GM was able to recoup some value by trading out some of those guys — Booth, Ingram, Lowe, Blackmon — but there’s no way to deny the reality of Minnesota’s horrendous drafting across those opening two seasons with Adofo-Mensah in charge. Putting things a touch differently would mean acknowledging that Minnesota has already moved on from a 1st-Round selection, a pair of 2nd-Round selections, a pair of 3rd-Round selections, a 4th-Round selection, a trio of 5th-Round selections, a 6th-Round selection, and a pair of 7th-Round selections. All before the rookie contracts could expire.
Combine the pair of drafts and see who is still around:
- No. 169, Ty Chandler, Running Back (2022)
- No. 191, Jalen Nailor, Wide Receiver (2022)
- No. 23, Jordan Addison, Wide Receiver (2023)
- No. 134, Jay Ward, Safety (2023)
Of that collection of players, only Mr. Addison qualifies as a great selection. He’s an excellent receiver who has had a pair of off-the-field incidents — both involving driving — hinder his ascent as one of the NFL’s top playmakers. Otherwise, we’re talking about a WR3 who battles injury, a RB3/4 who struggles to get onto the field, and a S4/5 who is mostly a special teams player. With Chandler, in particular, it’s fair to wonder if there will still be room on the team once C.J. Ham gets back from injury.
Want to know the wildest part of the whole situation? Somehow, the Vikings are still a good football team.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has proven to be quite adept at other avenues of talent acquisition: free agent signings, UDFA signings, and trade pickups. Moreover, the GM has done a nice job of retaining some in-house talent with extensions (examples: Josh Metellus, Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw, Harrison Smith). So, too, has Adofo-Mensah proven to have a knack for knowing when it’s time to move on (examples: Patrick Peterson, Anthony Barr, Dalvin Cook, K.J. Osborn, Eric Kendricks, Adam Thielen, Kirk Cousins).
Credit where it’s due. For the most part, he has been a strong GM who makes good decisions even as we can acknowledge that the results within the ’22 and ’23 draft classes are brutal.
Safe to say that if the drafting doesn’t turn around — most notably, within the performance from QB1 J.J. McCarthy — the Vikings are going to end up in a bad spot sooner rather than later. Indeed, a team needs cheap, homegrown talent to contribute to turn into a serious contender. The GM is therefore hoping that 2025 is the season when things begin improving in a massive manner.
The Bears game on Monday Night Football arrives on September 8th. Put differently, the Vikings will play a real game in less than two weeks.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
