Look Away: The 2022 Draft Grades Are Here
The Minnesota Vikings swapped their old regime around Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman in the 2022 offseason for new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell. So far, that combination has been quite successful with a 34-17 record in the regular season.
Look Away: The 2022 Draft Grades Are Here
Their start, however, was dreadful. After an unspectacular free agency period due to the cap space limitations, the duo proceeded to the draft to fill some holes. Almost half the positions could’ve used some reinforcements, and the 12th overall pick was a way to find a standout performer.
Adofo-Mensah then decided to trade away that pick for picks 32 and 34 (among some other shuffling). The players he then selected were huge failures, and the draft class will go down as one of the worst in franchise history.
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports, regraded all 32 draft classes that year. He wasn’t a fan of the collection to begin with, giving a C right after the draft, but the grade plummeted to an F three years later.
He wrote: “General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was on the job for just a short time when he handled his first draft this year. It wasn’t good. The Vikings traded down a few times and tried to get more picks, but the top two are no longer on the roster.”
Adofo-Mensah had just gotten hired a few months ahead of the draft, and the scouting department was still a leftover from the Spielman regime. He facilitated the trade to have a chance to fill more holes instead of picking a safer prospect to fix one issue.
The young executive said last year: “When I entered the building trying to compete [with an] aging roster, salary cap stuff, I think there was times where I felt down 33-nothing. And as we all know, that game, it starts with one play, one drive and you build. And I think at times I might’ve been guilty of trying to maybe have a 33-point play all at once. And I think once I identified that, if you’ve seen it since then, it’s been really foundationally just taking good steps, building to a certain critical point where I think we compete over the long term.”
Worse than the trade, however, was the fact that he selected players who can be titled busts now.
“First-round safety Lewis Cine never started a game and suffered a major ankle injury in his rookie season,” Prisco added. “He’s now with the Eagles after being released. Second-round corner Andrew Booth was traded to the Cowboys last year after starting two games for the Vikings. There is not a true starter from the draft, although sixth-round pick Jalen Nailor is the third receiver. Sixth-round running back Ty Chandler has done some good things in his career.” Note: Chandler was a 5th-Round selection, not a 6th.
Cine’s Vikings tenure was unlucky at best. He first entered a safety room with emerging sophomore Cam Bynum and couldn’t unseat him to take the spot next to Harrison Smith, and then was even stuck behind Josh Metellus. As we all know now, Metellus turned out to be more than just a generic backup.
Then, Cine suffered a gruesome injury a few games into his career. The next time he saw the practice field, the Vikings had swapped defensive coordinators, and the plan the decision-makers had for him was kaput. Cine was waived after his third preseason after failing to show the necessary growth.
Booth Jr. had a comparable tenure. Injuries cost him the majority of his rookie season, and Brian Flores had no ties to him when he arrived in 2023. He remained in a backup role throughout his sophomore campaign, and the Vikings said goodbye last preseason when they sent him to Dallas in exchange for Nahshon Wright.
Ed Ingram, the third pick, a second-rounder, started for three years but was benched last season for Dalton Risner. This offseason, the front office signed Will Fries and subsequently traded Ingram to Houston. Third-rounder Brian Asamoah hasn’t been more than a special-teams player.
Akayleb Evans started games in 2022 and the entire 2023 season, but he was waived during his third season. Vederian Lowe was traded to New England for a sixth-rounder, which was his original draft round, so at least that pick can be considered a wash. Nick Muse was a depth tight end for three years. He joined Cine in Philadelphia, and Esezi Otomewo recently signed with the Steelers after starting a couple of games for the Jaguars last season.
The only draftees who are still on the roster are Brian Asamoah, Jalen Nailor, and Ty Chandler. Nailor is the current WR3 and had a breakout season in 2024 with six touchdowns. Chandler has been a RB2 or RB3 for three years. He could be in danger of losing his roster spot in August and remains a player to watch through the next few months. Asamoah, as well, will need to battle to make the final team.
There’s not much to defend here. Day three picks Chandler, Nailor, Lowe, and Evans weren’t terrible picks at all, but the remainder of the group undoubtedly was. Nobody can complain about an F.