Assessing the Vikings’ 2026 NFL Draft Strategy Way Too Early
The Minnesota Vikings are obviously out of playoff contention, and their final three games will serve as a pseudo-audition for QB J.J. McCarthy to prove that the starting job is all his going into 2026.
As if it’s ever too early to start daydreaming about the 2026 NFL Draft, that sentiment reigns even more true with the Vikings ruled out of the postseason in 2025. They have already been tied to big-time names like Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, but is this really the route they should go as it stands?
The Vikings Could Throw a Curveball in 2026 NFL Draft
In March, the free agency frenzy will commence, and this could obviously change where the Vikings go with their early-mid first-rounder in April. We are talking about a team that all of us pretty much agreed was taking a corner or defensive interior lineman in the first round in 2025. They threw a curveball at us and drafted an interior offensive lineman.
It is hard to predict where a lot of NFL teams will go on draft night, especially as you get further away from the first overall selection, which is what the Vikings have been doing the last two weeks. Minnesota has gone from the 10th overall pick to the 13th overall pick with its back-to-back victories over the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders. They are also walking into a very winnable game on Sunday when they take on the New York Giants.
I don’t have to mention a million times how unpredictable the NFL truly is. As recently as a month ago, Vikings fans were talking about the possibility that their favorite team would trade up in April to select a top QB like Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. Here we are, a handful of weeks later, and the craze is all about a potential Joe Burrow trade after his recent line of depressing press conferences, where he refuses to commit long-term to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Vikings Have a Couple of “Same ‘Ol” Draft Needs
The very glaring need for the franchise remains the cornerback position. This is a tale as old as time, as Minnesota has needed corners for basically the length of the entire franchise’s existence. LSU’s Mansoor Delane is a popular name amongst Twin Cities draft enthusiasts, possibly the third most common one brought up to join the Vikings in April behind Caleb Downs and Jeremiyah Love.
Pending any changes, it will also seem to be another year where we wonder if the Vikings will spend legitimate draft capital on the runningback position. Aaron Jones reads as a likely cut candidate when the 2025 season comes to a conclusion, leaving a room of Jordan Mason, Zavier Scott, and Ty Chandler. Not the most inspiring group of guys, and it looks like there’s plenty of room for a high draft pedigree back to come in and take a legitimate role by storm.
Whichever way they go, this is a very important draft for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, most specifically. Big-time free agency hauls can only cover your back when it comes to the lack of draft success for too long, and it seems as if the heat is starting to be turned up a bit on the seat in which he sits.
