The Vikings Continue to Ignore 1 Position
The official 2025 NFL Draft class of the Minnesota Vikings has been onboarded, and it came with a surprising lack of selection of one specific position group of need on the team.
Or is it a position of need? It’s been up for debate since Kwesi Adofo-Mensah came to town as Vikings GM in the opening months of 2022, whether or not he views the cornerback position as “premium.” It’s a pretty crazy thought, thinking that cornerbacks wouldn’t be viewed as a premium position for a team that’s had two 13+ win seasons since Adofo-Mensah started calling the shots in Eagan, but here we are in 2025 after his fourth draft, and that theory is still posturing itself as potentially true.
In a shocking twist, the Vikings didn’t ring the cellular device of one singular cornerback when they were on the clock during the seven rounds of the draft. They had their pick of the litter of cornerbacks at 24th overall on Thursday night (minus Jahdae Barron), and they decided to go the way of Ohio State offensive lineman Donovan Jackson instead.
Even in the third round, they traded down from 97 with the Houston Texans, who selected a cornerback themselves, Jaylin Smith out of USC. Then, at pick 102, which was received in the trade, the Vikings passed on cornerbacks with diamond-in-the-rough potential like Louisville CB Quincy Riley and Ohio State CB Denzel Burke. They opted to spend the pick on the potential WR3 of the future, Tai Felton out of Maryland.
With Pick 139, they went for Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins out of Georgia, a versatile defensive lineman (safe to say that was probably a Brian Flores call). With their final picks at 201 and 202, they called up Penn State LB Kobe King and Pitt TE Gavin Bartholomew.
So, is there a master plan for these Vikings at the CB position?
Well, there might be. There still are a few veteran CBs on the market, like Asante Samuel Jr., and it is still unclear where Jaire Alexander, currently of the division-rival Green Bay Packers, who hosted the 2025 NFL Draft, will play in 2025 and has been heavily rumored to possibly switch sides and join the Minnesota Vikings.
Playing into this theory a bit, as if their middling CB room and lack of draftees for the position aren’t enough, Darren “Doogie” Wolfson of KSTPTV News in the Twin Cities said something quite interesting during SKOR North’s Purple Daily Draft Party in his appearance Thursday night. I am paraphrasing a bit here, but Wolfson stated that his feeling (via his inside leads) that the Vikings will acquire a veteran corner in the coming weeks is at an “8 or 9” on a scale of 10.
It is also worth noting that the Vikings did, in fact, sign two UDFA corners, Utah CB Zemaiah Vaughn and Kansas State CB Keenan Garber, but the odds of them panning out are quite slim, and it’s hard to consider these legitimate swings at aiding the position.
So, don’t fret that the Vikings didn’t take a corner in the actual draft. The position isn’t asked to do too much for too long a time with Brian Flores at the helm, as pressure is often applied to the opposing passer immediately. Byron Murphy Jr. just got locked up, Mekhi Blackmon is returning from injury, and Minnesota did sign veteran CB Isaiah Rodgers, who could be the sneaky value move of the off-season.
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