Vikings Draft Pick Looks Worse by the Week
The 2025 Draft class has not provided much help to the Minnesota Vikings in their rookie seasons. It’s pretty much been Donovan Jackson and not much else. Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins has at least been a rotational defender in most games. Kobe King is already off the team, and Gavin Bartholomew hasn’t played because of an annoying back injury.
Vikings Draft Pick Looks Worse by the Week
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spent his second pick of the draft — pick 102 after a trade from 97 — to acquire wideout Tai Felton. The Maryland product has been non-existent on offense, and whether his special-team prowess was worth a late third-rounder can be questioned.
Felton has been active in all 12 games this season. He has logged a whopping 18 snaps on offense and a more respectable 219 on special teams.
In the third phase, Felton has been a demon in punt coverage, using his 4.37 speed to make life complicated for any opposing returner. However, he has one catch for nine yards on his offensive resume.
One problem is that he is stuck behind star receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, as well as WR3 Jalen Nailor. Adam Thielen was on the squad, too, until the club and the player parted ways on Monday. The veteran was inactive on Sunday, and Felton still couldn’t get on the field.
His 18 offensive snaps all came in two blowouts, in mop-up duty. He played in the fourth quarters against the Bengals and the Chargers. Outside of those meaningless snaps, he has posted a goose egg in the snap category. The Vikings clearly do not want to have him on the field. If that wasn’t the case, they could’ve easily installed a couple of plays to get him the ball.
Coming out, Felton was expected to be a project. He was productive at Maryland with over 1,100 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024, but he was still viewed as a raw player. Still, he was praised for his after-the-catch ability, and the Vikings could’ve just thrown him a couple of bubble screens or other quick passes to give the struggling offense a boost. We haven’t gotten any of that, and it’s raising questions.
At pick 102 (or 97), the Vikings could’ve targeted another defensive back or attempted to find the new center of the future. A third tight end was needed, perhaps a better prospect than Bartholomew could’ve been available?
Consider Lance Zierlein’s words. The scout wrote ahead of the draft, “Tall, slender wideout whose impressive 2024 production appears to be more a function of target volume than projectable talent. Felton is a linear route runner who will struggle with tight press and physical man coverage inside the route. He can build speed inside long strides and has proven he can make tacklers miss, creating chunk plays on possession throws. He lacks functional strength and rarely owns the catch space when contested. Felton has backup potential, but he could compete for a role as a gunner early on.”
Now, he listed him as a fourth-to-fifth-rounder. The Vikings used the final pick of round three. Special-teams demons are certainly undervalued in general, but spending a third-rounder for someone who’s only playing in that phase is absurd.
Unfortunately, Felton’s path towards snaps isn’t getting any easier. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison aren’t going anywhere, and it remains to be seen whether Jalen Nailor will actually depart in free agency. The Vikings could just keep him for a fifth season. He’ll hardly break the bank.
It’s too early to declare him a bust, given it’s his first season and he was viewed as a project, but it’s not too early to wonder if that pick will work out at all.
Perhaps giving him the ball in the final five games — presumably all irrelevant — might not be the worst idea.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.