A Vikings Mock if There’s a Need for Speed
Soon enough, the Vikings mock drafts are going to fall by the wayside. Mercifully, the real thing is going to arrive in mere days.
Conducting a mock involved leaning on the tool with ESPN. Going for the full seven rounds isn’t for the faint of heart. Perhaps due to some cowardice, I’ve opted to constrain myself to the opening trio of rounds. The goal is to fill needs, opting for speedy players to do so. Making the speed — each prospect’s forty time — a touch easier to understand is a side-by-side comparison with recent Vikings players. Check out how things went.
A Vikings Mock that’s All about Speed
1st Round, No. 18 — Colton Hood, CB
Colton Hood’s Forty Time: 4.44
Byron Murphy’s Forty Time: 4.55
Boasting an elite talent such as CB1 Zaxier Rhodes feels like a very long time ago for the Vikings. Opting for Hood would be about getting back to the days of having a true top option to lock down the other team’s best receiver. That’s an ambitious ask, but why draft a corner in the 1st if not for some audacious plans? The speed isn’t unheard of but is very good. For curious minds, Rhodes ran a 4.43.
2nd Round, No. 49 — Jacob Rodriguez, LB
Jacob Rodriguez’s Forty Time: 4.57
Eric Kendricks’ Forty Time: 4.61
The man with a glorious moustache has a ton of speed. Now, part of what made Kendricks play so fast was his intelligence and work ethic; only someone who puts in tremendous effort can make the game appear so effortless. If he can mirror those aspects of Kendricks’ game, Rodriguez could be a true sideline-to-sideline terror for the Vikings.
3rd Round, No. 82 — Jalon Kilgore, S
Jalon Kilgore’s Forty Time: 4.4
Harrison Smith’s Forty Time: 4.54
Harrison Smith isn’t the world’s fastest safety. Where he wins is via his versatility, compete, physicality, and so on. Kilgore would look to replicate some of those abilities while showing off superior wheels. Getting even somewhere close Smith would mean snagging a tremendous talent.
3rd Round, No. 97 — Logan Jones, C
Logan Jones’s Forty Time: 4.9
Garrett Bradbury’s Forty Time: 4.92
Bradbury’s issue had little to do with athleticism, or lack thereof. The Vikings’ former center was awesome when tasked with a reach block, climbing to the second level, and when moving out for screens. Anchoring in pass protection was where he struggled. Jones would be added to do similar tasks — reach, climb, screens — while ideally proving more formidable against powerful DTs.
