Mocking Minnesota: The Benefits of Trading Down
K. Joudry
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April has arrived, so it’s officially mock draft season. Free agency, for the most part, moves to the back burner as draft hype takes over the top spot. I’ll therefore be doing a handful of Minnesota Vikings mock drafts using the PFF simulator. The idea is to give fans a sense of how things might shake out once the draft finally arrives at the end of the month.
In the opening iteration, I decided to pay homage to the former leadership group, trading down rather than staying at #12. As you’ll see, the Vikings got a pretty good return, one that I used to make the pass rush more dangerous.
By the time Minnesota was on the clock, two of the top targets were gone: Derek Stingley Jr. and Trent McDuffie. Frustratingly, McDuffie went 11th. Ahmad Gardner and Kyle Hamilton were also gone. The corners would have been tempting.
Four teams were interested in jumping up, and I opted for Arizona rather than doing business with the Packers or trading out of the opening round. The Cardinals sent over the 23rd, 55th, and 201st picks to acquire the 12th choice. They chose George Karlaftis, one of the players I was most interested in choosing. Had I stayed there, I likely would have opted for him, though it was notable that Jermaine Johnson, Jordan Davis, and Tyler Linderbaum were all available.
At 23rd, I opted for Devonte Wyatt, a iDL prospect from Georgia. He’s the 14th-ranked player on The Draft Network, receiving praise for his pass rushing abilities:
Wyatt is an excellent athlete inside, displaying quickness and burst to penetrate gaps. He is a disruptive interior rusher with the quickness to win the edges inside and shoot gaps. Wyatt plays with good balance and has excellent change of direction and lateral mobility. He has very good speed overall to cross offensive linemen’s faces and is excellent with his hands, showing an ability to tie rush moves together inside. Wyatt is susceptible to power in the running game and there are times he loses gap integrity, especially when forced to face double teams. He has just average power overall and wins primarily with his first-step quickness and motor. A versatile defender, Wyatt can align anywhere along the line of scrimmage. [H]aving had success playing 0-tech all the way to rushing outside at 7-tech. A player whose best football is still ahead of him, Wyatt has the size, length, pass rush instincts, and athleticism to develop into a consistent interior rusher at the next level.
To my mind, the main need for the Minnesota Vikings still rests along the defensive front and at corner, so the opening round of this mock is positive. Partnering him with Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter on passing downs offers the Vikings with a scary amount of pass rushing potential. Dalvin Tomlinson would do the heavy lifting on early downs. Armon Watts and Harrison Phillips would also factor in heavily, giving the Vikings a really nice group of interior defensive linemen.
In the second round, I got greedy with the 46th pick. Rather than address the offensive line or secondary, I opted for Nik Bonitto. Yet again, the allure of improving the pass rush won. According to TDN, he’ll be a 3-4 OLB who specializes in getting after the QB. There are some concerns about his lack of length, but he receives praise for a strong motor and great athleticism.
The final choice will surprise some. Tight end is a sneaky need for the Vikings. Irv Smith Jr. is coming back from the season-ending injury. Trey McBride was available, so I decided to scoop him up to be Minnesota’s TE2. He’ll be another receiving option in an offense littered with them. If Smith struggles, Minnesota can feature McBride more prominently.
Many will quibble with the choices I made for the first Minnesota Vikings mock draft. The overall takeway, though, ought to be that there can be really good value in trading down, especially if the best corners are already taken.
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