Daniel Jeremiah Sends the Vikings Their CB in Final Mock Draft
Josh Frey
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Daniel Jeremiah remains one of the more reliable sources for NFL Draft information, and the NFL.com analyst has put out his final mock draft on his podcast, Move the Sticks, ahead of Thursday night’s first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. In this mock, Jeremiah sends Minnesota one of the top CBs in this class, Derek Stingley Jr.
During recent weeks, the Vikings first-round selection has become blurry. As Sauce Gardner seemingly fell out of reach, attention quickly turned to the LSU star, especially given the Tiger roots within Minnesota’s organization. However, just as quickly as Vikings fans had talked themselves into Stingley at No. 12, it seemed that he too would be off the board by the time their pick rolled around.
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Jeremiah’s rationale for the Vikings selection is short and sweet, simply saying that “Stingley could go as high as No. 3 overall. I can’t see him falling beyond this selection”. Despite a roller coaster of a draft process for Stingley, these 10 picks from 3-12 do feel like the range for the CB to be selected. In fact, as of Thursday morning, he remains the favorite to be selected at No. 3 overall.
There are multiple scenarios that could cause Stingley to fall, but in this particular mock draft, it includes having four WRs being selected within the top-11 picks: Garrett Wilson, Jameson Williams, Drake London, and Chris Olave. It is notable that he had zero QBs being selected in this range; the other plausible route for Stingley falling to the Vikings. The first QB isn’t selected until the Pittsburgh Steelers take Kenny Pickett at No. 20.
One final note: the depth of this draft class in the second round, it may be desirable for the Vikings to trade down in order to acquire more picks. Pittsburgh has oft been the partner that Minnesota swaps picks with in this scenario, but that seems impossible if there is no threat of a QB being taken in the first 19 selections.
The 2022 NFL Draft begins Thursday night at 8 PM EST.
