Vikings 2023 Draft Class Ranked Near the Bottom in Terms of Production
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings have a big offseason in front of them in terms of roster construction.
A large chunk of their roster is set to hit free agency in March while questions remain regarding a Justin Jefferson contract extension. A major part of Minnesota’s reconstruction will ultimately come in the 2024 NFL Draft where they have nine selections awaiting them.
In terms of Minnesota’s recent draft history, though, the track record hasn’t necessarily been great. The 2022 Vikings draft class looks like a bit of a debacle at the top, and ESPN’s Aaron Schatz recently ranked the 2023 rookie classes of all 32 teams. Once again, the Vikings came in near the bottom, ranking 25th in terms of production.
Vikings 2023 Draft Class Ranked Near Bottom of NFL
Of course, there is a caveat that the Vikings only made six draft selections last spring and lost their second-round pick because of their trade with the Detroit Lions to acquire TE T.J. Hockenson. So, these rankings should be taken lightly.
Still, here is how Schatz defended his placement of the Vikings between the New York Jets at No. 24 and the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 26:
The most important rookies for the Vikings were a first-round pick and an undrafted player. The undrafted player is linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., who took over for an injured Jordan Hicks and became the green-dot defensive playcaller. He started 11 games and had 102 tackles with 2.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
The first-round pick is wide receiver Jordan Addison. He finished the season with 70 catches for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns, ranking 28th in DVOA among wide receivers. The Vikings saw a lot of play from third-round cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, who played about 40% of the defensive snaps and had a 9% DVOA in coverage, close to league average.
Fifth-round quarterback Jaren Hall started two games but was pulled out of the second one and ended up with a terrible 5.1 QBR. Fifth-round defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy played about 12% of the defensive snaps, while fourth-round safety Jay Ward primarily played on special teams.
Of course, as Schatz mentions, the two key rookies for the Vikings this season were Addison and Pace. Addison’s 10 receiving touchdowns tied for the rookie lead with Lions TE Sam LaPorta while Pace was easily PFF’s highest graded rookie linebacker among players with at least 100 defensive snaps, clocking in at 77.2.
However, hope should be held out for the rest of Minnesota’s draft class. Blackmon was a very effective cornerback down the stretch of the season, starting three games in the Vikings secondary and recording eight passes defended along with an interception.
Meanwhile, Jaquelin Roy could be in line for more snaps during the 2024 season, seeing as Jonathan Bullard is one of the players entering free agency, and Harrison Phillips could turn into a cut candidate this offseason to free up cap space.
In all, the Vikings rookie class certainly didn’t have the most production in 2023, but part of that was simply by design and par for the course. The book is far from closed on this group, and 2024 looks like a great opportunity for growth.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.