Minnesota Vikings Draft Night Options
Noah Moore
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Draft week is finally here. The dust has mostly settled on the free agency phase of the offseason, and NFL teams’ last major chance to infuse talent into their rosters starts on Thursday night.
The Minnesota Vikings find themselves in an interesting position heading into this year’s draft. The roster has a strong foundation of talent at key positions, but they were unable to form a cohesive unit last season, due (at least in part) to a dysfunctional front office/coaching staff relationship.
The Wilf family attempted to remedy the leadership issue by bringing in two young and intelligent minds in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell.
The Vikings also shored up the roster with some key acquisitions in free agency. For example, they brought in Za’Darius Smith to line up across from Danielle Hunter in their 3-4 defense. They also signed former Packer corner Chandon Sullivan, who excels in the slot, and guard Chris Reed, who will add competition along the interior of the offensive line.
Other notable additions include defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and inside linebacker Jordan Hicks to replace the departing Michael Pierce and (likely departing) Anthony Barr.
The Vikings now have a new coach/general manager, a talented foundation, a few free agent acquisitions to fill in positions of need, and the #12 pick in the draft. This provides them with flexibility on draft night, when they will have three options to choose between while on the clock.
Option #1: Stay Put At 12
The first and most obvious choice to make on draft night is to select the best player available with the 12th pick.
As it happens, many people believe the best player available on the board for the Vikings will also fit the Vikings most urgent position of need. Daily Norseman’s mock draft database shows almost half (47%) of the mock drafts they analyzed feature the Vikings selecting cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. in the first round.
Derek Stingley Jr. is an elite corner prospect, and the Minnesota Vikings need a starting cornerback, so this pick would make a lot of sense. If Stingley is on the board at 12, I would be surprised if the Vikings didn’t stay put and make the selection.
Option #2: Trade Up
However, it’s possible that the Vikings have other plans. They may not want to patiently wait to see if Stingley is available, instead aggressively choosing to trade up in order to pursue a top-end talent.
One possible scenario where the Vikings trade up would be to select Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton.
The rangy and intuitive Hamilton is one of the best players available in the draft regardless of position. It’s true that the Vikings already have a great Notre Dame safety in Harrison Smith. But Smith, at 33, is growing long in the tooth, and Hamilton would be the ultimate successor.
Option #3: Trade Down
The third option for the Minnesota Vikings is to trade down from the #12 spot. It is possible that much of the top-end talent is off the board by the time the Vikings are on the clock. In this case, it would make sense to trade down, gaining more picks in the process.
After all, there is no reason to fear drafting in the 20s. Some great Vikings were drafted in the second half of the first round, including Harrison Smith (29), Xavier Rhodes (25), and Justin Jefferson (22).
One example of a Day 2 player the Vikings could take a shot on as a result of trading down is Skyy Moore. Skyy Moore excelled in the slot for the Western Michigan Broncos due to his quickness and lateral agility. He could have a chance to really stand out in the same scheme that produced one of the best slot receivers in the league, Cooper Kupp.
Whatever Kwesi and O’Connell have planned, we will only have to wait a few more days to find out which option the Vikings will choose. The first round of the 2022 NFL Draft starts on Thursday.
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