Vikings Spin’s Final Mock Draft w/53 Man Roster Projection

By Jason Wisniewski

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Vikings Spin is back with a final mock draft now that the Free Agency period dust has settled!    Yes the Vikings can and will most likely still sign Free Agents and make roster moves up through September before they take the field in their Week 1 regular season match up but those moves will be dictated by what they do in the upcoming draft just like the first wave of Free Agency has now shaped what they can and will do in the draft.

With all that said, let’s draft!

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Trade Rd 1 #18 & 2020 Rd 3 pick to Washington for Rd 1 #15

Rd 1 #15 Andre Dillard OT Washington State 6’5 315 lbs

The Vikings need an Offensive Tackle that will allow them to move on from Riley Reiff who has a rather large contract & the team will need cap space in both 2019 & 2020 after extending WR Adam Thielen to a mega deal.  With Dillard falling to #15 in this scenario Spielman leapfrogs the Giants & Panthers to make sure he gets his LT for the next decade.  He’s got too much upside to risk missing out on with Kubiak & Dennison on staff to mold him.  Dillard is the ideal Zone Blocking Left Tackle and is the draft’s top pure pass protector.

Rd 2 #18 Erik McCoy C/G Texas A & M 6’4 303 lbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-eUgZD0xZo

The Vikings will love McCoy’s blend of athleticism & strength and also his versatility to be able to play either Center or Guard.  Another positive is that McCoy played in a zone blocking scheme in college so he’s a perfect fit for what the Vikings want to do with their O-line.  They could figure out which of Elflein or McCoy will play Center and which one will play Guard but either way the O-line gets a boost in both the run & passing game.  This pick would be the final piece that allows them to move Reiff after June 1st and open up $9.5 million in cap space in 2019 & over $9 million of 2020 cap space as well.

Rd 3 #17 Kahale Warring TE San Diego State 6’5 252 lbs

The Vikings need an athletic TE and preferably one that can block and they get just that here with Warring who is a well rounded & complete TE.  The pick also helps the team start prepping for life after Kyle Rudolph.  In this mock the Vikings keep Rudolph so Warring will pair with Rudolph in 2 TE sets to give the Vikings an unpredictable 2 TE look for opposing defenses to figure out.  They can also pair him with David Morgan when they want to road grade people in the run game and seal the edges.

Rd 4 #18 Ben Banogu DE TCU 6’3 250 lbs

Everson Griffen is back for 2019 but will he restructure again in 2020?  Will Stephen Weatherly be re-signed in 2020?  That’s a lot of question marks at the DE position so depth is needed and giving Andre Patterson a year to tutor a young Edge rusher who could essentially redshirt his rookie year would be beneficial for the long term at the position.  For 2019 Banogu can provide depth while preparing for a bigger role in 2020.

Rd 6 #17 Joe Giles Harris LB Duke 6’2 234 lbs

Kentrell Brothers is entering the final year of his rookie deal and the Vikings could use some freshness in the depth of their LB corps.  They did not seem to have confidence in Brothers beyond being a Special Teams player as they elected to play OLB Eric Wilson out of position at MLB when Kendricks was hurt last year before playing Brothers so it makes sense to get a player with possibly better instincts at the backup MLB spot who is also cheaper.

Rd 6 #36 Penny Hart WR/RS Georgia State 5’8 180 lbs

Hart can come in become the team’s punt returner right away and also offers some deep speed as a WR4/WR 5 type option that can be a deep ball role player and backup slot WR, similar to the role Aldrick Robinson played in 2018.

Rd 7# 33 Jake Browning QB Washington 6’2 211 lbs

Browning will likely need a year on the practice squad but he has enough accuracy and mobility that he is worth developing as a future backup.

Rd 7 # 36 Saquan Hampton S Rutgers 6’1 206 lbs

The Vikings could have as many as 2 safeties becoming unrestricted Free Agents next year and it while it’s likely they will re-sign at least one of Anthony Harris or Jayron Kearse they will have to fill the roster spot of the one that isn’t back in 2020.  The Vikings have had success developing late Rd & undrafted safeties as evidenced by Kearse & Harris so taking a flyer on Hampton in Rd 7 makes sense here.  He could either challenge Derron Smith for the #4 Safety spot or spend a year developing on the practice squad.

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Post Draft FA/Trades

  • Trade WR Laquon Treadwell to Oakland for 2020 Rd 6 ($1.8 million cap savings)
  • Trade OT Riley Reiff & 2020 Rd 6 to NY Giants for 2020 Rd 3 ($9.5 million cap savings)

After trades the Vikings enter the Post Draft FA period with $13.1 million in cap space

  • Sign CB Sam Shields 1 yr $1.5 million

With Holton Hill suspended for 4 games and Mike Hughes coming off of a torn ACL the Vikings can use a bit of depth and we all know Mike Zimmer loses sleep over who his 5th & 6th CBs are.

  • Sign RB TJ Yeldon 2 yrs $ 6 million

Since the Vikings did not draft a RB in this mock I have them going after Yeldon on a 2 yr deal to backup Dalvin Cook.  Yeldon is a similar player to Latavius Murray and gives the Vikings an experienced RB who has had success in the league who can push the pile in short yardage and also has some juice and can catch & pass block.  He’s a guy you wouldn’t playing if he had to start for an extended period of time due to injury.

  • Sign WR Pierre Garcon 1 yr $2 million

It makes sense to bring in Garcon since he knows the system and has excellent rapport with Kirk Cousins.  WR depth is crucial since the Vikings rely so heavily on Diggs & Thielen in the passing game.  Garcon would also an excellent #3 option in 3 WR sets with his precise route running and sure hands.

  • Re-Sign DT Tom Johnson 1 yr $1.5 million

Both the Vikings & Tom Johnson himself have indicated there is mutual interest in a 1 year reunion and I would expect it gets taken care of quickly after this draft.  Johnson is still highly effective as a part time rotational DT coming in on 3rd downs to rush the passer.

After signings the Vikings have $5.1 million in cap space.

Roster Cuts

  • Release TE Tyler Conklin ($429 k cap savings)
  • Release LB Kentrell Brothers ($720 k cap savings)
  • Release OG Danny Isidora ( $594 k cap savings)
  • Release QB Sean Mannion ($950 k cap savings)
  • Release DE Tashawn Bower ($645 k cap savings)
  • Release WR Brandon Zylstra ($570 k cap savings)
  • Release C Cornelius Edison ($570 k cap savings)
  • Release CB Craig James ($570 k cap savings)
  • Release DE Ifaehdi Odenigbo ($ 570 k cap savings)
  • Release RB Roc Thomas ($570 k cap savings)
  • Release CB Duke Thomas ($0 cap savings)
  • Release OT Adam Bisnowaty ($0 cap savings)
  • Release OT Storm Norton ($0 cap savings)
  • Release LB Hercules Mataa’fa ($0 cap savings)
  • Release DE Karter Schult ($0 cap savings)
  • Release WR Jeff Badet ($0 cap savings)
  • Release LB Reshard Cliett ($0 cap savings)
  • Release DT Curtis Cothran ($0 cap savings)
  • Release S Jordan Martin ($0 cap savings)
  • Release LB Greer Martini ($0 cap savings)

After Roster cuts the Vikings have $11.3 million in cap space which they can roll over towards next season’s cap space.

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53 Man Roster

QB- K. Cousins/K.Sloter

RB- D. Cook/TJ Yeldon/A.Abdullah/M. Boone

FB- CJ Ham

WR- S. Diggs/A. Thielen/P. Garcon/J. Taylor/P. Hart/C. Beebe

TE- K. Rudolph/K. Warring/D. Morgan

OL- A. Dillard/E. McCoy/P. Elflein/J. Kline/B. O’Neill/D. Dozier/A. Collins/B. Jones/R. Hill

DL- E. Griffen/S.Stephen/L. Joseph/D. Hunter/S. Weatherly/T. Johnson/J. Johnson/J. Holmes/B. Banogu

LB- B. Gedeon/E. Kendricks/A. Barr/E. Wilson/J. Giles Harris/D. Downs

CB- X. Rhodes/T. Waynes/M. Hughes/M. Alexander/H. Hill/S. Shields

S- H. Smith/A. Harris/J. Kearse/D. Smith

K- D. Bailey

P- M. Wile

LS- K. McDermott

Practice Squad

QB J. Browning

RB R. Thomas

DE A. Aruna

DE I. Odenigbo

DE T. Bower

TE T. Conklin

CB C. James

C C. Edison

WR B. Zylstra

S Saquan Hampton

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