Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Tyler Forness

2023 NFL draft: Final Vikings mock draft roundup

Welcome to the final mock draft roundup for the 2023 NFL draft cycle!

Heading into this week, there were 436 industry mock drafts with 54 unique players since January 1st. That says a lot about this draft class. There is talent, but the disparity from picks 20-60 isn’t that much. That fact explains the multitude of players sent to the Vikings over the last 16 weeks.

In this final mock draft roundup, it will only encompass the last four days before the draft. Folks, we made it.

Mock Draft Roundup 16.0

Maryland CB Deonte Banks

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

The 33rd Team’s Scouting Department
SB Nation’s Staff
Athlon Sports’ Luke Easterling
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar
Pro Football Network’s Arif Hasan
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso
Yahoo! Sports’ Charles McDonald
The Ringer’s Danny Kelly
USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar
Fantasy Pros’ Thor Nystrom
Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Hanson

Banks is an outstanding press corner who has strong hands and plays with top-level balance. One of the most explosive corners in the draft, Banks was one of the top testing corners at the combine, running a sub-4.4 40 and jumping out of the building. He could be an impact player for the Minnesota Vikings early.-The 33rd Team

USC WR Jordan Addison

Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

The Sporting News’ Jacob Camenker
Pro Football Focus’ NFL Podcast
CBS Sports’ Heath Cummings
Pro Football Focus’ Staff
Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio
Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt
MMQB’s Albert Breer
CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah
Panthers Wire’s Anthony Rizzuti
ESPN’s Todd McShay
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler
The Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer
The Draft Network’s Brentley Weissman
The Draft Network’s Damian Parson
Fantasy Pros’ Matthew Freedman
Fantasy Pros’ Matthew Jones
Pro Football Network’s James Fragoza

The Vikings would probably be thrilled to land Addison and pair him with Justin Jefferson. Addison averaged over 1,000 receiving yards per season in college and recorded 29 touchdowns while playing with Kenny Pickett and Caleb Williams at quarterback.

Addison is just 5-11 and 173 pounds, but he is a good route runner and has enough speed to do damage. He projects as an ideal No. 2 wideout. Having him alongside Jefferson, K.J. Osburn and T.J. Hockenson would make the Vikings’ offense potent again.-Jacob Camenker

Alabama CB/S Brian Branch

Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

USA Today’s Nate Davis
Vikings Wire’s Tyler Forness
Boston Globe’s Ben Volin
Cowboys Wire’s K.D. Drummond

The board doesn’t fall great for the Vikings and they need talented football players to continue building around. Branch is a excellent football player who can do a little bit of everything in the back seven for Brian Flores. This is exactly what the Vikings should be doing if they strike out at the top of this wide receiver and quarterback class.-Tyler Forness

South Carolina CB Cam Smith

Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard

Brian Flores has arrived to fix the defense. He gets a talented corner with some flags to start the process.-Pat Leonard

Mississippi State CB Emmanuel Forbes

Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

NFL.com’s Eric Edholm
Pro Football Network’s Dalton Miller
ESPN’s NFL Nation
Pro Football Network’s Adam Caplan
Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon
NBC Sports Edge’s Connor Rogers
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein
The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler
Fantasy Pros’ Kent Weyrauch

Forbes’ slight build (6-foot-1, 166 pounds) will be highly scrutinized, but his playmaking prowess is unquestioned (14 INTs over three seasons, with an NCAA-record six pick-sixes). He’d be a strong replacement for Patrick Peterson on what was the NFL’s 31st-ranked pass defense a year ago. New defensive coordinator Brian Flores could use a man corner with Forbes’ length and skill set.-Eric Edholm

TCU WR Quentin Johnston

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

CBS Sports’ R.J. White
NFL Wire’s Staff
Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer
The 33rd Team’s Rick Spielman
Vikings Wire’s Kevin Fielder
Pro Football Focus’ Cris Collinsworth
The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov

I expected when we made this move down for Minnesota that it’d be taking Hendon Hooker at this slot, but with Johnston still on the board despite being just -155 to go Over 26.5, he’s the value play for a team that is favored to go receiver with its first pick. Perhaps the market shifts in Hooker’s favor before Thursday, but with the Tennessee quarterback sitting at -120 to go Over 31.5, we can’t slot him him here over a guy who is -400 to be a first-round pick.-R.J. White

Pitt DT Calijah Kancey

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson
The Athletic’s NFL Staff
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy
Fox Sports’ Rob Rang

Kancey was just about unblockable at times during the 2022 season for the Panthers and his 6-foot-1, 281-pound frame will (unfairly, perhaps) draw comparisons to Aaron Donald. The biggest physical difference, however, is that while Donald had 32 5/8-inch arms, Kancey’s arm length came in at a shade under 31 inches, and that’s a major concern when going up against NFL offensive linemen who have 33-34-inch arms. That said, turn on the tape and show us where arm length is an issue for Kancey, who wins consistently with twitch, speed and power.-Ryan Wilson

Michigan DT Mazi Smith

Iowavsmichiganfb 20221001 Bh

Who:

The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia

Kentucky QB Will Levis

Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell
Fantasy Pros’ PJ Moran
The Draft Network’s Justin Melo

The Minnesota Vikings halt Will Levis’ slide down the draft board by trading their 23rd overall pick, their 87th overall pick (third round), and their 2024 first-round selection. The Vikings put a succession plan in place for Kirk Cousins, a free agent next offseason, after seeing his inability to get past the New York Giants at home in Round 1 of the playoffs this past season. Levis gets to sit and learn the ropes from Cousins for a year before taking over as the Vikings’ new starting quarterback in 2024.-Garrett Podell

Florida QB Anthony Ricahrdson

Syndication Ocala Starbanner

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

Bears Wire’s Jarrett Bailey
The Film Room’s Brett Kollmann
Bears Wire’s Jarrett Bailey
Vikings Wire’s Tyler Forness
The Draft Network’s Chris Schubert
The Draft Network’s Jaime Eisner

This is somewhat of a shocker, but it really shouldn’t be. The Vikings need a quarterback of the future and the tea leaves are coming into focus. The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling has the Vikings trading up to 11 to take Anthony Richardson and he makes sense for what the Vikings are trying to do moving forward. He has every single tool you could ask for and with a year behind Kirk Cousins, Richardson will be afforded time to work on his mechanical consistencies.-Tyler Forness

Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr.

Joey Porter Jr. Hes Dr 102222 Whiteout

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell
Barstool Sports’ Steven Cheah
For The Win’s Christian D’Andrea
Sportsnaut’s Benjamin Allbright
Saturday Down South’s Adam Spencer & Connor O’Gara
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
Eagles Wire’s Glenn Erby
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson
Fantasy Pros’ Russell Brown
Fantasy Pros’ John Supowitz
Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger

Joey Porter Jr., the son of retired four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter, has high-end physical traits for a cornerback, standing at 6-2 while weighing 193 pounds. That type of size and strength will allow him to physically match up with some of the NFL’s best wide receivers starting in Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season since he takes advantage of his frame well in press man coverage. The Vikings desperately need help in the secondary as they were the second-worst pass defense in the NFL last year, allowing 265.8 passing yards per game. This would be a nice value for them at 23.-Garrett Podell

Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

2022-08-23-jaxon-smith-njigba

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks

Putting a polished route runner opposite Justin Jefferson will enable Kirk Cousins to stay in attack mode at all times. JSN is a big-play specialist with the talent and skill to produce explosive plays from anywhere on the field.-Bucky Brooks

Georgia EDGE Nolan Smith

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

CBS Sports’ Will Brinson

I’d be willing to wager substantially that this first Vikings pick is a defensive player from either Clemson or Georgia.-Will Brinson

Iowa EDGE Lukas Van Ness

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

NFL.com’s Charles Davis

The Vikings would have loved to add a QB here, but are also excited to grab this Hawkeye and continue to improve a defense that struggled often in 2022. Van Ness will be put to good use quickly by new defensive coordinator Brian Flores.-Charles Davis

Clemson DT Bryan Bresee

Ncaa Football Syracuse At Clemson

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

Browns Wire’s Cory Kinnan

Texas RB Bijan Robinson

Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

NFL Network’s Peter Schrager

Bijan falls to Minnesota and an already-good offensive team gets the best offensive player in this draft.-Peter Schrager

Minnesota C John Michael Schmitz

Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

Who:

The Draft Network’s Keith Sanchez

Clemson EDGE Myles Murphy

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

Fantasy Pros’ Andrew Erickson

Minnesota desperately needs to bolster the defensive line in Round 1. They lost Dalvin Tomlinson to the Browns. The only worthwhile defensive line additions were ex-Saints defensive lineman Marcus Davenport and ex-Packer Dean Lowry.

The Vikings drafted EDGE Esezi Otomewo in the fifth round last season, and a close comparable to him in this year’s class is Clemson’s Myles Murphy.-Andrew Erickson

LSU EDGE B.J. Ojulari

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler’s Scouting Report

Who:

CBS Sports’ Dave Richard

The Vikings need a lot of help, and there will be temptation to trade down one more time, but Ojulari is a fast edge rusher who can pay off dividends this year and beyond. That latter part is very important — Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith and Marcus Davenport are all on the older side and all three might be off the Vikings roster by 2024.-Dave Richard

Overview

Since January 1st, I have compiled

-545 industry mock drafts
-54 unique player

This week alone:

-109 industry mock drafts
-21 unique players

CB Deonte Banks 62
WR Jordan Addison 52
QB Hendon Hooker 36
CB Emmanuel Forbes 30
CB Joey Porter Jr. 30
CB Cam Smith 28
WR Quentin Johnston 27
WR Zay Flowers 25
CB Kelee Ringo 23
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba 19
CB/S Brian Branch 19
QB Will Levis 15
DT Bryan Bresee 14
DT Calijah Kancey 14
CB Clark Phillips III 12
EDGE Lukas Van Ness 12
CB Devon Witherspoon 11
EDGE Nolan Smith 11
QB Anthony Richardson 11
CB Christian Gonzalez 9
EDGE Myles Murphy 9
LB Trenton Simpson 8
EDGE B.J. Ojulari 6
WR Josh Downs 5
EDGE/LB Drew Sanders 5
DL Keion White 5
WR Jalin Hyatt 5
S Antonio Johnson 4
DL Mazi Smith 4
C John Michael Schmitz 4
DL Adetomiwa Adebawore 3
RB Bijan Robinson 3
WR Rashee Rice 2
NT Siaki Ika 2
OT Peter Skoronski 1
OT Blake Freeland 1
OT Anton Harrison 1
QB Tanner McKee 1
CB Jaylon Jones 1
WR Kayshon Boutte 1
OL Cody Mauch 1
CB Tyrique Stevenson 1
EDGE Felix Anudike-Uzomah 1
OT Broderick Jones 1
CB Kyu Blu Kelly 1
EDGE Isaiah Foskey 1
C Joe Tippmann 1
CB D.J. Turner 1
OG O’Cyrus Torrence 1
CB Garrett Williams 1
DT Jalen Carter 1
CB Julius Brents 1
EDGE Will McDonald IV 1
TE Dalton Kincaid 1
Total 545

 

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.