Across the NFL draft landscape there are many “insiders” whose thoughts on the process hold a little more weight than the average NFL draft pundit. One of those insiders is ESPN’s Field Yates, who dropped his first mock draft of the 2024 NFL draft season.
Yates is one of the more plugged-in individuals in NFL draft circles, so keeping an eye on who he sends where, and how those picks evolve during the draft season can provided some valuable insights. In his first mock of the season, he has the Minnesota Vikings skipping out on a quarterback and instead getting Florida State EDGE Jared Verse. Here is Yates’ breakdown:
Retaining Danielle Hunter — soon to be a free agent — would change the outlook on this pick, but losing Hunter, D.J. Wonnum and/or Marcus Davenport in free agency would leave Minnesota razor thin at pass-rusher. Verse is long, has great in-line power and shows a growing set of pass-rush moves to get home. After surprising many and returning to Florida State for the 2023 season, he helped catalyze what was on the short list for the best defense in college football last season, racking up nine sacks.
Verse and UCLA EDGE Laiatu Latu have become popular selections across the mock draft landscape for the Vikings, and with the amount of talent potentially leaving in free agency, the picks make a lot of sense. Even if the Vikings are able to retain Danielle Hunter, if both Davenport and Wonnum leave, there is a massive depth issue at the position that Verse (or Latu) would immediately help shore up.
