Mock draft season is upon us and that means our mock draft roundup is back!
What we do every week is track the mainstream outlets mock drafts and aggregate how many times a player gets selected. Last season, we tallied up 173 mock drafts and only 10 of them were on offense. This season could end up being much of the same.
We will track them and try to determine trends and patterns, along with giving my own analysis on how they could fit with the Minnesota Vikings.
Boston College WR Zay Flowers
Who:
The Draft Network’s Brentley Weissman
Jaguars Wire’s Adam Sites
USA Today’s Nate Davis
Fantasy Pros’ Mastthew Freedman
Fantasy Pros’ Mike Fanelli
Adam Thielen’s run with the Vikings has ended and the team must look to add another receiver to go opposite Justin Jefferson. The speedy playmaker out of Boston College could be a great fit as a deep-threat option and he is also excellent with the ball in his hands after the catch.-Brentley Weissman
South Carolina CB Cam Smith
Who:
The first thing you need to know about Minnesota’s defense in 2023 is that Brian Flores is a massive upgrade over Ed Donatell as the team’s defensive coordinator. The second thing you need to know is that Flores has always preferred to run aggressive defenses with blitzes and man coverage. The third thing you need to know is that after signing former Cardinals cornerback Byron Murphy and losing Patrick Peterson in free agency, the Vikings are probably the NFL’s most cornerback-light team. If the Vikings were to select Smith here, he’d be a perfect fit in that he’s a big (6-foot-1, 180), consistent, aggressive defender who can lock receivers down in both press and off coverage. Last season, when in man coverage, Smith allowed just seven catches on 23 targets for 53 yards and four pass breakups. You can imagine Flores grinning as he watches Smith’s tape.-Doug Farrar
Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Who:
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson
Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer
The Vikings parted ways with Adam Thielen, and the remaining wide receivers on the roster are Justin Jefferson, K.J. Osborn, Jalen Nailor and Jalen Reagor. The Jalens combined for 17 receptions last season. And Osborn, who had 60 catches in ’22, will be a free agent after the season. Enter Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who barely saw the field during the 2022 season because of injuries, but is still one of the top wideouts in the class. It’s easy to forget that he led the 2021 Buckeyes in receptions, and that corps included first-rounders Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, and future first-rounder Marvin Harrison Jr. – Ryan Wilson
TCU WR Quentin Johnston
Who:
Vikings Wire’s Tyler Forness
Fantasy Pros’ Russell Brown
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
The Vikings are in need of a weapon opposite of Justin Jefferson at the wide receiver position. With most of the class being smaller, Johnston brings an element of size and dynamic receiving ability down the field. He needs to learn and develop nuance, especially at the top of the stem, but the potential is boundless for my WR1.-Tyler Forness
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker
Who:
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso
The Vikings have been doing their homework on this quarterback class. Hooker is well-liked around the league and he could sit for a year behind Kirk Cousins before taking over and ushering in a new era for Kevin O’Connell.-Daniel Jeremiah
Maryland CB Deonte Banks
Who:
The Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Alexander
Browns Wire’s Cory Kinnan
Bears Wire’s Jarrett Bailey
Death, taxes, and the Vikings drafting a cornerback early in the draft. For their sake, let’s hope Banks lives up to the hype.-Jarrett Bailey
Georgia EDGE Nolan Smith
Who:
Smith gets a little lost after missing the end of his final Bulldogs season with a torn pec. A team like the Vikings stops the fall for an accomplished all-around stand-up EDGE. Smith has enough athleticism and savvy to work in some off-ball LB looks too.-Jeff Risdon
Alabama S Brian Branch
Who:
The 33rd Team’s Scouting Department
Pro Football Network’s Cam Mellor
The Vikings are undergoing a major change on the defensive side of the ball under new coordinator Brian Flores. The highly instinctive Brian Branch can do a lot of things on the football field. He’ll help a Vikings’ pass defense that was their Achilles’ heel last season.-The 33rd Team
Kentucky QB Will Levis
Who:
Bears Wire’s Jarrett Bailey
The Athletic’s Staff
NFL Network’s Charles Davis
NFL.com’s Chad Reuter
Fantasy Pros’ Andrew Erickson
The Vikings’ future at quarterback is in question. Kirk Cousins remains under contract through 2023. The team has yet to extend him. Until they do, thinking about the team’s next thrower of the football is worthwhile. Though it might be tempting to save key 2024 draft capital, especially with the potential QBs in next year’s NFL Draft, the Vikings could benefit from adding a QB now. A season to learn head coach Kevin O’Connell’s system would be a boon. So would the opportunity to sit behind Cousins.
Levis, a strong-armed passer, played for Liam Coen in 2021 at Kentucky. Coen spent three years on the Rams staff with O’Connell from 2018 to 2020, then replaced him as L.A.’s offensive coordinator in 2022. Leaping to No. 7 would take some heavy lifting, but the time comes for every team to shoot its shot. — Alec Lewis
Clemson DT Bryan Bresee
Who:
PFF’s Staff
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson
Bresee is a bit more of a project than you’d like at the top of the draft, but he wasn’t put in much of a position to succeed in Clemson’s scheme. His physical skill set is special.-PFF’s Staff
USC WR Jordan Addison
Tyler’s Scouting Report
Who:
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli
They let Adam Thielen go, which means they need help in their passing game. Jordan Addison is a great route-runner who would be a nice 1-2 punch with Justin Jefferson. They could go corner here as well.-Pete Prisco
Georgia CB Kelee Ringo
Who:
Pro Football Network’s BJ Rudell
Pro Football Network’s Tommy Garrett
Kelee Ringo‘s odds of being the first cornerback drafted are +5000. In other words, he makes sense at this current spot that MDS users have him in.-BJ Rudell
Michigan DT Mazi Smith
Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt
Who:
After releasing Adam Thielen, the Vikings have a need to play opposite Justin Jefferson. Hyatt gives them a big-play threat that can get behind defenses.-Patrick Conn
Northwestern DL Adetomiwa Adebawore
Who:
Pro Football Network’s James Fragoza
Will Adetomiwa Adebawore go in the first round? It’s possible, especially after his shameless display at the Combine: 4.49 40-yard dash, 37.5″ vertical, and 10’5″ broad jump at 6’2″ and 282 pounds with 33 7/8″ arms. There’s “built in a lab,” and then there’s whatever divine intervention Adebawore spawned from.
He’s a bit of a project and will need polishing, but every team would covet his traits at 3-tech, and Adebawore can even stretch out to 5-tech — where he spent most of his time at Northwestern.-James Fragoza
Overview
Through 12 weeks, there have been 48 different players mocked to the Vikings over 281 mocked drafts.
| CB Deonte Banks | 29 |
| CB Cam Smith | 23 |
| CB Kelee Ringo | 21 |
| CB Emmanuel Forbes | 17 |
| WR Jordan Addison | 15 |
| WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 14 |
| CB Joey Porter Jr. | 13 |
| CB Clark Phillips III | 12 |
| CB/S Brian Branch | 11 |
| WR Zay Flowers | 11 |
| CB Devon Witherspoon | 10 |
| CB Christian Gonzalez | 9 |
| EDGE Lukas Van Ness | 8 |
| EDGE Nolan Smith | 6 |
| EDGE B.J. Ojulari | 5 |
| LB Trenton Simpson | 5 |
| EDGE Myles Murphy | 5 |
| WR Josh Downs | 5 |
| DT Bryan Bresee | 5 |
| WR Quentin Johnston | 5 |
| QB Will Levis | 5 |
| S Antonio Johnson | 4 |
| EDGE/LB Drew Sanders | 4 |
| DT Calijah Kancey | 4 |
| DL Mazi Smith | 3 |
| WR Jalin Hyatt | 3 |
| WR Rashee Rice | 2 |
| QB Anthony Richardson | 2 |
| NT Siaki Ika | 2 |
| C John Michael Schmitz | 2 |
| DL Keion White | 2 |
| DL Adetomiwa Adebawore | 2 |
| QB Hendon Hooker | 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 |
| RB Bijan Robinson | 1 |
| EDGE Isaiah Foskey | 1 |
| C Joe Tippmann | 1 |
| CB D.J. Turner | 1 |
| Total | 281 |
