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.
Maryland CB Deonte Banks
Who:
The Draft Network’s Damian Parson
Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso
Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer
The Draft Network’s Jamie Eisner
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Banks stands out as a man coverage outside cornerback. He does lack consistency when it comes to mirroring off press coverage, but when he’s in sync, he’s one of the best cover cornerbacks in the class. The Vikings need to invest in a player like that on the outside.-Trevor Sikkema
Utah CB Clark Phillips III
Who:
The Vikings have some promising talent in the cornerback room with 2022 draft picks Andrew Booth and Akayleb Evans, but there’s no way the team can roll with that duo, Cameron Dantzler, and 33-year-old Patrick Peterson. In Phillips, Minnesota would add a unanimous All-American to that group.-Adam Sites
Iowa EDGE Lukas Van Ness
Who:
The Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer
The Vikings need to boost their pass rush badly behind Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter. Van Ness can be a situational star at first with his burst and relentlessness before rounding out into a complete edge player.-Vinnie Iyer
Alabama S Brian Branch
Who:
Vikings Wire’s Tyler Forness
CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan
The Vikings need help in the secondary and prioritizing the slot isn’t the worst idea in the world. Branch is the epitome of versatile and that is what Brian Flores prioritizes. Getting him would be a great asset for a defense that is going to be more aggressive-Tyler Forness
Mississippi State CB Emmanuel Forbes
Who:
Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling
Bucs Wire’s Luke Easterling
CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards
College Wire’s Patrick Conn
Getting Brian Flores as their new defensive coordinator is a huge win for one of the league’s worst defenses last year, but now they need to improve the personnel in a similar way. Flores needs confident, playmaking corners with size, length, instincts and ball skills to make his scheme go, making Forbes the ideal fit.-Luke Easterling
Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Who:
Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings
Jaxon Smith-Njigba‘s tape is good — so good that even a merely respectable Combine showing could boost his chances of staying in Round 1. He’s a great fit for the Vikings, who need a dependable chain-mover to complement Justin Jefferson’s big-play ability.-Ian Cummings
Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr.
Who:
Falcons Wire’s Matt Urben
Fantasy Pros’ Kent Weyrauch
This would be a dream scenario for the Vikings. They desperately need help in their secondary and Joey Porter Jr. is an NFL-blood prospect that allowed just 143 receiving yards and zero touchdowns in coverage for Penn State.-Kent Weyrauch
Georgia CB Kelee Ringo
Who:
Pro Football Network’s Dalton Miller
Kelee Ringo is a complete and utter projection. However, he is an absolutely outrageous athlete who could learn a few things from Patrick Peterson, should the veteran return to the Minnesota Vikings for another season.
You can see the flashes with Ringo. He’s an intelligent defender in zone coverage who communicates well and matched wonderfully in Kirby Smart’s Saban-inspired defense. But there is a level of ADHD when in coverage that can be baffling at times. If Minnesota can keep his focus throughout reps, his intelligence and athleticism will take care of the rest.-Dalton Miller
Through nine weeks
Through nine weeks, I have collected 192 mock drafts from around the industry and they have included 44 unique players.
| CB Cam Smith | 19 |
| CB Kelee Ringo | 15 |
| CB Emmanuel Forbes | 15 |
| CB Deonte Banks | 14 |
| CB Clark Phillips III | 12 |
| WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 11 |
| CB Devon Witherspoon | 10 |
| CB Joey Porter Jr. | 10 |
| CB Christian Gonzalez | 8 |
| WR Jordan Addison | 8 |
| CB/S Brian Branch | 6 |
| EDGE B.J. Ojulari | 5 |
| EDGE Lukas Van Ness | 5 |
| S Antonio Johnson | 4 |
| EDGE/LB Drew Sanders | 4 |
| EDGE Nolan Smith | 4 |
| LB Trenton Simpson | 3 |
| EDGE Myles Murphy | 3 |
| DT Calijah Kancey | 3 |
| WR Josh Downs | 3 |
| WR Rashee Rice | 2 |
| QB Anthony Richardson | 2 |
| NT Siaki Ika | 2 |
| WR Zay Flowers | 2 |
| DT Bryan Bresee | 2 |
| C John Michael Schmitz | 2 |
| OT Peter Skoronski | 1 |
| OT Blake Freeland | 1 |
| OT Anton Harrison | 1 |
| QB Tanner McKee | 1 |
| DL Mazi Smith | 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 |
| WR Jalin Hyatt | 1 |
| C Joe Tippmann | 1 |
| DL Keion White | 1 |
| CB D.J. Turner | 1 |
| Total | 192 |
