We did it. The NFL draft week is finally there. The Vikings of Minnesota may only have four choices, but Thursday evening, it is still a chance for the team’s brass to put the final touch on a competition list.
Minnesota wants to be proactive rather than reactive. His goal for this week was to operate with an impact -based strategy rather than a needs -based approach. These are sensible mantras. However, the way the dashboard falls could make their collaboration difficult.
Will the Vikings stick and will they choose at No. 24? Will they exchange? What positions will they write? Are there any particular prospects that Minnesota staff were monitoring? Here are any answers to all these questions in the form of our latest simulation project.
Vikings’ recovery choices
| Round | Take | Overall | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
24 |
24 |
|
|
3 |
33 |
97 |
Compensatory |
|
5 |
1 |
139 |
Brown |
|
6 |
11 |
187 |
49ers |
Round 1, n ° 26 (via Rams): Gray Zabel, IOL, State of North Dakota
Mock Trade: The Vikings send the n ° 24 choice to the Rams of Los Angeles for numbers 26 (first round) and 127 (fourth round).
Let’s start with trade.
Why Los Angeles? And why drop only two places? First, RAMs could be on the market for a tackle. If this is the case and they consider Houston’s Texans in front of them in competition, they might want to jump. The quarter-back is another possible priority for them while the director general the SNEAD and the coach Sean Mcvay expressed their interest in finding a young player to develop behind Matt Stafford. The relationship of the Vikings coach, Kevin O’Connell, could help orchestrate the agreement. An additional fourth round would give Vikings another dart to launch a coveted position, and Minnesota would not have to risk missing a favorite perspective.
Zabel is in a group of interior offensive line players who make sense for the Vikings. The choice could just as easily be Tyler Booker from Alabama, but because Booker was the selection in my first simulated cycle project, we will go with Zabel here. At 6 feet 6 inches, it is huge. He is also, as the assessors say, illustrates on his feet. According to Pro Football Focus, Zabel played the set last season and was the highest of passers -by in the position of the FCS. He could immediately start at the left guard and versatility to play other places in the future. The other interior offensive line players – like Donovan Jackson from Ohio State and Kelvin Banks Jr. of Ohio – could adapt if Zabel is taken before No. 26. The Minnesota could also hang an interior defensive line player here, before returning with an interior o -lineman at n ° 97.
Two fascinating curve balls could throw a key in these plans at the top. (1) What if the Cornerback of Michigan is Johnson slips at No. 24? Would Minnesota intrigued? And (2) How would the Vikings react if Zabel, Booker, Jackson, Banks and a defensive tackle like Derrick Harmon were not available? These circumstances could encourage an exchange even further.
Round 3, n ° 97: Jamaree Caldwell, DT, Oregon
Until now, the trenches have defined this off -season of the Vikings. The team signed the Ryan Kelly center, the defensive platform Jonathan Allen, the right guard Will Fries and the defensive platform Javon Hargrave. Why stop in Zabel in the first round? Why not add a young defensive tackle with the rise that could learn from Allen and Hargrave?
But which internal defender is aligned with the preferences of the Vikings for the position at this stage of the project? Attractive options like Shemar Turner, TJ Sanders and Joshua Farmer could be outside the board of directors. Would Minnesota take a gunshot on a player thoroughly who prospered as a race cap? Continue a rusher of sub-package passes? Or swing for the fences with the idea that the defensive line coach Marcus Dixon (and the veteran leadership of the room) could maximize the development of this player?
Caldwell is option n ° 3. Great men generally do not move like him. He weighed 332 pounds with the NFL screening combination, but his style of play is not that of your typical nose plate. He has a little puff. Slint and you can see a part of Kenneth Grant from Michigan in him. Caldwell is delivered with a bust potential, but the key rates at the end of the third round are already less than 20%. In the best of cases, Caldwell becomes the Vikings version of the Lions defensive platform (and the choice of third round in 2021) Alim McNeil.
Round 4, n ° 127 (via Los Angeles): Jaylin Lane, WR, Virginia Tech
The assessors do not like this receiver class. Most dynamic talents are smaller, and some of the most cordial receivers are less sudden. The trade of n ° 24 could open the door to a prospect like Jaylin Noel of the state of the Iowa, which is a bottle of underdimensive but explosive spark with an experience of return of clearance boots.
Lane is similar and it is more likely to be available in this area of the project. Vikings’ decision -makers think in the two -year horizons – currently, this means throughout the 2026 season. The current N ° 2 receiver Jordan Addison remains under contract until that time, but the receiver No. 3 Jalen Nailor does not do so. Nailor duplication His production of 2024 will probably lead to a considerable day of payroll next spring. In this scenario, Lane could fill a void.
The 22-year-old has set up an impressive number in Indianapolis with the combine harvester, and the Vikings receiver Keenan McCardell was present and on the ground. Lane lacks major production. He only caught 38 assists for 466 yards last season. However, he is a manufacturer of reversal difference, after having slipped his way to two affected university. This place could be reserved for another similar receiver like Jimmy Horn Jr. from Colorado, where the Vikings could use a choice in this range of fourth and fifth round on a tight end or a cornerback.
Round 5, n ° 139: Brashard Smith, RB, SMU
The depth of this running back class means that Minnesota will not have to reach one before these later towers. The different back flavors are endless. Do you want a big mauler? You can find one. Do you prefer a sneaky back? There are also many. Smith, who is listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 197 pounds, is more of the latter. Its type of body is no different from that of Ty Chandler, which the Vikings drafted in the fifth round in 2022.
Like Nailor, Chandler enters the last year of his recruit contract. He had impressive thrusts – notably his 132 yards match in 2023 against the Bengals of Cincinnati – but the consistency lacked. Smith is a best pass sensor than Chandler. In fact, he played the receiver for three seasons in Miami before transferring to SMU. Last year was his first season as a ball carrier, and he collected 1,332 yards and 14 affected. The band does not hide its ability to reduce passes. Against Cal, he signaled to the slit, traveled a melted route and transported a pass on a defender for a touchdown.
Smith would also give Vikings an electric kick reverser. Because the owners of the NFL voted to move the TouchBacks of the 30 yards to the 35 line, other kicks should be put into play. Smith would not only fill the place, but it would offer Vikings a weapon to further pursue the marginal advantages.
Round 6, n ° 187: Zah Frazier, CB, Utsa
Viking need A cornerback? They paid byron Murphy Jr. to keep it as their main cover. They targeted Isaiah Rodgers as an upward player. They believe in the development of Mekhi Blackmon which comes out of a torn ACL, and Dwight McGothern Jr. broke out last year to keep the pointed arrow.
Could Minnesota probably benefit from another experienced player, but why not also inject more young people into the group? Because the defensive coordinator Brian Flores has played so much coverage in the past, most think that the optimal corner half of Flores is a great player tilted by the press. Although he can always love this archetype, this defense of the Vikings was built on zone blankets with eyes on the quarter.
This is why Nohl Williams of Cal would probably be interesting earlier, and why Frazier could be worth the choice here. He is 24 years old, but a refined technique with the defensive staff of the Vikings could raise his ceiling. It moves with fluidity and follows the ball well. Drive him into what should be an athletic and competitive training camp at the post, and who knows where things go?
This choice could also target another kicks if the Vikings run on Smith (or take another route from Running Back or Sight End Potentiment). Late security should not be excluded either.
(Photo of Gray Zabel: Jacob Musselman / Imagn Images)
