After a disappointing 7-9 season, most people who follow the Minnesota Vikings decided to wait for recruitment – including me. I decided to simulate my own seven-round draft with negotiations using the Pro Football Network draft simulator and explain what I would do if it were Rick Spielman and the board fell that way.
Choice 14: Trade
I had to make an important decision after seeing the board unfold like that. Should I negotiate and hope to land one of the elite strikers still on board, or do I take a player now and look for selection packages to go up later?
After receiving offers from several teams, I decided to accept the Arizona Cardinals offer and go back two places to 16 and, in the process, get a second round selection for choice 90. I realized that it would be okay if I got whoever it was fell for me between Rashawn Slater and Christian Darrisaw. I was also looking forward to regaining a choice from the second round that the Vikings lost in the exchange for Yannick Ngakoue at the beginning of last season.
Vikings send choices 14 and 90 to Cardinals in exchange for numbers 16 and 49.
Choice 16: Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
After I traded back, the Cardinals used the 14th choice to select Rashawn Slater. I was sweating at 15th choice, but luckily for me, the New England Patriots got Gregory Rousseau.
While the two best players on my board (Caleb Farley and Jaycee Horn) were corners, I decided to take an offensive striker, since it is an urgent need that the board has neglected in the past.
Darrisaw is the perfect left tackle for the Vikings’ outer zone scheme. He is athletic and very mobile, qualities they look for in line players. Not only is he a good race blocker, he is also exceptional at protecting passes. His only real flaw is sometimes that he is defeated by defensive power, but that is the compensation you have to make when executing an outside zone scheme.
He will likely force Riley Reiff out of the squad, saving space on the limit with the amount of unsecured money that Reiff is owed.
This is how the rest of the round started:
Pick 49: Jayson Oweh, DE, Penn State
With the offensive line covered in the first round, I decided to improve the other side of the trenches by catching Oweh.
The race for the Vikings’ pass in 2020 was the worst ever with Mike Zimmer, finishing 28th in sacks. A big part of that was Danielle Hunter being out for the entire season, but this position still needs to be addressed.
Oweh is a physical freak. It can run a 4.33-yard 40-yard run and has a vertical jump that reaches 36.5 inches to complement its 6’5 ″ and 252-pound frame. I know, Oweh ended the season without a layoff, despite having started in seven games. However, his winning rate (18%) was one of the highest in the Big 10, and he recorded career numbers in tackles (38) and defeat tackles (6.5).
He also improved when facing the race this season, something that the Vikings’ defensive ends had problems with last season. With some training from Andre Patterson, Oweh could terrorize opposing defenders for years to come, forming a lethal duo with Hunter.
He probably wouldn’t contribute much in his debut season, probably playing rotatingly on the line, but I think that choice could help a little now and a lot in the future.
Pick 78: D’Wayne Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan
Vikings need a better third receiver. Chad Beebe is a safety valve that can only operate outside the slot; Minnesota needs to look for someone who can make a big move.
Eskridge is one of the greatest gems in this class. His draft stock was hampered by its size (5’9 ″, 190 pounds) and because it comes from a MAC school. But he can play. He performed at the Senior Bowl and, with his ability to get up in the air and play with the ball, his height shouldn’t be an important factor either.
Eskridge recorded 21.5 yards per catch last year, extending the field at will. His speed allows him to achieve separation, and he can be a problem for opposing teams for years with the route racing advice he will receive from coach Keenan McCardell, Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson.
Taking him here may be to ignore other needs, such as security or guard, but if the Vikings want a more explosive attack, they need to make a significant investment in the receipt.
Pick 113: Tyree Gillespie, S, Missouri
Despite the insane amount of ample talent on the board practically begging me to pick up another receiver, I decided to make the safe choice and grab a safe. With Anthony Harris likely to leave, the draft could be the perfect place to pick up his replacement.
Gillespie is a sure defender who ended up with 50 tackles, including four in defeat. He is able to play the race, but feels more comfortable as a single high safety, acting in the middle of the field in deeper passes. He also ended the season with seven pass separations and ended up as the second best SEC classified in the entire SEC, by PFF.
He would likely slip into the initial security role, playing the deep central part of the field as Harris usually does, allowing Harrison Smith to play closer to the line of scrimmage.
Choice 119: Chuba Hubbard, RB, OSU
Yes, I understand that the Vikings have one of the best running backs in the league with Dalvin Cook, and the position is not so necessary. But I got Hubbard here because of my concerns about Cook’s health next season.
We have seen many times that Cook left the field looking a little shaken. Yes, Alexander Mattison is a more than adequate backup, but his skill set is so different from Cook’s that I don’t think he would be able to do most of the uploads while Cook is away.
Hubbard looks like an absolute dream in the outer zone scheme with his speed and ability to make cuts when necessary to hit the hole. He is also a very patient runner who waits for the hole to develop before hitting it. It could serve as lightning for Mattison’s thunder if the Vikings had to play without Cook for a long period of time.
Choice 128: Jaylen Twyman, DT, Pitt
The Vikings have not had a consistent player to fill the role of the 3 techniques since Shariff Floyd’s early retirement. This place was offered to Shamar Stephen several times, but failed to impress. Given Minnesota’s notable inability to obtain consistent pressure, I think it’s past time that they tried to catch a player with a high advantage to fill the gap.
With this year’s craziness with COVID exclusion options and no combination, we can see talented players in the first round slipping into the third and fourth rounds. I think Twyman could be one of those guys: he gave up after an impressive second-year season in which he recorded 10.5 sacks and 12 tackles for defeat.
This decision hurt him in the short term because the recent bias allowed players like Daviyon Nixon and Christian Barmore to jump ahead of him in the defensive tackle standings. However, he can still potentially be an exceptional pass-rusher alongside Michael Pierce.
Choice 144: Drake Jackson, IOL, Kentucky
Jackson is unlikely to start this season, and summoning him should not allow the Vikings to deflect the offensive line again in the off-season. But Jackson will hopefully provide cover in the guard and center positions as a piece of adequate depth. Fortunately, Jackson’s draft will allow Vikings to pass Dakota Dozier and Dru Samia.
He is athletic enough to guard on the outside zone and is a great communicator with his offensive line mate when picking up second level blitzes. He must be right behind Garrett Bradbury and Ezra Cleveland.
The main problem I have with Jackson is his arm length. He is constantly attacked by longer opponents who can use his long arms to expose his weaknesses, but in an outer zone scheme you sometimes have to sacrifice power for mobility.
Choice 158: Israel Mukuamu, CB, South Carolina
Vikings need depth in the cornerback. While Gladney and Dantzler lived up to their potential as rookies, the future in the third corner is uncertain. Mike Hughes has been unable to play an entire season due to neck and ACL injuries in the past three seasons.
Mukuamu may be the most overlooked player in the entire class. Although all the attention was turned to teammate Jaycee Horn, Mukuamu has been playing great football.
At 6’4 ″, he has all the features that Zimmer likes in his cornerbacks, with his long arms allowing him to cover the press on opponent wideouts. Mukuamu was considered a potential choice for the first round last year, but was hampered by a hamstring injury in 2020, forcing him to play safely for part of the season.
Mukuamu has excellent ball skills. In South Carolina’s game against Georgia two years ago, Mukuamu submitted with three interceptions on Jake Fromm, one of which was for a pick-six and the other that set the winning field goal in overtime.
He is also a solid defender against the race, involving ball carriers and taking them to the ground.
Pick 178: Paris Ford, S, Pitt
I have no idea how Ford fell so low. In my opinion, it is the second best security in its class. This is a gift at No. 178.
Ford weighs 6’0 ”, 190 pounds, but don’t be fooled by its small body. He loves to punish ball bearers, flying across the field at breakneck speed. Although Ford normally connects in these difficult tackles, he sometimes smells them, leaving the ball carrier free on the field.
He’s amazing at covering passes too. Ford appeared in his sophomore season in red t-shirts, recording 14 pass separations and three interceptions. He excelled at zone coverage, covering a lot of ground with his speed, disrupting overtaking lanes and forcing defenders to tighten passes through incredibly narrow windows.
He uses his incredible game recognition skills in conjunction with his incredible speed to reach the ball carrier and put them on the ground. Much like a linebacker, Ford can play from side line to side, covering almost any blade of grass if necessary.
Choice 208: Cary Angeline, TE, NC State
With the Kyle Rudolph era probably coming to an end, it seems appropriate to grab a tight end at the end of the round to reinforce the depth in position.
At 6’7 ”, Angeline’s frame is a security blanket against zone coverage, and he is a decent pass receiver who is primarily a target for the red zone. It does not have an extended route tree, but it can use its size when executing the routes it is familiar with.
He has the profile of an excellent swing striker in both running and passing protection. With the Vikings’ long-standing line problems, adding an extra blocker doesn’t hurt. He could potentially be to Kirk Cousins what CJ Ham is to Dalvin Cook.