Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The NFL Draft is now under a month away and is slated to go on as scheduled despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sports Illustrated's Andy Benoit identified draft needs for all 32 NFL teams and said Minnesota has "holes in its starting lineup on both sides of the ball." Benoit wrote:
Offensively, it starts at wide receiver, following the Stefon Diggs trade. In-house replacement options [Bisi] Johnson and Chad Beebe can be serviceable contributors off the bench, but a veritable No. 2 target must be found. Otherwise, Adam Thielen will encounter every form of double-team coverage imaginable in 2020. The other two holes are at guard. …. Minnesota is fully committed to its foundational outside zone blocking scheme, so whoever the Vikings draft here must be nimble and quick.
Benoit then looked at the Vikings defense and highlighted cornerback as the biggest need after the release of Xavier Rhodes and departure of Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander in free agency.
[Minnesota's] 2018 first-round pick Mike Hughes can comfortably take one of the starting spots, and maybe … fellow third-year pro, undrafted man Holton Hill, can take the other. … Hughes' ability to play inside or outside at least gives [the Vikings] some flexibility in who they take.
SI's Gary Gramling then provided the "Top-100 Targets" that could be options for Minnesota, saying the team could "certainly fill two of those needs" with their pair of first-round picks.
Among the receivers, [Clemson's] Tee Higgins would give them a big catch radius target opposite Thielen, while LSU's Justin Jefferson would provide a wily possession target who could move around the formation. But with such great depth at receiver, it might make more sense to wait until that 58thpick to address the need, when they could pick up a pro-ready option like USC's Michael Pittman, Jr., or Florida's Van Jefferson.
It isn't a great interior O-line class, but Michigan's Cesar Ruiz is an ideal fit in their scheme and would be worth what some would consider a minor reach in the top 25. If they go cornerback with one of those first-round picks, Utah's Jaylon Johnson would be able to step in as an immediate starter and potential future shutdown corner, while TCU's Jeff Gladney is undersized but ultra-competitive, likely able to play the boundary as well as the slot. Virginia's Bryce Hall is also polished and can handle Mike Zimmer's scheme, even if his lack of long speed is not ideal. If they wait, among the NFL-ready corners potentially available mid-Day 2 are slot guys Amik Robertson of Louisiana Tech, Auburn's Javaris Davis and Josiah Scott of Michigan State.