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Ya ya, I know. Takes at least 3 years to grade a draft. This first one comes from Thor Nystrom. Echoes a lot of my thoughts which I’ll put together at some point.
Minnesota Vikings | Draft Grade: D
Last spring’s trades that ultimately led to EDGE Dallas Turner were largely built with equity from this draft. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah entered with a league-low four picks and a league-low in total draft equity.
We saw this manifest early with the pick of OG Donovan Jackson. I saw Jackson as a late first-rounder, others saw him as an early second-rounder. But with the consensus top-three OTs, Tyler Booker and Grey Zabel, and the class’ consensus top-4 DTs all off the board before 1.24, the board had fallen poorly for the Vikings.
Adofo-Mensah had no choice but to stick-and-pick the last sure-thing trench option for immediate help. He appeared to be vindicated minutes later when Hosuton bailed out of its slot, presumably because Jackson was no longer available.
In my opinion, Jackson is the best pure guard in this class above Tyler Booker. He will start immediately at LG. Jackson has a premium combination of length—with the longest wingspan in the iOL class—and power in an athletic package. He’s a hammer in the run game.
Jackson deserves huge credit for sacrificing for the team and shifting from LG to LT to replace injured LT Josh Simmons in October. He was sensational in the College Football Playoff, allowing zero sacks and two pressures over four games, including a date with stud Tennessee EDGE James Pearce.
Donovan Jackson is the infinity stone to the top-3 NFL offensive line that the Vikings now boast, capping a stunning offseason transformation of an interior offensive line that had been problematic for years
After Jackson, the Vikings didn’t pick again until 3.97. They traded that pick along with No. 187 to the Houston Texans for Nos. 102 and 142. The Vikings chose Maryland WR Tai Felton at 3.102 – a nod to the team’s precarious receiver depth with a suspension for WR Jordan Addison looming.
Felton has 4.37 speed and both YAC juice and the ability to get downtown. He’s stick-thin, though, and lacks play strength – he will need to prove he can get off the line against press-cover bullies, and he needs to clean up his ball skills. Felton dropped eight balls last year, and particularly seemed to have an issue when jostled at the catch point.
There’s long-term starter ceiling in Felton’s profile, but it comes with risk. The same could be said of fourth-round EDGE Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. Ingram-Dawkins is an eye-of-the-beholder ball of play. He’s young, he’s athletic, and he has a rangy frame. If you squint, you can see a long-term starting 3-4 defensive end. If you want to see the glass half-empty, you’ll perceive him as an unfinished product with a tweener profile – two years away from being two years away.
The Vikings traded back from their fifth-round pick, multiplying it into Nos. 201 and 202 via trade with the Rams. With the first of those picks, Minnesota took LB Kobe King, who I ranked closer to the slot they had traded down from. Quietly, the Vikings had a lack of linebacker depth, with little on the roster proven behind the starters. King should provide quality depth.
The Vikings’ depth at the TE position was also precarious, so it wasn’t a surprise that the other selection was used on a tight end. I think it was a mistake to take Pittsburgh’s Gavin Bartholomew over Nebraska’s Thomas Fidone II, who went shortly thereafter.
Adofo-Mensah told the media over the weekend that, in the circumstance that he was in, hitting it down the fairway was the best course of action. That’s what he did, adding an immediate starter at LG while fleshing out the roster’s depth.
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