DJ's 2026 Draft Top 50

[MaroonBells]

Its not if Flores would turn down a good player,   its would KAM,  and we know that he sure as hell will.

In a way, you're right. It's not Flores who would be "turning down" a player, so that was a poor choice of words on my part. KAM runs the show on draft day. 

But I think a lot of people don't understand how it works. Coaches have much of the say on how teams stack their board, especially the coordinators. Every NFL team builds its board using a consensus approach, soliciting opinions from GM, the scouting staff and coaches, all hopefully aligned with the GM's long-term vision. 

So yes, technically KAM makes the draft day call. But choosing one player over another is based on consensus, and I seriously doubt KAM would ever overrule his DC on specific players who fit his specific needs on defense.

[StickierBuns]

I just don't get how you could put Jadarian Price in your top 50....he's so limited as a guy to have in there on 3rd down. I like him, but Top 50 overall?

There's going to be a talented RB or two when Minnesota picks in round 2 and that's when they'll nab a guy.

[medaille]

For what it's worth, just watched the new Purple Daily podcast with Doogie and he expects, "things to stay the same" as far as the draft with the same braintrust making the picks. He had not heard anything to the contrary. So for anybody else out there who recognizes our failures on draft day under this regime as being the #1 organizational issue...get ready for another heaping helping of dart throwing with the analytics whiz kid.

I don't know why you call it dart throwing.  He's just picking the players the coaches want.

[supafreak84]

I don't know why you call it dart throwing.  He's just picking the players the coaches want.

Could be. There's zero clarity on who's calling what shots within this organization and there won't be until Kwesi and/or OConnell gets shitcanned. I've certainly heard one of the criticisms with Kwesi is he takes the advice of a lot of different people because he doesn't have any kind of relevant past experience himself to fall back on when making decisions and thats hurt him. Also rumored that perhaps OConnell was given more control over personnel decisions as part of his contract extension. All I know is that its a shitshow and the Wilfs should put out a statement providing some clarity on if they are supporting this front office or are changes still being considered?

[greediron]

Mock drafters have been trying to project us taking a safety and "replacing Harrison Smith" for what seems like a decade now and they are wrong every time. Unless Caleb Downs inexplicably falls in our laps, I expect that trend to continue.

I like the sound of Downs if he falls.  But to upgrade the spot left open when Bynum left.

[MaroonBells]

Could be. There's zero clarity on who's calling what shots within this organization and there won't be until Kwesi and/or OConnell gets shitcanned. I've certainly heard one of the criticisms with Kwesi is he takes the advice of a lot of different people because he doesn't have any kind of relevant past experience himself to fall back on when making decisions and thats hurt him. Also rumored that perhaps OConnell was given more control over personnel decisions as part of his contract extension. All I know is that its a shitshow and the Wilfs should put out a statement providing some clarity on if they are supporting this front office or are changes still being considered?

There's zero clarity on who makes the specific draft calls for all teams. And there's a good reason for that. Sometimes it comes out two or three years later that GM A wanted player X and coach B wanted player Y. But it's rare and usually only happens when there is some big conflict. Teams like to keep things like that in house. But like I've said before, the owners know. 

One thing we can say with near certainty is that KOC is heavily involved in choosing the players on the offensive side, especially at QB, and that Flores is heavily involved in choosing which players we pick on the other side, as was Donatell before him.  

It's not the shit show you think it is. 2022 was a shit show, but that was 4 years ago. It's time to get over that. Every draft since then has largely been par for the course in context with the rest of the NFL. The 2025 free agent class was below average, but the 2024 class was the best in our history. Like most teams, it's a mixed bag. Still, the regime is 43-25 since taking over. That ranks 5th in the NFL. And the Vikings did it using 8 different QBs. Every team above them has used just one. Think about that. 

Because of that, when Kwesi's GM epitaph is written, good or bad, it will be largely about one player: JJ McCarthy.

[StickierBuns]

Because of that, when Kwesi's GM epitaph is written, good or bad, it will be largely about one player: JJ McCarthy.

True....but maybe even as much from a pure GM move perspective: Dallas Turner. Because he moved up to get him and gave up more than he probably should have to do so. They moved up for JJ as well, whether they needed to or not who knows but both moves will make or break him for sure.

[MaroonBells]

True....but maybe even as much from a pure GM move perspective: Dallas Turner. Because he moved up to get him and gave up more than he probably should have to do so. They moved up for JJ as well, whether they needed to or not who knows but both moves will make or break him for sure.

I think we can pretty safely say that Dallas Turner is not a bust. We can't say that for sure about McCarthy yet. One can probably make an argument that maybe Turner has not quite lived up to what we paid to get him, but even that is uncertain considering Turner had more sacks than Jared Verse this year in far fewer snaps.

[supafreak84]

There's zero clarity on who makes the specific draft calls for all teams. And there's a good reason for that. Sometimes it comes out two or three years later that GM A wanted player X and coach B wanted player Y. But it's rare and usually only happens when there is some big conflict. Teams like to keep things like that in house. But like I've said before, the owners know. 

One thing we can say with near certainty is that KOC is heavily involved in choosing the players on the offensive side, especially at QB, and that Flores is heavily involved in choosing which players we pick on the other side, as was Donatell before him.  

It's not the shit show you think it is. 2022 was a shit show, but that was 4 years ago. It's time to get over that. Every draft since then has largely been par for the course in context with the rest of the NFL. The 2025 free agent class was below average, but the 2024 class was the best in our history. Like most teams, it's a mixed bag. Still, the regime is 43-25 since taking over. That ranks 5th in the NFL. And the Vikings did it using 8 different QBs. Every team above them has used just one. Think about that. 

Because of that, when Kwesi's GM epitaph is written, good or bad, it will be largely about one player: JJ McCarthy.

I don't completely agree as a lot of organizations, especially the good ones, have a clear power structure. Roseman, Snead, Schneider, Lynch, etc. We've struggled drafting for four years. There is virtually nothing to speak of outside the 1st round, which even then has been hit and miss. When Reichart is the big feather in Kwesi's cap in that department...its a problem. Meanwhile, teams within the division have been loading up on young draft talent for four years. There's just been a lot of smoke with who is calling the shots or who's responsible for what in this organization and I wish ownership would put out a statement giving some clarity.

[JimmyinSD]

In a way, you're right. It's not Flores who would be "turning down" a player, so that was a poor choice of words on my part. KAM runs the show on draft day. 

But I think a lot of people don't understand how it works. Coaches have much of the say on how teams stack their board, especially the coordinators. Every NFL team builds its board using a consensus approach, soliciting opinions from GM, the scouting staff and coaches, all hopefully aligned with the GM's long-term vision. 

So yes, technically KAM makes the draft day call. But choosing one player over another is based on consensus, and I seriously doubt KAM would ever overrule his DC on specific players who fit his specific needs on defense.

I cant say for sure on if KAM would or wouldnt over-rule his coaches,  but we know for a fact the Rickster did, a few times I am guessing.  I dont see enough of KAM to know if he has that in his personality or not,  if I were him I certainly would want to be able to blame my staff for my abysmal drafting record,  but unfortunately that still leaves the blame squarely on his shoulders as they are HIS staff.

All I know is that with each failed draft it just makes the next one even bigger and with a need to hit on a greater number of picks in order to get the cap situation back to a manageable position.  I know you like to think of the cap as fluid,  but hitting on young cheap players through the draft is what allows for that fluidity over a longer time frame.  constantly overpaying free agents to cover those misses and then pushing the cap out past their playing years is not a sustainable practice, even with growing caps because ultimately you are competing with better drafting teams that dont have that old cap burden restricting their free agency.