DJ's 2026 Draft Top 50

Nothing real surprising on DJ's list. Like I mentioned in another thread, I'll be highly interested in the cornerback competition and how the rankings shake out. I was listening to one of the podcasts the last few days and it was brought up that with Flores back, cornerback might not be the early round need some might think.

Daniel Jeremiah 2026 NFL mock draft 1.0: Raiders pick QB at No. 1; Jets among 4 teams to go WR

https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-2026-nfl-mock-draft-1-0

Pick #18 Minnesota Vikings
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren
Toledo · S · Senior
I’m higher on McNeil-Warren than some other people around the league, but I love his combination of size and explosive playmaking ability. He could help replace Harrison Smith if the soon-to-be 37-year-old does indeed retire.

I'm still smitten with Kenyon Sadiq...

Kentis wrote:
Daniel Jeremiah 2026 NFL mock draft 1.0: Raiders pick QB at No. 1; Jets among 4 teams to go WR

https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-2026-nfl-mock-draft-1-0

Pick #18 Minnesota Vikings
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren
Toledo · S · Senior
I’m higher on McNeil-Warren than some other people around the league, but I love his combination of size and explosive playmaking ability. He could help replace Harrison Smith if the soon-to-be 37-year-old does indeed retire.

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.

supafreak84 wrote:
Nothing real surprising on DJ's list. Like I mentioned in another thread, I'll be highly interested in the cornerback competition and how the rankings shake out. I was listening to one of the podcasts the last few days and it was brought up that with Flores back, cornerback might not be the early round need some might think.

No I'd agree with that. If there's a few things we've learned about Flores in the 3 years he's been in Minnesota, it's that he doesn't like the fatty NTs, preferring penetrators, and he doesn't value cover corners as much as other DCs. He likes versatile DBs who can tackle. I don't think he'd turn down a good corner at 18, but it's got to be the right corner for his defense.

MaroonBells wrote:

No I'd agree with that. If there's a few things we've learned about Flores in the 3 years he's been in Minnesota, it's that he doesn't like the fatty NTs, preferring penetrators, and he doesn't value cover corners as much as other DCs. He likes versatile DBs who can tackle. I don't think he'd turn down a good corner at 18, but it's got to be the right corner for his defense.

Absolutely, although, I think a couple DT's of interest could be in play for us with the expected release of Hargrave; Kayden McDonald and Peter Woods. I think both guys, even though they are large, are more than just space eaters and can get after the quarterback a bit. Maybe it's just me, but if we added a player like McDonald to play the nose, that allows you to move Redmond to the five technique full time where he could just wreck havoc. I know all the guys kind of rotate around the line, but that upgrades two positions with one draft pick. I like LDR, but more as a rotational piece. Ditto on TID who is still a project. Just something to keep an eye on.

MaroonBells wrote:

No I'd agree with that. If there's a few things we've learned about Flores in the 3 years he's been in Minnesota, it's that he doesn't like the fatty NTs, preferring penetrators, and he doesn't value cover corners as much as other DCs. He likes versatile DBs who can tackle. I don't think he'd turn down a good corner at 18, but it's got to be the right corner for his defense.

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

JimmyinSD wrote:

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

Reading through this list I saw there’s a CB ranked in the teens who missed all of 2025 with an injury and my first thought was that’s probably who we’ll draft.

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.

JimmyinSD wrote:

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.

supafreak84 wrote:
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.

medaille wrote:

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?

supafreak84 wrote:

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.

supafreak84 wrote:

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 wrote:

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.

MaroonBells wrote:

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.

MaroonBells wrote:

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.

supafreak84 wrote:

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.

That’s not likely to happen, at least not for a few years. When you evaluate Kwesi, try to be fair and consider the good with the bad, otherwise you won’t be taken seriously. The 2022 draft was terrible. One of the worst in our history. I think, objectively, our drafts have improved since then, despite not having a 2nd rounder in any of them, combined with another pick dying before he played a down.

And while we may never know who lobbied for whom, the 2025 free agency class was underwhelming. I can say that because it’s the truth. But we also have to admit that the 2024 free agency class wasn’t just the best in our history, it might to be one of the best in the NFL over the last few years. You have to admit that because it’s the truth: Sam Darnold, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkle, Blake Cashman and Jalen Redmond? C’mon, I don’t care who you are, that’s just a ridiculous class, especially considering what we paid to get them. If that’s not some kind of record for ROI I don’t know what is.

The biggest reason the Vikings were still competive in 2025 despite our league-worst QB play was largely because of that class.

MaroonBells wrote:

That’s not likely to happen, at least not for a few years. When you evaluate Kwesi, try to be fair and consider the good with the bad, otherwise you won’t be taken seriously. The 2022 draft was terrible. One of the worst in our history. I think, objectively, our drafts have improved since then, despite not having a 2nd rounder in any of them, combined with another pick dying before he played a down.

And while we may never know who lobbied for whom, the 2025 free agency class was underwhelming. I can say that because it’s the truth. But we also have to admit that the 2024 free agency class wasn’t just the best in our history, it might to be one of the best in the NFL over the last few years. You have to admit that because it’s the truth: Sam Darnold, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkle, Blake Cashman and Jalen Redmond? C’mon, I don’t care who you are, that’s just a ridiculous class, especially considering what we paid to get them. If that’s not some kind of record for ROI I don’t know what is.

The biggest reason the Vikings were still competive in 2025 despite our league-worst QB play was largely because of that class.

FICA.... you cant use the "no 2nd round picks" as an excuse as it was his moves that cost the team those 2nd round picks.  if the team had been largely successful despite his draft blunders you could say it was due to how he used those 2nd rounders, but... I think most that are honest will say the last few years have been less than great,  even 24 with the 14 wins,  most all knew that team wasnt what their record suggested and this is largely a result of all the holes and lack of depth on the roster.

JimmyinSD wrote:

FICA.... you cant use the "no 2nd round picks" as an excuse as it was his moves that cost the team those 2nd round picks.  if the team had been largely successful despite his draft blunders you could say it was due to how he used those 2nd rounders, but... I think most that are honest will say the last few years have been less than great,  even 24 with the 14 wins,  most all knew that team wasnt what their record suggested and this is largely a result of all the holes and lack of depth on the roster.

Of course. But it’s not like he lost those picks in a poker game. One was used for TJ Hockenson and the other two for Dallas Turner. You can maybe argue that those players were not WORTH those 2nd rounders. I don’t know who would make that argument, but it’s a different argument altogether.