Most Mock Drafts Eye One Particular Position for Vikings
Dustin Baker
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Some folks love them. Others think they’re overkill.
Those are mock drafts, and ’tis the season. The 2022 NFL Draft transpires on April 28, and the Minnesota Vikings hold the 12th pick. That spot is the highest the Vikings have owned since 2015, using the selection seven years ago at #11 on Trae Waynes, a cornerback who will play in the Super Bowl this weekend.
For a franchise undergoing foundational change – the Vikings have a new general manager, head coach, and possibly quarterback – the 12th pick is a reasonable spot to set high expectations.
And with that draft capital, most pundits surmise Minnesota will draft a cornerback. Make no mistake, roster needs exist all over the depth chart as the Vikings need an EDGE rusher, linebacker, and arguably quarterback. On the whole, though, the depth at corner is scanty.
Unless Patrick Peterson – an All-Pro corner who played in Minnesota last season – re-signs for another hurrah, Kevin O’Connell’s team is severely deficient at CB. Cameron Dantzler is the only startable corner unless Harrison Hand or Kris Boyd take massive career leaps over the summer.
It’s Dantzler and “the others” at the moment. Passing the football is all the craze in the NFL since Peyton Manning’s Broncos aerially eviscerated the league in 2013, so Minnesota stumbling into the offseason with one decent cornerback is horrifying.
That’s why draft heads believe the Vikings will use the 12th overall pick on a rookie like Ahmad Gardner, Derek Stingley Jr, Andrew Booth, or Trent McDuffie. Some or all of those men should be available to Minnesota. If new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah cannot convince the aging Peterson to return, or if he does not land a couple of premium cornerbacks in free agency on an already-condensed budget, he might be forced to draft a corner out of sheer desperation.
All of this is quite ironic, considering the old head coach and general manager frequently drafted cornerbacks. High-round draft capital was used on Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, Mackensie Alexander, Mike Hughes, and Jeff Gladney since 2013 – yet Minnesota has absolutely nothing to show for it. It’s criminal.
The joke during the Zimmer era involved “what corner are they drafting this year?” Well, that joke is now reality. The Vikings need corners despite employing a coach for eight years who was obsessed with the position.
Adofo-Mensah must find some EDGE rushers, too, but the draft pundits hypothesize the first pick in Minnesota’s draft is already reserved for best cornerback on the board.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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