Dru Samia
While it’s tempting to believe the Minnesota Vikings have performed well as of late in the NFL Draft with selections of Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook, Danielle Hunter, etc., the franchise hasn’t drafted well recently, according to an analysis from ESPN published Friday.
ESPN examined players drafted by value in the last 10 drafts (since 2012), and the Vikings ranked 19th out of 32 teams.
The system to rank teams was devised with “Approximate Value (AV) — Pro Football Reference‘s method of measuring the performance of every NFL player {…] player’s career AV and measured it against a value based on where that player was taken in the NFL draft.”
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”989360″ player=”26279″ title=”WATCH%20Minnesota%20Vikings'%202022%20NFL%20Draft%20targets” duration=”134″ description=”Editor & writer for Vikings Territory, Dustin Baker joins Carolyn Manno to discuss all things Minnesota Vikings.” uploaddate=”2022-04-09″ thumbnailurl=”undefined” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/989330/989330.m3u8″ width=”16″ height=”9″]
Minnesota was lauded for the selections of Harrison Smith, Stefon Diggs, Justin Jefferson, Jayron Kearse, and Brian O’Neill, among others, but was mathematically skewered for the choices of Shariff Floyd, Matt Kalil, Scott Crichton, Laquon Treadwell, Dru Samia, etc.
The kicker for ESPN’s examination pertaining to the Vikings? It’s all informational fodder from a past era. The Vikings fired the man responsible for these drafts three months ago, Rick Spielman, and the 19th-best ranking is his possession. Spielman authored several marvelous draft picks and some stinkers.
Particularly, ESPN applauded the 2015 NFL Draft, where the Vikings found Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, and Stefon Diggs. It was arguably the best draft in Vikings history. On the other hand, Minnesota scored poorly in “Day Three” picks (Rounds 4-7) during the Spielman era, checking in at 10th-worst leaguewide per ESPN’s estimation.
New general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah gets a clean slate, entering the 2022 NFL Draft as the first in which he’s solely accountable. And if ESPN is correct, the Vikings could use an uptick in draft-pick value. Thirteenth-worst is less than ideal.
The best value-based franchises via the draft, according to the analysis [in order], were the Seahawks, Chiefs, Ravens, Cowboys, and Packers.
The worst? The Jets, Browns, 49ers, Titans, and Jaguars.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. 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).
Vikings Territory: Bleacher Report’s Latest Trade Idea for Vikings