The 3rd Round of the Vikings 2021 Draft Was a Disaster
Janik Eckardt
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Initially, the third round of the Vikings draft from a year ago drew considerable praise. The Vikings supposedly selected the best guard in the draft, a future starting quarterback, a QB raw linebacker with enormous upside, and a first-team All-American pass rusher.
Fast forward 16 months, and just one of the four selections is still on the roster. The other three, meanwhile, are on waivers waiting for another team to pull the trigger. It’s looking more and more like that round of the draft was a disaster. The new regime around Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had no ties with the players and, therefore, was able to let the players of the old regime go without looking bad.
66th overall — Kellen Mond
The quarterback came from Texas A&M and was supposed to sit and learn behind Cousins for a year or two and then take over. However, to see those takes in August 2022 is nothing but funny. Mond’s tenure in Minnesota was not a good one. First, the GM and the head coach were fighting if they should even draft the player. Reportedly, Spielman wanted him, while Zimmer reportedly wanted a defensive player.
Then, he had COVID-19 and missed time in training camp in 2021. He also lost weight and wasn’t in great physical condition. After the Vikings were eliminated from postseason contention, the team had the chance to start the young QB and see what they got. Zimmer was asked during the press conference if he wanted to see Mond in the final game of the regular season. His answer was a short “not particularly.” Obviously, the reporters had to ask why, and the former head coach simply said, “I see him every day.”
Mond threw three passes during his time in Minnesota. One nearly went for a pick-6. In addition to that, he also had some bad moments in the preseason. After trading for Nick Mullens, the Vikings didn’t need to keep him. It’s possible that he could be back on the practice squad, but the Vikings might stay away from that, even if he clears waivers.
78th overall — Chazz Surratt
He is an interesting player. Surratt started his college journey as a quarterback in 2017 and 2018 and even started games as a redshirt freshman before he switched to linebacker. The North Carolina linebacker made first-team All-ACC in 2019 and 2020. The Vikings selected him in the third round, and he came into the league as a raw prospect and was already 24 years old. Surratt appeared in nine games but never played a single snap on defense. In the preseason, he was a total liability.
86th overall — Wyatt Davis
He was supposed to be the cure to all guard problems. Davis was a consensus All-American in 2019 and a unanimous All-American in 2020. The Ohio State guard even had some first-round buzz in advance of the draft. Despite a solid preseason, he never even got a chance and was inactive at the beginning of the season. Oli Udoh was a liability at right guard, and the Vikings didn’t even activate the All-American.
What sounded weird back in the day is now a lot more noticeable. He was just not good enough. In the 2022 preseason, Davis came into the game and immediately gave up a sack. He has talent somewhere in his body and could find it on the practice squad. But unless they sign him to the practice squad, his career in Minnesota is over after zero snaps on offense and 28 on special teams.
90th overall — Patrick Jones II
The fourth pick of the round was the best. Patrick Jones survived the 53-man roster cuts and is still on the team. He played 99 snaps in his rookie campaign and didn’t record a sack or tackle for loss. However, he came much improved to this year’s training camp. In the preseason, he brought constant pressure. Granted, the opponents were backups at best.
Jones will be a backup for Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter. If they stay healthy, he’ll only get some rotational snaps, but that’s by far the biggest return on investment of the four Vikings picks.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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