Dustin Baker’s Vikings Mock Draft 1.0 — 2023
The Minnesota Vikings own five picks heading into the 2023 NFL Draft. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah dwindled the 2023 stockpile last year for trades involving Akayleb Evans, T.J. Hockenson, and Jalen Reagor.
Vikings fans should fully expect Adofo-Mensah to once again trade like a fiend on draft night, so in that vein, mock drafts are a bit futile. There’s absolutely no way the current slate of picks goes unchanged.
Dustin Baker’s Vikings Mock Draft 1.0 — 2023
Still, here’s the best stab at a predictive mock draft for the 2023 Vikings. One trade was made, a move out of the 23rd overall pick.
Trade: The Vikings send the 23rd and 158th picks to the Philadelphia Eagles for the 30th and 62nd picks.
Round 1: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR)
Pick Number = 30th
College = Ohio State
The Pro Football Network mock draft simulator allowed Smith-Njigba to fall near the end of Round 1, so the Vikings pounce — while manufacturing a Kwesi-esque trade reminiscent of 2022.
Smith-Njigba is startable Week 1 in Minnesota, and fears of Adam Thielen’s absence are put to rest. Ohio State wide receivers drafted last year were a success. Why not Smith-Njigba?
Round 2: Emmanuel Forbes (CB)
Pick Number = 62nd
College = Mississippi State
The Vikings ranked 27th in 2022 per defensive DVOA, 30th in points allowed, and 31st in yards allowed to opponents, so the defense needs all the help it can get.
Forbes is known for his competitiveness and slender build and was actually ESPN Mel Kiper’s first mock-draft theory for the Vikings in January.
Forbes joins the Vikings CB room with Byron Murphy, Andrew Booth, Akayleb Evans, perhaps a free agent to be named soon — and suddenly, the Vikings secondary doesn’t feel so bleak.
Round 3: Sydney Brown (S)
Pick Number = 87th
College = Illinois
Of course, Minnesota has Harrison Smith, Lewis Cine, and Camryn Bynum on roster, but Smith won’t play forever. In fact, 2023 or 2024 will probably be his last hurrah.
The Draft Network explained Brown’s possible utility as a rookie, “You’re drafting Brown for a three-down role in the NFL, but you’ll need to ensure you’re asking him to play to his strengths and be willing to move him around.”
That’ll work. Especially inside The Brian Flores Show.
Round 4: Jaquelin Roy (DT)
Pick Number = 119th
College = LSU
The Vikings adore LSU products, spanning back-to-back general management regimes. Last week, Adofo-Mensah signed Dean Lowry for DT duty, and grabbing Roy in Round 4 does nothing to change Lowry’s starting gig in 2023.
He can develop, though, for a year or two and see what flushes out down the road. Roy is more athletic than most defensive tackles sought by the Vikings since Sharrif Floyd, and that isn’t a bad thing.
The Vikings have drafted Danielle Hunter, Justin Jefferson, and Ed Ingram from LSU in the last eight drafts. Let’s head back to the wishing well.
Round 6: Clayton Tune (QB)
Pick Number = 211th
College = Houston
Adofo-Mensah just doesn’t have the draft capital to strike on Anthony Richardson or Will Levis — if those are even “his guys” in the first place.
Still, Minnesota needs a life-after-Kirk-Cousins plan, as Cousins’ contract runs out in 11 months. Mock-drafting Tune won’t inspire everyone, but he’s a dart targeting the board in an offseason when Minnesota must begin to peel back the curtain on the post-Cousins era.
If one assumes the Vikings don’t use Round 1 on a quarterback, well, all of the decent QB prospects thereafter — Hendon Hooker, Stetson Bennett, Jaren Hall — are old. Tune isn’t crazy old, so consider him a compromise.
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 Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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