Post-SB Mock Drafts Begin with Familiar Face for Vikings
The Kansas City Chiefs became back-to-back Super Bowl champions on Sunday night for the first time in the NFL since 2003-2004 when the New England Patriots accomplished the feat.
Post-SB Mock Drafts Begin with Familiar Face for Vikings
No NFL team has ever won Super Bowls thrice consecutively. We shall see on the Chiefs in 2024.
And with the Super Bowl in the rearview, mock draft season went full tilt on Monday. The 2024 NFL Draft is 10.5 weeks away. Pro Football Focus kicked off the post-Super Bowl mocks, and when PFF’s Trevor Sikkema arrived as the Minnesota Vikings’ 11th pick, he linked a familiar name to the purple team: Florida State EDGE Jared Verse.
Sikkema explained the selection, “The Vikings will be one of those teams that could aggressively move up for a quarterback. If they can’t find a deal, look for them to shift their focus to the defensive line. Interior or edge could be in play here, but with Verse still on the board, he is the pick here.”
On “aggressively moving up for a quarterback,” Caleb Williams (USC), Drake Maye (North Carolina), Jayden Daniels (LSU), Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), J.J. McCarthy (Michigan), and Bo Nix (Oregon) are expected to go off the board in Round 1. Minnesota would likely have to trade up for Williams, Maye, or Daniels, while Penix Jr., McCarthy, or Nix may be gettable with the 11th pick.
Regarding Verse, he’s an early mock draft darling for Minnesota. Danielle Hunter is scheduled to hit free agency, although the 29-year-old said last month that he plans to return with the Vikings in 2024. We shall see if the team’s front office accommodates him with a contract.
Entering the 2024 offseason, the Vikings have zero starting outside linebackers under contract unless one assumes Patrick Jones II or Andre Carter II will make the leap this summer. If Hunter doesn’t re-sign, Minnesota would need two starting EDGE rushers.
Verse is 6’4″ and 260 pounds and can start on Day One for the Vikings. Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings describes Verse as a prospect with “a bolt of lightning off the snap, which immediately stresses tackles vertically to the apex” and as “a high-octane, hyperactive athlete who moves in short, successive bursts of energy.”
The Draft Network, NFL.com, and CBS Sports have all linked Verse to the Vikings via mock draft in the last few weeks. It’s a theme. NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks mock-drafted Verse to Minnesota in January and wrote, “Adding an athletic pass rusher to the lineup will enhance the Vikings’ aggressive schemes under Brian Flores. The Florida State standout flashes double-digit potential as a sack artist.”
One item pertaining to the Vikings’ EDGE need is clear: it’s probably time to spend high-round draft capital at the position. Minnesota hasn’t spent a 1st- or 2nd-Rounder on EDGE since 2005.
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,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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