Early Mock Drafts Pound Home One Position for Vikings

Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell introduced new Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores from the TCO Performance Center on February 15th, 2023. Flores coached for the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers before joining the Vikings in 2023.

The 2025 NFL Draft is 5.5 months away, but for the mock draft community, no time is too early to speculate about the event.

Early Mock Drafts Pound Home One Position for Vikings

And according to early momentum — multiple mocks — most experts expect the Minnesota Vikings to use their first pick in the draft on an interior defensive lineman. In other words, an impactful defensive tackle that Minnesota hasn’t really employed since Kevin Williams.

Mock Drafts
Kentucky defensive tackle D. Walker greets fans at the team’s Catwalk before the Vanderbilt game on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Lexington, Ky. © Matt Stone/Courier Journal/USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.

CBS Sports authored a mock draft this week, and with the Vikings picking at No. 28 — which would make the purple team a Divisional Round playoff participant — Chris Trapasso linked Minnesota to Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker.

Trapasso wrote, “The Vikings add an enormous and athletic defensive tackle to make life easier for their outside rushers in Brian Flores’ blitz-obsessed scheme.”

Vikings
Minnesota Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah addressed the media about the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft from the TCO Performance Center. The Vikings have long-term draft needs at quarterback, cornerback, and interior offensive line.

These are the Vikings’ current interior defensive linemen:

  • Harrison Phillips
  • Jonathan Bullard
  • Jerry Tillery
  • Jalen Redmond
  • Levi Drake Rodriguez

And of those men, only Phillips and Rodriguez are scheduled to return in 2025. Via free agency or the draft, Minnesota will need DT help, rest assured.

Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images.

Last month, The Draft Network’s Justin Melo recently linked Walker of Kentucky to the Vikings, too, in a mock draft: “Deone Walker is extremely light on his feet for a 6-foot-6, 345-pound interior defender. Vikings DC Brian Flores is overseeing an outstanding defense this season, but it would be even better with a quick-footed gap penetrator up the middle.”

The stars are aligning for Walker, who evidently blends draft need and placement and Minnesota, at least in November.

Otherwise, Minnesota will certainly need help at cornerback. The current starting threesome — Stephen Gilmore, Byron Murphy, and Shaquill Griffin — well, none are scheduled to be a part of the 2025 Vikings. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has a reasonable chance of re-signing Murphy, but Gilmore and Griffin might be one-year solutions.

Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison addresses media after a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in South Bend. © MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK.

At CB, these are 1st- and 2nd-Round draft prospects to monitor:

  • Travis Hunter (Colorado)
  • Will Johnson (Michigan)
  • Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame)
  • Shavon Revel Jr. (East Carolina)
  • Denzel Burke (Ohio State)
  • Tacario Davis (Arizona)

And the rest of the DTs if Walker isn’t available:

  • Mason Graham (Michigan)
  • Kenneth Grant (Michigan)
  • Walter Nolen (Ole Miss)
  • Tyleik Williams (Ohio State)
  • L.T. Overton (Alabama)
  • Derrick Harmon (Oregon)

Moreover, Minnesota could trade its 1st-Round pick down the board to accrue more capital. The 2025 draft cabinet is rather barren after the trade(s) needed to land Dallas Turner earlier this year.

The 2025 NFL Draft will occur in Green Bay, Wisconsin.


Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL. 

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.