Vikings’ Main Draft Need Next Year Already Pretty Vivid
The Minnesota Vikings just finished this year’s draft, headlined by the selections of J.J. McCarthy, a quarterback from Michigan, and Dallas Turner, an outside linebacker from Alabama.
Vikings’ Main Draft Need Next Year Already Pretty Vivid
Indeed, the McCarthy era in Minnesota will begin sometime in 2024 or 2025, and employing Turner on the defensive line only bolsters that side of the ball. But four months before the start of the regular season, the draft community is already peering ahead at next year’s rookies, and for Minnesota, the most explicit need is defensive tackle.
For starters, next to Harrison Phillips on the defensive line’s interior, the Vikings will presumably roll with a hodgepodge of Jerry Tillery, Jonah Williams, Jonathan Bullard, Jaquelin Roy, and rookie Levi Drake Rodriguez. That group does not inspire much confidence, at least not on paper.
So, it’s no surprise that ESPN’s first 2025 mock draft outfits the purple team with a fancy defensive tackle. Jordan Reid foreshadowed Minnesota picking eighth next April and aligned Kevin O’Connell’s team with Mason Graham, a DT from Michigan, the same school as McCarthy.
Reid explained, “Minnesota’s interior defensive line lacks a consistent presence, and Harrison Phillips is entering the final year of his contract. Graham is a rugged, heavy-handed run defender and disruptive pass-rusher. He had 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks last season, and he’d fit great with defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ scheme.”
To be clear, a full year of college football must transpire before the rookie pecking order can crystalize, but Reid’s theory on DT is just the beginning of what some fans feel is inevitable: at some point, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah must get serious about the guts of the defensive line and find an impact defensive tackle.
The Vikings have notoriously avoided emphasizing the spot with back-to-back coaching regimes. It’s why players like Jonathan Bullard, Armon Watts, and Shamar Stephen always find starters’ jobs. Minnesota typically finds a mid-tier performer at defensive tackle and calls it good.
Meanwhile, with the would-be DT plan in tow, Minnesota may also be faced with trading down in next year’s draft. Adofo-Mensah spent oodles of draft mid- and late-round capital to select McCarthy and Turner, so much so that 2025 and 2026 will be about recovering assets. A defensive tackle can assuredly be a priority, but to re-fortify the cabinet, Adofo-Mensah might have to trade down a time or two.
Finally, if the purple team wishes to fix the defensive tackle position without a rookie, next year’s free-agent class isn’t quite as dazzling as the 2024 version. For now, Green Bay Packers DT Kenny Clark is scheduled to hit the open market, but that’s about it for impact interior defensive linemen.
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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