How Much Does the Combine Influence Vikings’ Pick?
The Minnesota Vikings have arguably one of the most important weeks of their offseason underway as we enter into March.
How Much Does the Combine Influence Vikings’ Pick?
The brain trust tasked with making roster decisions will be present in Indianapolis, and the results they witness could go a long way to influence the decisions made in the next handful of days.
While the NFL Draft isn’t until April, it’s on March 13 that a day of judgment is coming for the roster. Needing to make decisions on a few key free agents, including Kirk Cousins, Minnesota must have all their ducks in a row. We will know by then how they will move forward at the quarterback position, and if there are any last impressions for the draft class to make, it will happen now.
The NFL Combine is an event for all draft hopefuls to show off their measurables and physical traits. It obviously centers around the skill position players, but others are worth keeping tabs on. For Minnesota, with a draft class chock full of star-studded quarterbacks, that group will be under the biggest microscope.
More names than these will be there, but this is the group the Vikings are expected to engage with most:
- Jayden Daniels, LSU
- Drake Maye, North Carolina
- J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
- Caleb Williams, USC
- Spencer Rattler, South Carolina
- Bo Nix, Oregon
- Michael Penix Jr., Washington
The hope would be that the combine provides enough insight for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell to feel comfortable in whatever decision they make regarding Cousins. The pajama party won’t be the ultimate deciding factor, and some players like Caleb Williams won’t even showcase all of their abilities, but it does provide a final touchpoint before the March 13 date.
You can expect that the Vikings have done all of their homework. They are set to make what will ultimately be a franchise-altering decision, which will determine their future prospects over the next handful of seasons.
Ensuring they get that right coincides with everyone keeping their jobs and the fanbase remaining engaged.
Buckle up.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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