Questions Answered: Our Big Free Agent Prediction, the Vikings 2022 Draft Class, OL in the Draft
The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the January 27th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: Our Big Free Agent Prediction, the Vikings 2022 Draft Class, OL in the Draft
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: What do you predict as the Vikings’ splashy free-agent move in March?
Answer: Safety Jevon Holland.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores drafted Holland in 2021. Now, Holland is scheduled to hit free agency when Minnesota might experience Harrison Smith’s retirement and Camryn Bynum’s possible exit.
Spending big bucks on Holland — instead of Bynum — makes a lot of sense, considering the ties between Holland and Flores.
And here’s a Holland tweet from two years ago:
Q: The 2022 draft for which Kwesi has taken a lot of heat … Do you know the dynamics that day in the war room? Kwesi was so new … were those his choices? Grigson’s? The Scouting area?
Answer: We’re told Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fully in charge, just like a general manager should be during a draft. He’s probably the main problem with that draft — just being too new.
In fact, Adofo-Mensah talked about his blunder(s) in that draft last summer. “When I entered the building, trying to compete, aging roster, salary cap stuff, I think there was times where I felt down 33-0. As we all know, that game, it starts with one play, one drive, and you build. I think at times I might have been guilty of trying to maybe have a 33-point play all at once. I think once I identified that, I kind of really just — I think if you’ve seen since then, it’s been really, foundationally, just taking good steps, building to a certain critical point where I think we compete over the long term,” he said in August.
The Vikings swung and missed on almost every pick in that draft.
“What you don’t want to do is try and solve all of the issues at once, right? I think you still want to have long and short-term horizons when you make decisions, but you just don’t want to be in a rush to get to that end goal. You want to be deliberate in your process, and we’ve done a really good job doing that,” he added.
For that draft, we believe Adofo-Mensah was too inexperienced and bit off more than he could chew. Blaming his scouts or coworkers is probably a stretch.
Q: Will Minnesota draft an interior offensive lineman in Round 1?
Answer: The 24th pick isn’t an ideal spot for an iOL unless Adofo-Mensah reaches, which nobody wants him to do.
Drafting a guard or center could be the gameplan if Minnesota trades back, however.
If it sticks and picks at No. 24, we predict a cornerback or defensive tackle.
Vikings Coach Could Be Stolen by Bears
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 MIN 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.
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