The Worst-Case Scenario Happened for the Vikings’ Draft Pick
Not long ago, the Minnesota Vikings held a 4-8 record, on the brink of a lost season and eyeing a Top 10 draft pick. Fast forward to the end of the 2025 regular season, and the same group won its final five games, with the prospect of a Top 10 draft long gone. The Vikings will pick 18th in April — the worst possible pick for a team that didn’t reach the postseason.
Minnesota didn’t bottom out or break through, leaving a messy middle outcome in the draft.
It’s a gut punch for the pro-tanking crowd, a faction of Vikings fans who thought the team would somehow roll over and die, even though the Vikings, as a franchise, have never prioritized draft pick order over wins.
A Later First-Round Pick Leaves Vikings in the NFL’s Middle Lane
Top 10 pick for Minnesota? How about No. 18?
Ravens Ensure Vikings Stay at No. 18
Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop missed a would-be, game-winning field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, a kick that would have sent Baltimore to the postseason with a home playoff game.
The Athletic‘s Mike DeFabo and Jeff Zrebiec wrote, “Baltimore seemed on the verge of answering again. This time, facing a fourth-and-7 from the 50 with the game on the line, Jackson lofted a 26-yard completion to tight end Isaiah Likely. The catch set up kicker Tyler Loop for a 44-yard field goal attempt to win it, but the rookie’s kick sailed wide right as time expired.”
Had Loop banged through the field goal, the Vikings would have picked at No. 17 instead of No. 18. But the miss ensured that Minnesota would have the 18th pick, making Minnesota the best non-playoff team by wins, losses, and tiebreakers.
From 4-8 to 9-8
On the night of Sunday, November 30th, 2025, the Vikings were dead. Deceased. The franchise sank to a new low, getting shut out by Sam Darnold’s team for the first time in 18 years. When fans went to bed that night, the Vikings had the 10th pick in April’s draft by order of wins and losses.
Many, including this website, believed Minnesota would win a few games and finish the season around 7-10, perhaps in the ballpark of the 13th overall pick in April.
That forecast was wrong. Utterly false. Conversely, the Vikings went on a tear, beating the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers, mostly because quarterback J.J. McCarthy stopped playing like a buffoon.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell kept his winning streak intact: in each season as Minnesota’s skipper, he has produced at least one five-game win streak. That happened again, and for his troubles, his team will pick 18th in the draft, not 10th.
Dreams of Jeremiyah Love & Caleb Downs Likely Dead
What does this mean? Well, early December draft theories involving the purple team can be flushed down the toilet. With the 10th pick, Minnesota would have reasonably been in the mix for this year’s best rookie running back, Jeremyiah Love of Notre Dame. Ohio State safety Caleb Downs was a mock draft darling at the time, and he might even be the best defensive player in the whole damn draft.
Hoping those two rookies will fall to No. 18 is a fool’s errand. The only realistic way to get either man now is a trade up the draftboard, and usually, trading assets to move up for a running back or safety is frowned upon.
To finish the season on a five-game spurt, inspiring hope for 2026 and beyond, the Vikings probably ruled themselves out of drafting Love or Downs.
Who’s the Pick?
Minnesota arguably needs these positions filled for the long term:
- Cornerback
- Safety
- Linebacker
- Center
- Running Back
- Defensive Tackle
That order, as always, is debatable.
With the 18th pick in April, based on the current draft lay of the land, these players could be gettable for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, assuming he makes no trades:
- Mansoor Delane (CB, LSU)
- Colton Hood (CB, Tennessee)
- Jermond McCoy (CB, Tennessee)
- Kayden McDonald (DT, Ohio State)
- Sonny Styles (LB, Ohio State)
- Kenyon Sadiq (TE, Oregon)
- Avieon Terrell (CB, Clemson)
- Peter Woods (DT, Clemson)
Of course, the current draftboard will fluctuate mightily in the next five months, but that’s an introductory look at the options.
CBS Sports‘ Mike Renner mock-drafted McCoy to Minnesota on Monday and explained, “Kwesi Adofo-Mensah showed in free agency last year that he’s willing to buy low on players with injury risks for the potential value they present. That describes no one in this draft class better than McCoy. His sophomore tape was top-10 worthy, but he didn’t play all fall with an ACL tear suffered last January.”
Minnesota has picked 18th twice in the last two decades, landing defensive tackle Erasmus James in 2005 and Garrett Bradbury in 2019.
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