New Name Enters the Mix for Vikings in ESPN Mock Draft
ESPN’s Field Yates didn’t get too frisky for the Minnesota in a mock draft this week, picking Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman for the purple team at No. 18 — everyone is doing that right now — but in Round 2, Yates rolled with a relative unknown among Vikings fans: Penn State outside linebacker Dani Dennis-Sutton.
ESPN’s latest projection added another pass-rush name to Minnesota’s radar.
Dennis-Sutton is expected to be a Round 3 selection, according to the Consensus Big Board, but per Yates, he’s a 2nd-Rounder, and he just might be a Viking.
Dennis-Sutton Is Now Part of Minnesota’s Round 2 Picture
Get to know Dennis-Sutton.
Yates: Thieneman at No. 18
Just like every mock-drafter who breathes oxygen, Yates picked Thieneman for Minnesota in Round 1.
He explained the pick, “As Minnesota awaits word on whether safety Harrison Smith will return in 2026, coordinator Brian Flores’ defense is in need of a player who can offer similar ability to limit explosive plays downfield and cover well in the slot.”
“Thieneman had six interceptions as a true freshman at Purdue, displaying exceptional ball skills, range and overall play. He finished up his career with one season at Oregon and had a dominant combine, which included a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.”
Mock-drafting Thieneman has been so mundane for Minnesota in the last two weeks that the Dennis-Sutton choice earned the most attention among fans.
Dennis-Sutton at No. 49
More interestingly — because Thieneman to Minnesota is no longer a hot take — is Yates’s 2nd-Round pick.
He chose the Nittany Lions EDGE for the Vikings and wrote, “It’s unclear whether the Vikings will trade away outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, but the team must prepare for that possibility. Dennis-Sutton is the latest in a long line of Penn State pass rushers to graduate to the NFL.”
“He has a strong combination of size (6-6, 256 pounds) and power, posting back-to-back 8.5-sack seasons and 53 pressures in 2025.”
Because Dennis-Sutton projects as a 3rd-Rounder, it’s the first time most Vikings fans are getting to know him.
The Dennis-Sutton Scouting Report
Dennis-Sutton is 6’6 and 260 pounds with 4.63 speed. He logged 25 sacks in four years at Penn State, along with 127 total tackles and 7 forced fumbles. The rookie defender is known for his heavy hands and long arms. His quickness, though, might be suspect.
NFL Draft Buzz‘s KC Martinez on Dennis-Sutton: “Dennis-Sutton’s combine performance changed the calculus on this evaluation. His explosion and agility numbers ranked among the best ever recorded for a defensive end his size, and that kind of athletic profile gives NFL defensive line coaches something real to work with. On tape right now, his clearest value is as an early-down run defender in a gap-control scheme.”
“He sets edges, stacks blockers with his hands, and stays disciplined with his gap responsibility. He can two-gap in odd fronts where length and power matter more than get-off speed, and he holds up well enough against the run to earn snaps from day one. The bull rush generates pocket pressure, and his inside spin flashes enough to suggest a second move is developing.”
If the Vikings kept Greenard in 2026 while drafting Dennis-Sutton, the OLB spot would be the deepest roster position by far.
Martinez added, “But his stiff lower half limits consistent speed-to-power conversion around the arc, and NFL tackles with good anchors will force him into technical fights where his counter game is still thin. The floor here is a dependable rotational end who contributes on early downs and gives you honest effort every snap.”
“The ceiling, if the combine athleticism starts showing up more consistently in games, is a defensive end who can rush the passer in volume and justify a bigger role. How quickly he develops counters and learns to use that tested explosiveness on every snap will separate those two outcomes.”
The Realism of a Greenard Trade?
To start March, Greenard, as a trade candidate, burst into the rumor mill. Since then, the chatter has died down, and in fact, some of Greenard’s recent social media posts seem to hint at a return to the Vikings, probably with a sweet contract extension.
Otherwise, Minnesota reportedly shopped Greenard for a 2nd-Round pick, a tough sell for a man who banked just 3 sacks in 2025. Generally speaking, the odds of a Greenard trade are at their lowest since the initial Adam Schefter tweet declaring him available.
On Dennis-Sutton, the best NFL comp is probably somewhere between Za’Darius Smith and Emmanuel Ogbah.
He’ll turn 23 in December. The Vikings have nine draft picks on the menu this year, four more than last year.
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