The Minnesota Vikings have one of the more complete rosters in football, with perhaps the only questionable spot on the depth chart being at outside corner, where Mekhi Blackmon and Isaiah Rodgers fill the starting positions.
Despite this small weakness on the team, Vikings head coach, Kevin O’Connell, revealed at the annual league meeting on Monday that they will not simply focus on addressing deficiencies, and will instead look to take the best player available – with a caveat.
“What you don’t want is ‘best player available,’ but with such a tremendous roadblock to getting on the field in front of them,” O’Connell said, per The Athletic.
O’Connell expressed his desire for Minnesota to make this year’s draft selection based on the ability of the players on the board, but if there are already entrenched starters on long term deals at that given position, it may not ultimately make sense to take said player.
Taking a pure left tackle, for example would be somewhat of a difficult move, given the presence of the still-young Christian Darrisaw on the roster, who signed a 4 year, $104 million extension with the Vikings last offseason.
What Direction Could The Vikings Go In The Draft?
Cornerback, as previously mentioned, will likely be high on the priority list. The Vikings will be hoping that one of highly-touted prospects, Jahdae Barron or Will Johnson will still be on the board come their pick at #24.
However, in the very plausible scenario that both are gone; potentially at the pick just before them, with arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers, picking at #23 – and also having a need at CB; Maxwell Hairston could hear his name called to go and play in Minneapolis.
Under general manager, Kwesi Adofo Mensah, the Vikings have not been shy about moving up and down the board, with the team having done their fair share of both in his tenure.
The team moved down from #12 to #32 back in 2022, whilst just last year the Vikings moved up one spot from #11 to #10 to pickup quarterback of the future, JJ McCarthy. They also moved up from the 42nd pick in the second round, all the way up to #17 overall, giving up multiple picks over two years to do so.
So if one of Minnesota’s top targets remains on the board within striking distance, do not be surprised to see the team go up and get their man.
Positional Need Vs. Positional Value
It is not a foregone conclusion by any means that the Vikings will seek to take a corner. As The Athletic notes, receiver could also be in play to pair up with Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson. So could one of the elite tight end prospects, Tyler Warren and Coltson Loveland – in the event that either falls to #24.
And Minnesota will also likely prioritize players of high positional value if they do not decide to trade down and accumulate more picks.
Right tackle, Brian O’Neill, turns 30 in September, and carries only a $3 million dead cap hit in 2026. If one of the top tackle prospects starts to fall, it would not be shocking to see the Vikings grab their right tackle of the future, play him at left guard in place of incumbent starter, Blake Brandel in 2025, and subsequently transition him to the exterior in 2026.
