The Minnesota Vikings are coming off a strong 2024 season, especially considering that their franchise quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, was out for the season with an injury and they still made it to the postseason. The team also just wrapped up a successful draft, which is getting some good reviews from NFL analysts and experts, including from Chad Reuter of the NFL, who gave the team a B for their 2025 draft class.
“The Vikings made the offensive line a priority in Round 1, taking Jackson, a sturdy guard, over available defensive backs,” Reuter stated in the piece. He added why the grade wasn’t higher, stating, “They also ignored defensive needs when good value presented itself in Felton, whose game will take pressure off Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.”
Aside from the draft grades, it’s time to move forward, and many analysts are in agreement on what the team needs to do to get ready for the next season.
Vikings Lacking in 1 Position
In a May 8 piece for PFF, Trevor Sikkema discusses the biggest remaining need for all 32 NFL teams following the draft. “The 2025 NFL Draft represented one of the final opportunities for NFL teams to plug their roster holes before the season begins,” he notes in the piece. “With that said, we’re taking a look at every team’s biggest remaining roster need as the summer nears.”
For the Vikings, he’s clear that they need a cornerback.
“The Vikings will be replacing more than 1,000 coverage snaps following the departures of Stephon Gilmore and Shaquill Griffin,” he writes. “They’ll now have to lean on Isaiah Rodgers, who earned a 70.5 PFF coverage grade with the Eagles last season, and Mekhi Blackmon, who is coming off a torn ACL.”
More Pleas for a New Vikings Cornerback
ESPN also has a May 8 story out about the biggest post-draft roster holes for all 32 NFL teams. “At this point in the offseason, a roster hole does not necessarily mean the position group has no clear starters,” they note in the piece. “Most teams have filled the top of their depth charts. But plenty of units have limited depth, even after all the wheeling and dealing.”
For the Vikings, Aaron Schatz also says the team really needs a cornerback. As long as the Vikings can lap up a solid cornerback before the new season, they’re looking strong.
“Byron Murphy Jr. is back after a fabulous season in which he ranked seventh in the league in my coverage DVOA metric,” he states in the piece. “But you need three starting cornerbacks in the NFL, plus depth behind them. Right now, the other two starters would be Mekhi Blackmon and Isaiah Rodgers.”
He points out that Blackmon didn’t play last season due to a torn ACL and clocked “a below-average 9.8% coverage DVOA as a rookie in 2023. Rodgers was good with the Eagles last season but started only three games.”
“Behind them are Jeff Okudah, a onetime high draft pick who played only 7% of Houston’s defensive snaps last season, and Tavierre Thomas, a 29-year-old slot corner who played only 4% of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps in 2024,” he added.
