Over the past few years, the Minnesota Vikings have landed themselves a couple of cornerstone players via the NFL Draft, and a couple of them have been recognized as the best selections at their draft spot over the course of the past decade.
Pro Football Focus has put together their All-Decade NFL Mock Draft, tabbing who they feel is the best selection at each slot in the first round since 2015. Two of those players are currently wearing Vikings purple, and they’re the two that you’d probably expect.
The first one check in at #22, where wide receiver Justin Jefferson has unsurprisingly been deemed the best player taken in that slot over the past ten drafts.
This one isn’t too complicated. Justin Jefferson is one of the best football players in the league and just signed a contract that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. He has recorded four straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, paired with four straight elite receiving grades.
Jefferson is so far ahead of everyone in that spot that there weren’t even any Honorable Mentions for the best player taken at #22 over the past decade. The fact that Jefferson got an extension that pretty much reset the market at his position is a testament to just how good he’s been.
The guy who will likely be the next recipient of a big-money extension from the Vikings, left tackle Christian Darrisaw, comes in at #23. There weren’t any Honorable Mentions for his spot, either.
Darrisaw didn’t have as efficient of a season in 2023 as he did in 2022, seeing his overall grade drop from 91.2 to 85.1, but that is still an excellent mark. He remains one of the best young offensive tackles in the league, and there really wasn’t anyone else to consider here.
No other Vikings made the list from PFF, not even as Honorable Mentions for any of those slots. The Vikings have had some misses with first-round picks in recent years, but they’ve managed to make up for them with some of their later selections and some hits in undrafted free agency.
Hopefully when a list similar to this one is made a few years from now we’ll be seeing Dallas Turner on it. I’d add J.J. McCarthy’s name as well, but given that the current best #10 overall pick is some guy named Patrick Mahomes, those hopes are probably not realistic.
