The second and third round was a bit more predictable than the first round, but it still left us with a number of shocking reaches and great steals.

The biggest reaches were probably C.J. Beathard (Consensus 220) from Iowa going to San Francisco at pick 104, WR Kenny Golladay (Consensus 200) of Northern Illinios heading to Detroit at 96 and CB Brendan Langley (Consensus 196) to the Denver Broncos.

At the other end, the Minnesota Vikings grabbed no. 12 overall player Dalvin Cook at pick 41, and the Chargers stole Forrest Lamp (#17 overall) at pick 38.

So, who are the best remaining players?

SEC rival defensive linemen Caleb Brantley of Florida and Carl Lawson of Auburn have yet to be selected in the NFL Draft despite excellent film review from evaluators across the country.

After those two are safety/cornerback Desmond King of Iowa and guard Dorian Johnson from Pitt.

As to why these players fell, your guess is as good as ours. It sounds like there are medical concerns with Carl Lawson and character flags with Caleb Brantley. Desmond King may not fit the athleticism or size profiles of NFL decision-makers and Dorian Johnson plays a low-value position, relatively speaking.

The biggest shocker, however, might be the three tight ends: Bucky Hodges from Ohio State, Jake Butt from Michigan and Jordan Leggett from Clemson remain on the board. Further down the board, there’s tight end value in Jeremy Sprinkle from Arkansas and George Kittle from Iowa.

The best value given the relative depth at their position might be Jaleel Johnson. If Brantley is off of team boards, the next-best three-technique might be Ryan Glasgow—and he was more of a nose tackle at Michigan. Perhaps converting Deatrich Wise, Jr. from Arkansas holds some value, but there are honestly so few pass-rushing defensive tackles that any team that needs one (like the Vikings) might want to rush to get Johnson.

Those looking for a guard may not see many in the list above, save for Dorian Johnson, but might be comforted with names like Nico Siragusa from San Diego State (#113) and Isaac Asiata from Utah (#114).

Regardless, with three picks in the fourth round, the Vikings might be well-positioned to generate fantastic value.

Arif Hasan

Arif Hasan has written for sites all across the internet and his work has been featured in the Athletic, Pro Football Network, Star Tribune, LA Times, Forbes, SB Nation, the Bleacher Report and MSNBC. He currently also writes for the Wide Left Substack. You can find him on twitter at @ArifHasanNFL.

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