The Minnesota Vikings had themselves a very busy 2020 NFL Draft. Rick Spielman moved up and down the board accumulating more picks for not only this year’s draft but also the 2021 NFL Draft.
His moves netted the Vikings 15 new players. The Vikings used these picks to fill some major holes on their roster. They improved the talent and depth at the cornerback position, added depth to their pass-rushing corps and also fortified their already solid group of linebackers.
However, some positions weren’t addressed early enough, or often enough, and some holes remain on the team. Here are the three biggest holes on the Minnesota Vikings roster following the 2020 NFL Draft.
GUARD
The Vikings held off on drafting a guard until their final pick of the draft. They selected Washburn guard Kyle Hinton with the 253rd overall choice. While he’s got potential, this was a major need area that needed to be upgraded much earlier. After cutting Josh Kline, the team has Pat Elflein who has been well below average and unproven Dru Samia topping the depth chart. Behind those guys are Dakota Dozier and Brett Jones. All the team did to upgrade this position was use a very late seventh-round pick on a guard from a school no one has heard of.
The team did say after the draft that the starting guard positions will both be up for grabs and there will be an open competition in camp. That is good news, and it is reassuring the team won’t just hand the job to Elflein since he’s the incumbent. Still, this position was one of the Vikings’ biggest needs and one many figured the team would address earlier. They passed on a lot of good guard prospects to double-dip at positions like cornerback and wide receiver. Perhaps the open competition will be enough to fire up these players and make them rise to the occasion, but heading into the 2020 season, guard clearly becomes the Vikings biggest need and the position that will have the most question marks.
wide receiver
The Vikings used their first-round pick on LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson. That was a smart move and great value as many figured he’d be off the board long before then. Jefferson is 6’1′ and 202 pounds. He has 4.43 speed and is coming off a season where he caught 111 passes for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns. He is a demon working out of the slot and should be able to produce solid numbers for the Vikings in Year 1.
While that pick was a home run, the team perhaps waited too long to address the position again. With Tajae Sharpe signed for just one year, and Bisi Johnson still being a question mark after a promising rookie season, the Vikings were expected to take another receiver fairly early in the 2020 Draft. They waited until Round 5 and took Miami’s, K.J. Osborn. Osborn is 5’11” with the speed to stretch a defense but was taken to be the team’s primary return man, as that is an area he excels at. As a true receiver prospect, many had him pegged as an undrafted free agent and not a fifth-round talent, as he has trouble creating separation. He can help as the team’s fifth option in the receiving corps, but his future is likely to be just a special teamer.
The team had a chance to grab some big-bodied receivers on Day 3 of the draft, like Tyler Johnson, Antonio Gandy-Golden and Collin Johnson, but chose to trade down instead. Whether or not Spielman thought he could still land one of these big pass catchers later, or wasn’t interested in them, we may never know. One thing that is clear is that after the 2020 season, the Vikings could be looking for another pass catcher early in the draft.
Safety
This is a position the Vikings did address twice on Day 3 of the draft. They needed depth here and got exactly that with Michigan’s Josh Metellus and Mississippi State’s Brian Cole. These two will make the team almost by default as the Vikings have zero depth behind Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith. The concern here is that if the Vikings can’t agree to a long term deal with Harris sometime before or during the 2020 season, they could be looking for a new starter in 2021.
Josh Metellus is a good size safety standing 5’11” and 209 pounds. He is a big hitter who can come up and play on the line of scrimmage. His coverage skills are questionable and he lacks recovery speed. He offers some position flexibility and it’s worth wondering if Mike Zimmer will use him as a linebacker in certain packages. Brian Cole is a former wide receiver who is relatively new to the safety position. He has high athleticism and great size at 6’2″ and 213 pounds. The fact he used to play on the offensive side of the football will help him with his route recognition, but he’s only had one year as a starting safety and that makes him a true project.
It’s possible one of these two can emerge and develop into a starter, but they fell to the sixth and seventh rounds for a reason. If the Vikings can’t agree to a long term deal with Harris, safety could be very well near the top of their need list for 2021.
