The Minnesota Vikings entered the 2023 NFL draft with five selections and myriad questions. Unlike a lot of teams, there wasn’t any clear sense of direction as to what the Vikings would do. As late as the hour before the draft, there were rumors that they were looking to trade with the Arizona Cardinals to get the third-overall pick and select a quarterback. They weren’t able to go up and get one, so the focus shifted to the 23rd-overall pick.
What they were going to do with their selections was still up for debate. The process that the Vikings followed was slightly different than last year. The one trend that Minnesota followed last year was wanting a 10-yard split above the 80th percentile, with five of their players above the 97th percentile.
This season, they didn’t seem to follow anything specific in terms of testing metrics. Why? Each pick was a slightly different scenario. The process was interesting with each pick. Let’s explore their process and see how the Vikings are building their team moving forward.
1st round: WR Jordan Addison
With the 23rd-overall pick, the Vikings were looking to trade down but weren’t able to make a deal work. SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reported that the Buffalo Bills and New Orleans Saints were trying to move up with the Vikings. Adofo-Mensah mentioned that during his night one press conference.
We considered a lot. I promise Kevin and I did — man, a ton of work on all these options, all these scenarios. Ultimately we felt like the opportunities there didn’t make sense for us, and we’re ultimately
just really happy that we ended up with the player we ended up with, and we think that’s the best course forward.
The selection of Addison is somewhat reminiscent of taking Justin Jefferson in 2020. Both are tremendous route runners who have concerns about their frame.
Addison’s RAS wasn’t great, but he had to remove himself from drills at the combine. He was dealing with a back injury during testing and it progressively got worse. Addison was going to retest at his pro day, but that didn’t get to happen, as the conditions were similar to a monsoon. One thing that was mentioned by PFF’s Steve Palazzolo during their live draft coverage was that Addison measured in the 90th percentile in GPS tracking data that isn’t available to the public.
The big question here is this: Why take Addison with Will Levis and Hendon Hooker still on the board? Well, it’s simple. They weren’t good enough to bet on.
I’ve been out on Hooker the entire process. He just doesn’t have enough to work with for me to believe he can be a starting quarterback. With Levis, it’s a ceiling thing. Is he an improvement over Kirk Cousins? I don’t think he would be, especially since my comp for him is Cousins. The best process is to have a quarterback with a rookie quarterback, but that process is moot if the player isn’t good. The Vikings made the right choice getting their second-biggest need with their top need not plausible.
102. CB Mekhi Blackmon
Blackmon is an interesting pick. Initially, it felt like a reach and Arif Hasan’s consensus board showed that it was.
Selected: 102 (CB12)
Consensus: 185 (CB21)
Variance: 83 (9)
On my board, there were players that I thought were better at the cornerback position, most notably South Carolina’s Darius Rush. I thought that he fit both the skillset and athletic profiles that the Vikings would be looking for. When you put the film of Blackmon on, you immediately get why the Vikings — more specifically Brian Flores — wanted him. He is incredibly feisty and physical in coverage. You can see him in the below clip getting physical with the receiver. That kind of feistiness in man coverage is something that Flores loves.
Getting a cornerback with inside-out versatility to fortify the cornerback room is great process. With quarterback not really a value here (we will see that later) filling your third-biggest need is great process.
134. CB/S Jay Ward
This is an interesting one. Nobody really knows what Ward is going to be at the next level. He has at least five starts at safety, STAR (slot corner) and outside corner. That kind of versatility is something that Flores loves. He uses players that are jack-of-all-trades types. Eric Rowe spent six of his eight seasons playing for Flores, and he was deployed all over the field. Without having any of those players in Minnesota, the selection makes complete sense.
In terms of being an athlete, Ward’s testing was interesting. Very quick 10-yard and 20-yard splits with a great broad jump, but his agility scores are really poor. What shows up on tape is a player that has very inconsistent footwork. Ward has the ability to stay with receivers, but he can be manipulated easily and look like he’s lost in space. The idea here is that Flores can work with him and fix those issues.
The versatility here is why this pick is so intriguing. It’s also where you trust your coaching staff to develop him.
141. DT Jaquelin Roy
Roy is theoretically the Dalvin Tomlinson replacement. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein compared Roy directly to the former Vikings defensive lineman, and you can see why on the field. Roy led the NCAA with 50 pressures over the last two seasons as a defensive lineman. His 2022 season was a relative disappointment with the coaching staff changes and the weird turmoil that the LSU program was going.
The process of trading up for Roy is rooted in a talent cliff. There wasn’t a lot of defensive tackle talent in this draft, and to get a player that was initially earmarked as a potential Round 1 selection last summer is a great bet.
164. QB Jaren Hall
I think everyone and their mother knows that I absolutely love this pick. Hall is a player that I’ve loved for a couple of years, and I have the receipts to prove it. I even wrote about why the Vikings should take the shot on Hall earlier in April.
One element that doesn’t get discussed enough with Hall is that he’s a great fit for the Vikings. At BYU, he played in a scheme that was eerily similar to what Kevin O’Connell runs, and he did it well. There are accuracy, size and injury concerns. But taking a mature quarterback in Round 5 that will have a lesser learning curve since he knows the offense is fantastic process.
222. RB DeWayne McBride
The Vikings played this class perfectly in terms of running back. This year’s class was viewed as being ridiculously deep and starters could be found on Day 3 more than in normal years. The Vikings got their guy in McBride, someone that Adofo-Mensah said they had a starter grade on. That’s called getting value and, in turn, great process.
McBride didn’t go earlier for two reasons: No testing data due to a hamstring injury, and he has only five receptions for 29 yards across three seasons. McBride is a complete unknown in that area. As a runner, he runs like a car wreck and is a physical monster. That element is worth taking in Round 3 but falls due to the aforementioned factors.
The process in which Adofo-Mensah used to build this draft class seemed to be taking advantage of players that were being devalued due to other factors. Addison didn’t have a great 40-yard dash time, Hall was older and inconsistent but fits the offense and McBride has questions with the passing game. Finding value is currently the only theme between the two drafts, and it’s something that we will look at moving forward in his tenure.
