The night of the 2023 NFL Draft was a lot like previous ones for the Minnesota Vikings. When they selected USC wide receiver Jordan Addison with the 23rd-overall pick, the Gjallarhorn blared, fans cheered, and many people turned to their friends and said, “We just got a steal.”
But there were others that weren’t so happy. You may think these were the words of Mike Zimmer – the former Vikings head coach who notoriously demanded cornerbacks early in the draft. It was actually the words of several concerned fans, who watched a defense that ranked 31st in total defense and passing yards sabotage a 13-win season.
Yes, the Vikings need cornerbacks. But taking one over a prospect like Addison would have been reaching for a need in the same way that led to the downfall of the previous front office.
When the Vikings were on the clock, they had several options to choose from. The decision came down to taking top cornerback prospects Joey Porter Jr. and Deonte Banks or going with Addison. Banks and Porter fit the description of what Brian Flores wants in his defense. But when taking a closer look, neither of them had a trait that stood out from what was available later in the draft.
According to Banks’ athletic profile on MockDraftable, he compared favorably to Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez, who the New England Patriots drafted 17th overall. He also compared favorably to Maryland teammate Jakorian Bennett, who is projected as a third-to-fourth-round pick by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, and Illinois’ Quan Martin, who is projected as a third-round pick.
Porter had the same dilemma, possessing athletic traits that compared to Sauce Gardner but also South Carolina’s Darius Rush, who Brugler projected as a Day 2 pick. Experts also compared Porter to Oregon State’s Rejzohn Wright, who is projected as a fourth- or fifth-round selection.
If you play around with MockDraftable long enough, you’re sure to find any comparison you would like. But the added intrigue is that these traits weren’t enough to convince the Vikings or any of the teams in the top 20 that they couldn’t get the same thing later in the draft.
This situation is similar to how the draft has played out since the turn of the century. Dating back to 2000, only 11 first-round cornerbacks selected outside of the top 20 picks have been selected to a Pro Bowl. Out of that group, only four of them were All-Pro selections during their career.
It’s also important to remember that the Vikings have already taken a step toward addressing the cornerback issue, signing Byron Murphy Jr. in free agency and trading up to select Andrew Booth and Akayleb Evans in last year’s draft.
While Booth and Evans need to overcome their injury issues, Minnesota’s problem isn’t that they don’t have starters. It’s that they need suitable depth to survive the rigors of the season.
This is where the Addison pick comes into play. If the Vikings walked into next season with Justin Jefferson and K.J. Osborn as their top two receivers, a majority of fans would be okay with it. But what happens if one of those two players get hurt? It would create a scenario that would see either Jalen Nailor or free-agent acquisition Trishton Jackson ascend to the No. 2 role in the offense.
That would be bad for the Vikings, who were seventh in offense but in many ways represented a paper tiger. Minnesota led the league in points per opening drive last season, and they were able to tie an NFL record with eight fourth-quarter comebacks. But they also had times where they disappeared in the middle of games and saw defenses take away Jefferson with double and triple teams.
Osborn has shown he’s a fine receiver in the NFL. However, he never was capable of drawing attention away from Jefferson. Some would point to his Week 15 explosion against the Indianapolis Colts as evidence he could handle the role, but those games were few and far between. He also struggled to get past Adam Thielen on the depth chart even as injuries and age started to sap Thielen’s effectiveness on the field.
In many ways, Addison’s game is comparable to Thielen’s. Addison wins with his route running, is efficient with his opportunities, and is a red-zone target who caught 25 touchdowns over the past two seasons at Pittsburgh and USC. It’s a skill set that immediately solves a problem, leading Kevin O’Connell to exclaim, “That’s a Day 1 starter!” multiple times after the pick was made.
Compare this to the situation Banks and Porter would be walking into. The expectation is that either corner would eventually ascend to the starting role, but it’s unlikely either would make the type of immediate impact for the Vikings that Addison could provide.
This is something that escaped Zimmer and the previous regime. While he understood that depth was important at cornerback, he also used five picks within the first or second day of the draft to solve the problem. It led to the Vikings getting little in terms of immediate results from their rookies.
With the Vikings’ objective of a “competitive rebuild,” getting the most out of first-round rookies is vital. That’s why taking a player like Addison is the correct move and adding depth later in the draft was the right path to take.
