In 2022, the Minnesota Vikings traded the 12th and 46th picks to the Detroit Lions for the 32nd, 34th, and 66th picks. Then they dealt pick 34 to the Green Bay Packers for picks 53 and 59, which ESPN’s Seth Walder lauded as one of the best trades in the draft.
“Critics will say this is bad because Minnesota let the Packers fill a critical need with the selection of Christian Watson,” Walder reasoned. “This is faulty logic because that leaves out the context that Green Bay let Minnesota have two picks that were collectively worth more than what they used on Watson, plus the Packers might have traded up and gotten Watson from someone else anyway.”
Detroit used the 12th pick to take Jameson Williams.
“I’m not dumb. I know every touchdown catch [Williams] scores against us, TV will show me or show my name,” Adofo-Mensah said. “That’s life. If my feelings are going to get in the way of us making decisions to improve the team, I shouldn’t be in this seat. I made the decision because I’m in charge, but it’s more fair to say we made the decision as an organization. The [draft] room was behind what we were doing…. Detroit had [picks] 32 and 34, and we were targeting those picks for specific reasons.”
Watson dropped a touchdown pass in Week 1 of the 2022 season, and Williams scored his first-career touchdown against the Vikings in Week 14. But Minnesota should have no regrets about passing on either player. Watson and Williams have battled myriad injuries, and the Vikings have three solid pass-catchers in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson.
The more pertinent issue is that the Vikings passed on Jordan Davis and Kyle Hamilton with the 12th pick, and they could have used a defensive tackle or safety to bolster their defense. Furthermore, they’ve had mixed results with the other players they drafted in 2022 and haven’t gotten much production from the defensive players.
- Lewis Cine (pick 32) got injured in the Week 4 London game and has only played in 10 games, fewer than every other 2022 pick except Esezi Otomewo (5).
- Andrew Booth (42) looked like a steal, but he had an injury history at Clemson and has only made two NFL starts.
- Brian Asamoah (66) established a role in Ed Donatell’s defense as a rookie, but Ivan Pace Jr. passed him on the depth chart last year.
- Akayleb Evans (118) made two starts as a rookie and 15 last season. But he appeared to fall out of favor with Brian Flores late in the season, who occasionally played Jaylin Williams over him.
Ed Ingram (59) was Minnesota’s most valuable pick from 2022. He has started 32 games for the Vikings, but he’s been inconsistent at right guard. Ty Chandler (169) was Minnesota’s second-most valuable pick that year. He’s an explosive athlete but hasn’t fully mastered Kevin O’Connell’s offense. Jalen Nailor (191) and Nick Muse (227) have had limited playing time but remain with the team.
Compounding the issue, the Vikings only had one pick in the top 100 selections last year. They sent their second-round pick to Detroit in the Hockenson trade and their third-rounder (No. 87) to the San Francisco 49ers for picks 102, 164, and 222. Minnesota hit on Addison (23), and Mekhi Blackmon (102) made three starts last year. But we still don’t know what they have in Jay Ward (134) and Jaquelin Roy (141).
“Ultimately, when you talk about young players, the path isn’t always linear, right?” Adofo-Mensah said. “When you study these things, first and foremost, you know that when you study development curves, nobody is peaking in Year 1 – that’s not how it happens. Also, you know that players, sometimes it’s Year 3, 5, whatever it is, for different situations.
“Where it’s hard is when you have a player that you have some belief that they could be something in the future [and] if you bring in a veteran who’s probably better today, you limit that potential for ever seeing it, so it’s that go between which is difficult. Every team faces it. I’m not going to sit here and ask and say that our challenge is any different than anybody else’s, but…it is something we have to be thoughtful of and really be accountable to.”
We won’t know what value the Vikings got in the past two drafts for a few more years, but they could have used young defensive players on team-friendly contracts last season. Brian Flores likely blitzed at a historic rate last year because Minnesota wasn’t generating pressure with their front four. Flores runs a creative defense that maximizes his players’ talent, but the Vikings didn’t give him enough to work with. Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals eventually figured out how to beat it in Week 15.
The Vikings revamped their defense in free agency this year. But they will need to replace Kirk Cousins in the draft for it to matter. Minnesota owns the 11th and 23rd picks in this year’s draft, and it’ll have to pay handsomely to move up and take a quarterback. The only way to get value taking a quarterback is to select the right player and develop him correctly. Minnesota has drafted offensive players well in the last two years, so maybe they will be more likely to take the right quarterback. They also have missed opportunities to bolster their defense because they prioritized value.
In some ways, we may get an answer on whether Minnesota’s draft faults are related to misevaluation or emphasis on value this year. The Vikings can trade picks 11 and 23 and next year’s first-rounder to the New England Patriots for No. 3 because a good quarterback on a rookie contract is the best value in football. However, their evaluation must be correct to justify the trade. There’s no value in trading down in the first round this year.
