American Football

Minnesota Vikings News and Links, 28 March 2024

March 28, 2024

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 02 Middle Tennessee at Alabama — Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision. – Dalai Lama

This offseason is very intriguing and entertaining. The trade with the Texans has made many fine folks believe it means the team is going to trade up again. The ideas floated out there are often a bit preposterous. Almost every trade involves both first round picks this year plus the first round pick next year (for 2 or 3) or a 3rd round pick next year (for 4, 5, or 6). Rarely do these ideas have another pick coming back to the Vikings probably because there is this general belief that the Vikings will have to pay a tax. I do not buy it.

If the Vikings are not getting into the top 3 spots then I would not pay extra to move up to 4, 5, or 6. I am not even sure I would want to move up if I cannot get one of the top 3 quarterbacks (and no, JJ McCarthy is not on my top 3 list).

I could see the team very easily not drafting a QB early this year. It would be riskier but giving up too much draft capital for a player that might work out is more risky IMHO.

If the team added Byron Murphy or Dallas Turner plus a Troy Fautuna or Graham Barton that would be solid.

Maybe they take a swing on a Joe Milton later?

There is no mandate that they MUST take a QB early.

It is also interesting to read the posts below. Seems like The Wilfs are going to be patient with Kwesi and Kevin, are HOPING to work out a deal with JJ (worrisome that it is taking so long), were involved when Kwesi took over, are willing to step back a bit now, and not worried about the QB situation.

The team is not having private workouts with Penix or Nix. Does that mean anything? Is it subterfuge or have that seen enough of those two on tape?

News and Links

Norse Code Episode 508: Bleeding Value

Minnesota Vikings Reacts Survey: Which quarterback to move up for?

Minnesota Vikings Free Agency 2024

Bucky Brooks 2024 NFL mock draft 3.0: Patriots select J.J. McCarthy; Vikings land Drake Maye

Vikings Positioned to Pounce With $160 Million QB on ‘Clear Path’ to Free Agency

“The #Cowboys and QB Dak Prescott have a mutual understanding of his contract situation, sources say, with no offers from Dallas despite him being in a contract year,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on X on March 26. “No indication a deal is coming.

“This appears to clears [sic] the path for Dak Prescott to test free agency in 2025.”

That could be wonderful news for the Vikings. They are not in a position to land one of the top rookie passers in the 2024 draft barring a significant trade.

Spotrac projects the Vikings to have the fifth-most cap space in the NFL at $104.6 million.

Two New National Mock Drafts Have Vikings Landing UNC’s Drake Maye

https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/new-national-mock-drafts-vikings-unc-drake-maye

Vikings owner Mark Wilf on Justin Jefferson contract talks: ‘Going to do our best’ to keep WR ‘in purple’

“We had great positive conversations last season, and we’re looking forward to more positive conversations this offseason,” Wilf told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche and NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero. “Justin Jefferson is a unique talent. Best in the game, and we’re excited that he’s a Minnesota Viking. And not only is he a great player, he’s become a great leader of our locker room, and he’s great in the community, so the thrills he gives the fans on the field and just the way he carries himself. We’re looking forward to some real positive conversations.”

Wilf dismissed the speculative question about how he’d feel if the Vikings and Jefferson couldn’t come to an agreement, and another club offered a massive package for the wideout — say, three first-round picks.

“Again, right now, we’re focused on getting that guy on our field with the purple, and he looks great in purple,” he said. “We’re going to do our best to keep it that way.”

Vikings Meeting With Ex-LSU QB, Top 2024 NFL Draft Prospect Jayden Daniels

Daniels threw in front of NFL executives, coaches, and scouts at LSU’s pro day on Wednesday. Among those in attendance was Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, who also made recent stops at pro days for Michigan (to watch J.J. McCarthy) and USC (Caleb Williams). McCown is presumably headed to Chapel Hill, NC, next; Drake Maye — who McCown coached in high school — will be throwing at UNC’s pro day on Thursday.

The Vikings reportedly plan to put all of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft through private workouts. In that setting, head coach Kevin O’Connell can teach the prospects elements of Minnesota’s offense and then immediately see how well they retain and translate that information during on-field drills.

Matthew Coller: Vikings’ owners chose the right direction

Every owner in the NFL will tell you that they leave the football decisions to the football folks on the coaching staff and front office. We weren’t born yesterday so we know that isn’t always the case. The Vikings’ ownership, of course, appears to be on the lower end of meddling but they are very much involved with the overall direction of the organization, particularly when it comes to major decisions like what the Vikings faced heading into this offseason at quarterback.

What I’m trying to say is that if the Wilfs had wanted Kirk Cousins to return by any means possible they would have dictated that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah move heaven and earth to make that happen. But they did not do that. Ultimately, they chose the most logical direction for the franchise instead.

Wilf made it clear that he understands that less spending on Cousins means more elsewhere.

“Kirk is an outstanding quarterback, of course,” Wilf said. “At the same time we also have other things that are balancing in the mix. There’s salary caps and all kinds of parameters….we feel real good about the direction of where we’re going.”

“We’ll be engaged as we always are and to the extent they want us to be further engaged or get a closer look, if that comes up in any way,” Mark Wilf said in a sit down with Twin Cities media. “We know what we don’t know and these guys are running our organization for a reason and with have all the confidence in wherever way we go and whatever we decide to do.”

Being in a spot with options at quarterback appears to be where ownership envisioned the team landing three years from the start of the Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell hires. Wilf stated when the duo was hired that ownership played a significant role in the direction of the roster at first and they took a swing in 2022 with largely the bones of the 2021 group that resulted in a division title. Then they moved on from many players despite the 13-win season, a concept dubbed a “competitive rebuild” by Adofo-Mensah.

Why Vikings Value Private Workouts in Pre-Draft Progression

O’Connell was asked about the value of attending a private workout. A big part of that value is a preview to learn how a prospect learns.

“In real time, we don’t know what they’re coached,” O’Connell said. “So a lot of times, if you just turn on the tape and give them the clicker and have them take you through it, you can ask questions in real time and see how fast they either remember things, how fast they’re digesting the information in the question you’re asking, how clearly and articulately can they put that information into real tangible things that I can use as a coach for feedback to help them in the future?

“I think the value of them learning, basically a foreign language in a lot of ways, our system, parts of our system, that you can then go on the grass and see if they understand how we want to set our feet and eyes on this drop or when we talk about pocket movement, what that looks like,” he continued. “Or if we talk about on-schedule vs. off-schedule, red zone, third down, how that fits the framework not of our system but the system we want to build for them.”

O’Connell shrugged off a question about not attending Michigan’s Pro Day last week (the Vikings did have staff attend).

“I wouldn’t read anything into that. I was at the combine, so the guys that did throw, I was in the seventh row, watching those guys throw,” O’Connell said. “The film, the tape, is obviously going to be the true evaluator of where a guy is at and where you see him getting to, the growth they had at the beginning of their journey to the end of their college journey.

“I think pro days are great for a lot of reasons, having nothing to do with the script and what you actually get to see when you make the effort to go there. I think they’re great,” O’Connell added. “I think the guys are doing a great job with them, and the people that get a lot out of that, it’s valuable, and it’s valuable for us as a piece of it — but nothing compares to completing that full process with a visit or maybe them coming to the Twin Cities for one of our 30 visits.”

Much speculation has occurred that the Vikings would try to package one or both of those picks in order to move up the draft board, but the reality is that there are multiple options.

Adodo-Mensah told Vikings Entertainment Network’s Tatum Everett he wakes up in the night “thinking about draft scenarios” and stares at his draft board “often.”

“When I was first a young Wall Street trader, one of my coworkers who taught me a whole lot would always tell me, ‘Look at a chart and dream,’ “ Adofo-Mensah said. “Look at a stock chart, really, and think, ‘What could it look like a year to come?’

“I think I’ve taken that over to football and kind of look at our draft picks, our roster, and dream. Just try to think about what the team can look like, be like, to fit into the image of how [O’Connell] and [Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores] want to play. So we’ve done that,” Adofo-Mensah said. “And there are a lot of scenarios, but I like the flexibility those two picks give us. I don’t think they lock us into any one strategy. You know, the mock draft season is here, so I think people are probably thinking they know with more certainty what we’re gonna do than the Vikings do. But we’re excited about the flexibility we have, and we’re going to approach the board with that mindset.”

Wilf reiterated an appreciation for flexibility in the draft and a support for O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah as they work through the final month of draft preparation.

“We’ve always tried to model a philosophy and have tried to continue that of being long-term and not being kneejerk,” Wilf said. “That will give our coach and GM the maximum confidence to move forward with a plan, which they are doing.

“Clearly, the personnel decisions are critical; no matter what round they are, they’re all important,” Wilf added. “The first-rounders we get and the seventh-rounders and the undrafted players and the trades we make, they’re all important. They all add up, and how they perform on the field adds up. That’s part of the process, but we try to be as patient as Owners, the best we can within a competitive environment.”

Adofo-Mensah & O’Connell Explain Timing of Trade for Pick, Options in First Round

O’Connell also spoke with Everett about trading to obtain another first-round draft spot, noting his shared excitement about the possibilities it opens up.

“As you continue to do more work on this year’s draft – not just at the quarterback position but defensively, different aspects of O-line, D-line, it’s a really deep draft – and we really think it’s deep between our 11th pick and that 23rd pick that we were able to acquire, where you’re really talking about adding, potentially, two difference-makers to your team,” O’Connell said.

“That’s the flexibility we really wanted when considering what we were able to do in that trade,” O’Connell said. “And it’s rare to do a trade like that early in the process; we felt like that was kind of a draft-day kind of trade that we were able to make early and then maybe not pay the extreme price tag that you do when people tend to know what you may be going up for.”

O’Connell noted it’s important to maintain that open mind and not cling too tightly to any one player or outcome.

“That flexibility with that move that Kwesi made to get pick 23 was about the flexibility but also looking at a draft where I do believe there’s going to be a lot of offensive players go in the top 10,” he said. “When that first defensive player goes, when that second or third goes, I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s right around our pick at 11, and at pick 23, what does it mean if defensive players that might have been top-five picks, top-seven picks are now in the teens or 20s?

“We can add some really good players to our team, even if we’re not able to take that big swing that I know we’re excited about the possibility of doing, but it’s got to make sense for us and unfortunately another team, as well,” O’Connell added.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell on State of Minnesota’s DT Room

“We really wanted to try to find a couple impactful players in the front, if we could,” O’Connell said. “We made a run at certain guys in free agency, but in the end, between what we were able to add on the edges, and then you really kind of supplement that D-line room with a lot of different skill sets. You’re thinking about a former first-round pick in Jerry Tillery, we bring back Jonathan Bullard. HP (Harrison Phillips) had a great year, probably played a little bit too much for us, and we’d like to bring that snap count down a little bit. J-Roy (Jaquelin Roy) still coming off of what I thought was a productive rookie year, real flashes of production. We’re gonna need to see him kind of take that next step. Really, in that room, the list goes on and on, and then we can’t forget about the draft. I think there’s gonna be some really impactful options potentially there throughout the depth of the draft.”

Why didn’t the Vikings make a trade for L’Jarius Sneed?

That leaves the Vikings’ 2025 third-rounder as the pick that could have gotten the deal done, but their pursuit for a quarterback means that pick may be needed to trade up for a top-five pick in the April NFL Draft.

Yore Mock

Trades

Minnesota Receives: 2024: Round 1, Pick 18; 2024: Round 2, Pick 49

Cincinnati Receives: 2024: Round 1, Pick 11

…

Minnesota Receives: 2024: Round 1, Pick 31; 2024: Round 3, Pick 94; 2024: Round 4, Pick 132

San Francisco Receives: 2024: Round 1, Pick 23; 2024: Round 5, Pick 167

…

Minnesota Receives: 2024: Round 2, Pick 44

Las Vegas Receives: 2024: Round 2, Pick 49; 2024: Round 4, Pick 129

…

18. Dallas Turner EDGE Alabama 6’3” 247

31. Michael Penix Jr. QB Washington 6’2” 216

2024 CFP National Championship - Michigan v Washington

44. Jackson Powers-Johnson IOL Oregon 6’3” 328

94. Jalen McMillan WR Washington 6’1” 197

2023 Pac-12 Championship - Oregon v Washington

108. Braelon Allen RB Wisconsin 6’1” 235

132. Renardo Green CB Florida State 6’0” 186

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 28 Florida State at Wake Forest

157. Justin Eboigbe DL Alabama 6’4” 297

177. Curtis Jacobs LB Penn State 6’1” 241

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: DEC 30 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - Ole Miss vs Penn State

230. Brennan Jackson EDGE Washington State 6’4” 264

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOV 25 Washington State at Washington

232. Joshua Karty K Stanford 6’1.6” 208

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