2023 Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database, v4.0

A bit of a shift is starting

It’s time for us to update our Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database for this week, as we’re now approximately five weeks away from the 2023 NFL Draft getting underway in Kansas City.

We’re up to 60 mocks for this week, and while it isn’t a seismic shift or anything, we’re starting to see the effects of free agency on where the Really Smart Football People™ think the Minnesota Vikings are going to spend their picks when April’s selection meeting comes around. When next week’s Database comes around, I’d expect to see a little more of a change.

It was a slow week for mocks around the interwebs, as I could only get updates and/or replacements for just over half of the mocks for this week. That’s another reason I’m expecting a more significant change next week.

With that, here are the 60 mocks that make up our Database for this week. As always, drafts that feature the Vikings making a trade are shown in italics.

The following players are new additions to our Database this week:

• Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee

The following players dropped out of our Database this week:

• Nolan Smith, Edge, Georgia (second time dropping out)
• Mazi Smith, DL, Michigan

The following players returned to our Database this week:

• Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Mississippi State
• Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois
• Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas

The cornerbacks continue to lead the way in our Database, but the gap between them and the wide receivers is closing. Corners got 25 of the 60 selections in our Database this week, with Deonte Banks out of Maryland continuing to lead the way. His 10 selections this week made him the only player at any position to reach double figures.

Cam Smith of South Carolina finds himself in second place this week with six selections, which Georgia’s Kelee Ringo appears four times. After completely dropping out next week, Mississippi State corner Emmanuel Forbes is back with a pair of selections, while Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr., Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon, and Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez wound up with one selection each this week.

As mentioned, the wide receiver position is becoming a more popular one for the Vikings since the start of free agency, as they’ve received 15 selections in this week’s Database. Southern Cal star Jordan Addison is leading the way there, picking up five selections this week. He’s closely followed by Zay Flowers out of Boston College with four selections. Three other wide receivers find themselves with two selections each this week. They are Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt, Josh Downs of North Carolina, and Quentin Johnson out of Texas Christian.

Edge defenders have settled into third place this week with eight selections, divided among three different players. Myles Murphy from Clemson maintained the four selections he had last week, while Georgia Tech’s Keion White and Iowa’s Lukas van Ness each found themselves mocked to the Vikings twice this week.

There are also three players representing the interior defensive line this week, totalling five selections. Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and Clemson’s Bryan Breese each garnered two selections, while Northwestern’s Adetomiwa Adebawore held on with one selection this week.

Off-ball linebackers found themselves with a total of four selections this week. Trenton Simpson out of Clemson continues to lead the way there with two selections, while Iowa’s Jack Campbell and Drew Sanders of Arkansas had one selection each this week.

Alabama star Brian Branch continues to hold things down for the safety position with two selections. And, yes, one brave soul once again has the Vikings drafting a quarterback at #24 overall, as Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker makes his debut in the Database this week.

On to our graphics for this week, starting with the Donut Graph where things are getting a little crowded. The donut is just the picks for this week, but the fact that there are this many names at this point is pretty impressive. As always, for embiggening purposes, you may click on the picture to make it easier to read.

And to finish things off, we have our “Jell-o salad” trends graph for this week, showing how players have risen and fallen throughout this process. The red area (receivers) hasn’t overtaken the purple area (cornerbacks) yet, but things might be starting to trend that way.

That’s our Mock Draft Database for your Minnesota Vikings for this week, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll be back next weekend with another update and, hopefully, more of an idea of how free agency is changing the draft outlook for the purple.