We are, officially, well into what the kids might call “Mock Draft Szn” with the start of the new league year right around the corner. While most mock drafts go for a round or two, one writer from The Draft Network has projected a full seven rounds worth of selections to the Minnesota Vikings. What does it have? Well, I think it’s a pretty accurate reflection of what we’re going to see this April, as it’s heavy on the defensive side of the ball.
Ryan Fowler’s seven-round Vikings’ mock has the purple using their first pick to address the offense with the selection of USC guard Alijah Vera-Tucker. After that, however, it’s mostly attempting to add to the Vikings’ defense, as eight of their eleven other selections go to the defensive side of the football.
In looking at Fowler’s draft, the pick that intrigues me the most comes way down in the fourth round with the selection of Stanford offensive tackle Walker Little. Going into the 2019 season, Little was a guy that was being talked about as a potential first-round selection, but suffered a significant knee injury in the first quarter of Stanford’s season opener that caused him to miss the rest of the season. Little then opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns over COVID-19, meaning that it will have been about two calendar years since his last game action by the time the 2021 NFL season starts.
I’m not totally sure that Little would make it all the way to the fourth round of the draft, but if he did he would be the sort of guy that the Vikings could try to develop into a new blindside protector for Kirk Cousins (or, you know, whoever is at quarterback here in the near future). There are a couple of other interesting picks in Fowler’s mock as well, but the Little selection was the one that really caught my eye. It’s one of those selections that could end up being pretty spectacular if it worked out as well as it could.
What do you think of Ryan Fowler’s seven-round mock for the Vikings, folks?