Who might be available in Round 1 - 2022

If you ask me, pass the SAUCE

There will probably be a run on QBs with teams trading up to get one. If that happens it will allow a top DEcto drop to us and I would take them.

If there isn’t a run and Pickett is on the board then grab him. I would draft a DE, CB and LB in the first three rounds unless a player too good to pass up is available. Then next year draft interior DL and LB

MidwinterViking - good table/presentation. I do have a couple quick observations:

- Doesn't the Tankathon website do the same thing? They gather a whole bunch of mock drafts and Big Boards across the 'Net and update their consensus Big Board every so often? Here's a link to their current Big Board - link. @aussie61 typically creates and maintains a thread in the Draft/College subforum on the Tankathon Consensus Big Board, too.

- I'm starting to see some of the "sure fire" 1st Rd picks fall. For example, the tape on NC Sate IOL prospect Ikem Ekwonu isn't as great as some made it out to be (some are getting enamored by a few brutal pancake blocks) and I've seen questions on his athleticism, which we'll all how good it is/isn't at The Combine. I remember another IOL prospect in last year's Draft that was often mocked in Rd 1 because he was touted as a "physical and violent blocker", similar to Ekwonu; his name? Wyatt Davis...and look how far he fell and what happened his rookie year w/ the Vikes.

- I'm still of the mindset that there are very few "blue-chip" prospects in this Draft; it's Hutchinson, Thibodeaux, Neal & Hamilton and that's it. Everyone below them in Rd 1 - even Stingley Jr whom I'm not sold on as much as the media is - has more "project" in them than you'd like in the early/middle of Rd 1. Take Karlaftis and Ojabo for instance; both probably won't contribute much in Yr 1 in a starter capacity and need refinement from NFL DL coaches and they being projected within the Top 15 - a spot you'd like to get a Year 1 contributor. I suspect you'll see a shift after the Senior Bowl and Combine where some of the Rd 1 CB's move up and Ekwonu, Karlaftis and perhaps Linderbaum move down a bit.


I wrote a whole "story" thread on how successful/unsuccessful I was last year; I predicted a trade down in the 20's in Rd 1, a QB and LB in the 3rd (which happened), as well as drafting Kene (nevermind I predicted he'd go in the 6th, not the 4th). Also, a few coworkers at my office do a Round 1 betting pool that I partake in where you get scaled pts for how close you "hit" on when players are drafted.


I seem to be in the minority on this but after Hutchinson and Thibodeaux, I'm not a fan of the Rd 1 DE prospects - relative to the DE prospects in Rd 2/3; I just don't feel they are that much better than what DE prospects are projected to be available on Day 2 or late Rd 1. I'd take the DE's who went at the end of Rd 1 in 2021 (Rousseau, Oweh & Tryon) vs Karlaftis or Ojabo within the Top 15 this year.

I'd also put CB at a strength in Rd 1 and in fact, I think the entire DB class (including S's) is relatively deep.

To me at this time it is either Linderbaum or a defensive back. It could be we take someone else, but if you do take a QB, you are either trading Cousins or writing off this year.

IF we were to go QB, Im very intrigued by two names and thats Willis and Strong. With the right Offensive mind at the helm I think these two guys could end up turning into something special.

...and speaking of "on the radar of the Vikings", I personally feel one of the more exciting things about the current regime change the team is in is that you don't know how things will play out in the offseason. With Rick and Zimmer, after the first few years you had a solid idea of what sort of prospects they were looking at and what they would try and do in free agency...but with a regime change, it's anyone's guess as to which direction the Vikings could go and which prospects/free agents are really on their radar or not.

I do watch a bunch of college football and I've already developed some strong opinions on certain players (as you can see by my opinions of the 1st Rd DE/EDGE prospects beyond Hutchinson & Thibodeaux)...and what stuck out to me on the table was the wording in the far right column beyond the Top 5, "You Can Dream". Last year that held true as there was a mad scramble within the Top 5 to get the QB's, which pushed some position players further down the Top 10 and slightly beyond the Top 10....and certainly the Vikings (and most fans) "dreamed" of drafting the 2nd best OT prospect, Rashawn Slater. But I don't personally believe the 2022 Class has those "dreamboat" prospects in the #6-#10 spots, so when talking about acquiring "guys who can play", some of the prospects (at certain positions) at the bottom end of Rd 1 and into Day 2 aren't that different from the prospects within the Top 15...

...so why stay at #12 and only get 1 guy in Round 1 who can play if you can trade down a bit and acquire more Day 2 picks who aren't that different in terms of their ability to play - and get more shots at guys "who can play"? That's where the "value" of those early draft picks comes into the equation a bit more.