2022 Draft - Who do you like outside of Round 1?

Where he wins: Elusiveness
In a class with some seriously shifty wideouts, Moore would be my bet to win if they all played tag. He's not only shifty, but he's also so strong he's unaffected by an outstretch arm. That alleviates some level of competition concerns.

What's his role: YAC Weapon
He's not a guy you want primarily on the outside, but I don't think he's slot-only, either. He can win in a number of ways, but he makes his money when featured in the underneath portion of the field.

What can he Improve: Deep Route Tree
Moore needs some seasoning on the intermediate and deep routes. He can already get free underneath but doesn't bring the same refinement down the field.

SHADES OF
Julian Edelman

What to look for with EDGE rushers at the combine

One of the weirder trends of the 2021 Vikings season was their lack of a consistent pass rush that still resulted in 51 sacks, second-most in the NFL. While they excelled at getting a sack when the opportunity presented itself, they left much to be desired in consistently generating a pass rush. According to ESPN, the Vikings ranked 29th in pass rush win rate at just 34%. And in the run game, the Vikings ranked 31st in run stop win rate at 27%. Play the season over again with those pressure rates, and the sack number is likely much lower.

Whether or not the Vikings keep Danielle Hunter, improving the consistency of the defensive line is a need that will likely be addressed in the NFL draft.

So, what things should we be paying attention to when it comes to defensive linemen at the combine? Marcus Mosher, a USA Today writer on the Raiders and Cowboys, recently compiled a list that looked at the combine numbers from the top-10 EDGE rushers of 2021, according to PFF. It also includes the production during their final college season.



Mosher points out that all of them ran a 4.80 40-yard dash or faster and just one, Rashan Gary, averaged less than one TFL (tackles for loss) per game. And six of the top 10 averaged at least 1.40 TFL per game in their best season.

Conversely, the list of NFL draft picks that averaged less than 0.8 TFL/game in college is relatively unimpressive.



Now I know what you’re thinking. Wow Paul, you just need to draft someone fast with production? That’s some crazy, never-discovered analysis. Just take Myles Garrett, Von Miller, or a Bosa brother in the draft. How easy.

And while that’s fair, not all those successful names were home run picks. Maxx Crosby was a fourth-round pick. NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein projected him as a backup or special teamer in the NFL. Demarcus Lawerence was a second-round pick. TJ Watt was the 30th pick. They are not all top-five picks.

So who could fit the bill this year that will be available? (a la, not Kayvon Thibodeaux or Aiden Hutchinson, both likely top-five picks.) We won’t know for sure until the Combine, but here are a couple of names to keep an eye on.

Cameron Thomas, San Diego State - He’s ranked No. 88 in the latest big board of The Athletic’s Dane Brugler. He compiled 20.5 tackles for loss last year in 14 games (1.46 per game) and will likely run a 40-yard dash right around 4.8.

Arnold Ebiketie, Penn State - He’s ranked No. 34 on Brugler’s big board. He had 18 tackles for loss in 12 games (1.5 per game) and is also projected to run right around a 4.8 in the 40-yard dash.

Jermaine Johnson, Florida State - The 15th ranked prospect by Brugler, Johnson led the ACC in tackles for loss (18) and sacks (12). And according to Pro Football Network, he ran a 4.5 40-yard dash in high school.

Trayvon Walker, Brugler’s sixth-best overall prospect and third-best EDGE prospect, averaged just 0.58 tackles for loss. And while that could just be discounted by the system he played in with Georgia, it’s an interesting stat to monitor. Brugler’s No. 14 prospect, David Ojabo of Michigan, averaged just under one TFL per game as well.

Logan Hall of Houston and George Karlaftis of Purdue are two other names to watch, both averaged just over 1 TFL per game and are expected to run right around a 4.8 in the 40-yd dash.

Looking at IOL

Let’s stick with evaluating in the trenches and have a look at arguably the Vikings’ biggest need, interior offensive line. Minnesota has struggled to find passable interior offensive line play and has not invested the resources in the unit for the better part of a decade. That could change with Kwesi-Adofo Mensah’s arrival. In his short time with Cleveland, the Browns handed out massive extensions to both starting guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller. They also had a solid center in JC Tretter, who got a three-year, $32.5 million contract in 2019.

A recent string of articles on PFF have looked at clustering the top draft picks in each position, evaluating them on the scheme they ran in college and the production they got from it. Most recently, they looked at the top 10 interior offensive linemen and categorized the scheme they ran and how they did in that scheme.

Here are some names to keep an eye on…

Tyler Linderbaum, Iowa - Linderbaum may be gone before the Vikings pick in the first round, but he fits in a zone-run scheme, which is what Sean McVay offenses have typically run. He was also categorized first and foremost as a strong-pass blocker.

Dylan Parham, Memphis - A projected third-round pick, according to PFF, Parham also operated in a zone-run scheme and was classified as a strong all-around blocker. He has experience at both guard spots and was among the most efficient pass blockers in 2021.

If the Vikings target prospects with a zone-run background, Texas A&M’s Kenyon Green and Ohio State’s Thayer Munford could also fit. Boston College’s Alec Lindstrom could also be a late-round offensive lineman to pay attention to. He was in an RPO-heavy scheme, which normally hinders pass blocking in the NFL. So it would likely take him some time to transition.