Ex-NFL GM: Vikings possibly 'collecting data' before big draft trade
Are the Vikings still gathering data before they make their big move into the top four of the NFL Draft? That’s what one former general manager thinks.
Minnesota acquired the No. 23 pick Friday from the Houston Texans, which led to immediately speculation that they were planning to package 23 and No. 11 (their own pick) to move up in the draft and take a quarterback.
“I think Minnesota is still in the collecting data point, where they’re still trying to go through all of these quarterbacks and decide, ‘Which one do we want? Where do we need to go to get them,'" said Lombardi on Tuesday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show.
It was reported Monday that the Vikings are sending a big contingent of personnel to Michigan Friday for J.J. McCarthy's pro day. They also have a private workout with McCarthy next week, according to SI's Albert Breer.
Mock drafts have also recently trended towards having the Vikings pick quarterbacks as opposed to taking a defensive player with the No. 11 pick. Mel Kiper Jr. and Daniel Jeremiah both predict McCarthy to the Vikings in the first round of the draft.
“I think Minnesota has had a really good offseason," Lombardi continued. "I think there’s more to come from Minnesota on what they’re going to do. I think they’ve reconfigured their team defensively. I think they’ve improved. And I think if they get this quarterback on their team, whichever one they like to go with Kevin O’Connell, they have the chance to close that gap that Green Bay and Detroit have kind of put in place."
Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah watch quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
