What NFL execs thought of the Vikings’ draft

In an article by The Athletic, NFL executives expressed skepticism about whether the Vikings' new GM got good value in his draft-day trades.

Author:
Paul Hodowanic of Purple Insider
Publish date:
May 10, 2022 8:52 AM EDT

Photos courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

In an article by The Athletic, NFL executives expressed skepticism about whether the Vikings' new GM got good value in his draft-day trades.

The Athletic’s Mike Sando got the unfiltered perspective of executives and evaluators inside the NFL (by granting them anonymity). Sando does this every year with his QB tiers list, which is always a must-read. This is another one.

So what did they say about the Vikings? Largely, the NFL seems skeptical about Kewsi Adofo-Mensah’s first draft, especially his trades.

Here’s one exec’s perspective: “It looked like they were just trading to trade. They got some picks. Maybe it worked out. I don’t know. Interesting situation.”

And another: “I get that, in his mind, you compare and contrast the two scenarios and in his mind, he liked the other scenario better,” an exec said. “But you set a precedent for future trades. They already know you are an analytics guy, so you are probably going to want to trade down, and then with your first trade, you go pretty far from the traditional point system, so it sets the tone. Maybe our first offer will always be lower because we know it is Kwesi and he will want to trade down.”

Everyone from fans to analytics experts have argued over whether or not the Vikings recouped enough value. Some analytical based trade charts said they did, the famed Jimmy Johnson chart said they didn’t. Now we know the same debates are happening inside NFL buildings.

Here’s another excerpt: “Another exec wondered why the rush to bail from No. 12 if what everyone had been saying about the draft was true, that it featured 14-16 players with first-round grades, and then another 40-60 players who were graded more evenly.”

Did the Vikings pass up several blue-chip pieces hoping they could string together enough good moves? Will passing on Jameson Williams, Kyle Hamilton and Jordan Davis haunt them? Or will they flame out and show Adofo-Mensah’s trade-back strategy was correct? We won't really know for years to come.

The main takeaway from these quotes is that nobody knows what to think but there’s clearly some Adofo-Mensah skeptics in the league.