What we're watching for at the NFL Combine
INDIANAPOLIS — Welcome to NFL Combine week, where the entire NFL converges on the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium to evaluate prospects, meet with agents and talk with the media about their offseason plans.
In years past we have seen a mixed bag from the Minnesota Vikings, from Mike Zimmer revealing his concerns about the team’s quarterback situation in 2018 to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah explaining his feelings on draft randomness and trading down last year. This time around the Vikings find themselves in the unique position of trotting into Indy with their head held high after a 13-win season but many, many decisions to be made in the coming weeks.
With that said, let’s dive into what we’ll be looking for from the coming week in Indy through a Vikings lens…
Hints about the Vikings’ future
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Monday that the Vikings are not likely to sign Kirk Cousins to a one-year contract extension. That leaves the options as either playing out his present deal, which runs through 2023, or a long-term contract. We can’t expect the Vikings’ brass to roll out their big plans at quarterback but there may be hints about whether a long-term contract is realistic.
Beyond Cousins’ situation, the Vikings have a number of other players whose futures are yet to be determined. In particular, they moved back the date in which Dalvin Tomlinson’s $7.5 million dead cap hit kicks in, giving them more time to potentially negotiate a long term extension.
Dalvin Cook’s agent has been sending out annoyed social media messages about his lack of involvement in the offense. Does that mean that the end is near for the veteran running back?
Adam Thielen told Radio Row media at the Super Bowl that the Vikings and his representation could try to work something out with his contract.
Za’Darius Smith put his house in Minnesota up for sale, according to the Star Tribune. With his contract potentially creating significant cap space if he’s let go, will they consider working on a new deal, letting him play it out or moving on?
No rumors have surfaced about the team’s plans for Harrison Smith or Danielle Hunter.
All of these micro decisions tie into a macro theme of the next two weeks: The timeline. Adofo-Mensah has held onto the idea of the “competitive rebuild” but the choice of whether they move on from those veterans or hang onto them will tell us which side of the competitive rebuild they stand.
Again, we won’t get all the answers in Indy but comments from Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell should shed light on their thought process heading into the part of the offseason that will determine their direction.
Buzz about quarterback landing spots
NFL Network is reporting that Derek Carr will be in Indy to meet with teams, which indicates we could have a decision soon on where he will be playing quarterback next season. Carr and Aaron Rodgers will need to be the first dominos to fall before teams can officially chart their paths at quarterback.
As we head into Indy, it’s hard to say whether Kirk Cousins is a part of the QB carousel or not but the decisions of Carr and Rodgers will have a major impact on the Vikings. Rodgers deciding whether to stay or leave Green Bay has pretty obvious implications but Carr choosing between AFC or NFC destinations could make the AFC even tougher with quality QBs or improve the quality of competition in the NFC.
The list of teams that are legitimately chasing quarterbacks in the draft is unclear at the moment as well, including the Chicago Bears, who have yet to commit to Justin Fields (not that a verbal commitment always means something, ahem, Josh Rosen). Will one of the quarterbacks blow away the field in Indy and convince someone to put together a massive trade haul? Would someone like the Panthers throw together a huge bevy of picks to move way up to get the No. 1 pick? Will we walk out of Indy with the belief being that four QBs are being taken in the top 10 or will someone hurt their stock?
Again, we won’t know everything at the end of this week but there will be a larger sample of information, particularly with the QBs outside of Bryce Young participating.
How the cornerbacks shake out
If you look at five draft analysts’ lists of prospective cornerbacks you are likely to have five different orders of the top cornerbacks. This is particularly relevant to the Vikings with Brian Flores in command of the defense.
PFF’s list has Devon Witherspoon (Illinois), Christian Gonzalez (Oregon) Joey Porter Jr. (Penn State) and Deonte Banks (Maryland) as top 32 prospects. SI.com includes Kelee Ringo (Georgia), Cam Smith (South Carolina) and Emmanuel Forbes (Miss St.).
If there is any position that is influenced most by the NFL Combine, it’s corner. Physical measurements in both length and speed have benchmarks that must be reached in order to comfortably project success. We may see some players simply not be lanky or athletic enough to fit the bill, particularly for the Vikings who will be looking for man-to-man shutdown types who can stay with the NFL’s best receivers.
Anthony Richardson and “developmental” quarterbacks
The fact that Richardson is electing to compete in all of the events at the Combine is pretty telling. He believes that showing off his physical prowess will encourage teams to move him up their draft boards based on his potential upside. Richardson’s numbers are sure to wow but his biggest moment will come in the throwing portion of the week, where he has an opportunity to show teams that his passing statistics were a mirage in comparison to his raw talent. Of course, that can backfire as well. If he doesn’t throw well or doesn’t score as highly as expected, it might have a negative effect on his stock.
The Vikings appear to be pretty far out of the Richardson conversation with the 23rd overall pick but we should always keep in mind that nobody expected Lamar Jackson to drop as far as he did in 2018 or Malik Willis to be a third-round pick. Will we walk out of Indy thinking there’s a chance he’s the one who falls out of the top 10 or that he’s a no-doubt top pick?
There are two other QBs outside of Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson who have snuck into the conversation as potential high picks: Tanner McKee and Hendon Hooker. Unfortunately Hooker tore his ACL late in the season so we won’t see him work out in Indy but he will be there meeting with teams. McKee has a chance to show clubs that he’s more than another “traditional” quarterback.
Others who are looking to improve their stock include: Malik Cunningham (Louisville), Jaren Hall (BYU), Aidan O’Connell (Purdue), Max Duggan (TCU), Clayton Tune (Houston), Stetson Bennett (Georgia), Jake Haener (Fresno State) and Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA).
Freaks emerging
Every year somebody shows up to Indy and changes the entire draft board. Last year that was both Trevon Walker and Jordan Davis, who blew away the field when it came to the workouts. That’s not always a good thing as John Ross once ran a 4.2 40-yard dash and landed a first-round spot and failed to thrive in the NFL. Who will it be this week?
USA Today’s article analyzing that very question name dropped a few wide receivers that might be intriguing to the Vikings: Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee) and Nathaniel Dell (Houston). Even if Thielen returns, there has to be some consideration of adding a future WR2 to support Justin Jefferson. Right now the receiver class is not considered strong. Will that still be the case when teams fly out of Indy?
