Anonymous NFL Execs Weigh in on Vikings' Draft
Courtesy of articles at ESPN and The Athletic, we can get a glimpse into what some NFL executives thought of the Vikings' recent draft class.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Vikings surprised people around the league with their trade up from 23 to 17 for Dallas Turner, which cost them a third-rounder, a fourth-rounder, and a fifth-rounder to pull off. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah famously traded back from 12 to 32 in his first draft as the Vikings' GM, which made sense given his analytics background. He also traded back from 34 to 53 in that draft; six of the Vikings' nine trades over the 2022 and '23 drafts saw them move down the board. Thus, it was fascinating to see Adofo-Mensah make such a bold move up to get Turner this year.
"I had to think twice because I had him pegged as a volume guy when it came to draft picks," said an AFC executive whose team had correspondence with the Vikings on draft week. "It looks like he's shifted his thinking to where, the reality is it's hard to win without players you can build around."
It does seem like this draft represented a change in approach for the Vikings. Trading down and accumulating more picks has proven to be a beneficial strategy in the NFL, but the league is still about difference-making players. Lewis Cine, who was the pick at 32 a couple years ago, turned into a major bust, while two defensive backs the Vikings passed on at 12 — Kyle Hamilton and Trent McDuffie — were first team All-Pros last year. The Vikings believe Turner, who was projected to go earlier than 17, has a chance to become a star.
Nonetheless, not everyone was a fan of the price the Vikings paid to move up for a non-quarterback. Some execs "questioned Minnesota's process," according to The Athletic's Mike Sando.
“I can buy trading some future picks if you are going to be contending and you are going to get a potential starter,” one exec said. “But the Vikings are not even close to contending. What they did, or even what the Bears did in giving up a (2025) fourth (for a fifth this year), I would not be doing that if I were those teams.”
Sando's pieces notes that the Vikings are the only team in the NFL who has traded away three picks in next year's draft. They currently have just their first-rounder, a projected third-round comp pick, and two fifths in 2025. One exec who spoke to Sando wondered if the Texans' success in trading up for Will Anderson Jr. last year factored into Adofo-Mensah's thinking.
"Kwesi had the capital to move up for a quarterback if he needed it, and then he read the room right to know he could get J.J. without mortgaging a future first-round pick,” another exec said. “On the second trade, to get Dallas Turner, they paid a lot, but because Houston gave up so much for Will Anderson last year, I could see Kwesi saying, ‘Well, if we feel Dallas Turner is a Will Anderson type, let’s go up and get him.'”
“They got younger, cheaper and healthier with more upside,” an exec said. “It is hard to argue against that.”
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WILL RAGATZ
Will Ragatz is the publisher of Inside the Vikings, an SI.com channel in the Fan Nation network. He's in his fourth season as a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat writer, covering the team at practices, games, and all offseason long. Will posts daily Vikings articles year-round. Not only is he on top of all the latest news, he provides the analysis and context to put the news into perspective. He knows the team inside and out, which allows him to bring depth and quality to his coverage. From free agency to the draft to training camp and the NFL season, Will covers every relevant story surrounding the Vikings. Prior to taking this role in 2019, Will attended Northwestern University and studied at the renowned Medill School of Journalism. As a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball, among other sports, for SB Nation's Inside NU. Will was a co-editor-in-chief of the site during his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned at Sports Illustrated's newsroom in New York City, writing articles primarily on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com. A native of Minneapolis who still resides in the city, Will grew up a diehard Minnesota sports fan. He played baseball at Southwest High School and wrote for the student newspaper.