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LSU QB Jayden Daniels Goes 11th to Vikings in The Athletic's Mock Draft

Could Daniels fall to the Vikings without them needing to trade up for him?
Will Ragatz|
LSU QB Jayden Daniels Goes 11th to Vikings in The Athletic's Mock Draft
LSU QB Jayden Daniels Goes 11th to Vikings in The Athletic's Mock Draft

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Minnesota Vikings

Heisman-winning LSU quarterback falls to the Vikings with the 11th pick in a recent 2024 mock draft from The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner.

It’s possible Daniels comes off the board in the top 10 (maybe even in the top three). This is more in line with where I’d place the Heisman winner in the stack, though, and Minnesota needs new life at the QB position. Daniels has played a lot of ball (55 games), but the 23-year-old still has room to develop and would be great with Justin Jefferson.

As the author mentions, this is lower than you'll typically see Daniels going in mocks. If he doesn't go third to the Patriots, he usually doesn't fall past the Giants at 6 or the Falcons at 8. 

This was the top ten in Baumgardner's mock:

  1. Falcons (trade with Bears): Caleb Williams, QB, USC
  2. Commanders: Drake Maye, QB, UNC
  3. Patriots: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
  4. Cardinals: Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State
  5. Chargers: Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
  6. Giants: Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
  7. Titans: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
  8. Bears (trade with Falcons): Keon Coleman, WR Florida State
  9. Bears: Dallas Turner, EDGE, Alabama
  10. Jets: JC Latham, OT, Alabama

That's how Daniels falls to the Vikings at 11. If that were to happen, you'd have to figure Kevin O'Connell and Minnesota would be all over that pick. Daniels had a superb season for LSU as an elite dual-threat QB, racking up 50 total touchdowns and nearly 5,000 total yards.

Realistically, it would be surprising if Daniels makes it that far. It's entirely possible he goes third to New England after Williams and Maye. If the Patriots take Harrison, who's going to throw him the ball? If Daniels makes it out of the top three, the Vikings might have to trade up to 4 or 5 to get in front of the Giants and Falcons.

Buckle in, folks. Four months of draft season has begun.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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