Vikings GM on Draft's QB Class: 'Multiple Guys We're in Love With'

The Vikings aren't dialed into one single quarterback in this year's draft. They can't be.

In an ideal world, the Vikings would pick the one quarterback that they want, and then they'd simply go draft him, whether with the 11th pick or via a reasonable trade up the board. Unfortunately, that's not how this thing works. There are so many other factors at play that the Vikings have to have multiple quarterbacks that they'll be comfortable selecting when the draft rolls around in two weeks.

The good news is that this is a deep quarterback class with a bunch of different skill sets. Even beyond presumed No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, five other QBs — Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix Jr. — are potential first-round picks. The Vikings have held private workouts with four of those five, and they're headed to Louisiana to do the same with Daniels next week.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said there are multiple quarterbacks in this class that the Vikings are very fond of — and others that they'd be interested in at the right value.

"When you go back to the team element and value, I think there are multiple guys that we are in love with just on our basis," he said. "But there's also other guys that we are in love with given what, if we get them at a certain value, they'd also be able to come with, right? Skill set-wise, if you're talking about the ability to overcome context, well, if the guy's got less ability, but we have assets to go get somebody who is not going to put them in that situation, those things add up, too."

Over the next couple weeks, the Vikings will put the finishing touches on their draft board. They'll have a ranking of all of the quarterbacks and at what ranges of the draft they'd be willing to take them. If they can make a trade — at a cost that they're comfortable with — to go up and get one of their favorites option, they'll do it. Maybe that's Maye or Daniels or McCarthy in the top five.

But they also have to be prepared for every possible scenario. What if the price that other teams are demanding in a trade is higher than what the Vikings are willing to pay? In that case, they may decide that they'd rather hold onto their picks, take Penix or Nix in the 10s or 20s, and have more assets to build around them. As an oversimplified example, which of the following options would you rather have?

• Option 1: Trade Pick 11, Pick 23, and 2025 first-rounder to take J.J. McCarthy at No. 4 overall

• Option 2: Take DT Byron Murphy II at 11, take Bo Nix at 23, and retain next year's first-rounder

It might not be that exact decision, but that's the basis of the choice the Vikings may have to make in a couple weeks, unless McCarthy somehow falls to them at 11. Part of the calculus is that Minnesota's first-rounder next year could potentially be in the top ten, considering they're going to start either Sam Darnold or a rookie at quarterback this year. If they're going to give that asset up, they better really love the QB they're moving up for. Maybe the upside of Maye or Daniels or McCarthy is worth it. Maybe it isn't.

Related: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Discusses Idea of Trading Up for a Quarterback in the Draft

Adofo-Mensah declined to answer when asked how many quarterbacks there are in this draft that he'd be comfortable taking in the first round, saying it might make his phone calls with other teams a bit tougher if he revealed that information. But what's certain is that it's more than just one player.

"A lot of times, evaluators can be a little one-track minded," Adofo-Mensah said. "(They'll say) 'this is the guy and nobody else.’ That's not how it's been. We've really come to appreciate how (these quarterbacks) get to their answers a different way, and I think that's going to serve us well."

Outcomes in the draft are very hard to predict, no matter how much you study a player or how much time you spend with them in the pre-draft process. Teams whiff on quarterbacks all the time, especially after trading up to take them. The Vikings know that. All they can do is trust their evaluations, let the board unfold, and take a swing — at the right value — on finding their quarterback of the future.

One huge thing that gives the Vikings confidence is that they believe whichever quarterback they take will be walking into an ideal situation. Unlike many rookie QBs, they'll be set up to succeed because of the coaches and the players and the environment around them. That doesn't mean it'll happen, but the Vikings are confident that it tilts the odds in their favor.

 
"Just the ability to grow, you know, not having to have everything on their shoulders right away," Adofo-Mensah said. "You can go back, historically, a lot of good quarterbacks typically maybe go later in the draft, go to better teams, better defenses, better running games, better things around them so that they're not asked to win the game on third down as a rookie, which is very hard in this league. But you maybe come in and you play in a run-favored offense and you can throw the ball in favorable situations, different things like that. I think that does matter.

"So that's the interesting part. When you go back and look at some of these historical things and everybody talks about the low hit rates, is that because the player wasn't good or because the situation wasn’t great? And I'm not saying I know the answer to that, but that's something we stress, we argue and go back and forth and we talk about it, and it's true. It really is."

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