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Why the Vikings Chose Two Big Ten Stars in Fan Nation's Mock Draft
The Vikings grab their quarterback of the future and an impact defensive tackle in this mock.
Fan Nation's NFL publishers recently conducted our annual mock draft, which you can find here. For this exercise, we withheld from making trades, so I was tasked with making the Vikings' selections at 11 and 23. And I must say, I'm pretty pleased with how things played out and who I picked.
Here are the Vikings' picks and the blurbs I wrote for the article on SI. I'll dive into some further explanation afterwards.
11. Minnesota Vikings | J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan
In the real world, McCarthy probably doesn’t fall this far. But in a mock draft with no trades, he just had to make it past the Giants to get here. The Vikings would be thrilled to land McCarthy without giving up any extra draft assets. He has the athleticism, arm talent and toughness to be Minnesota’s quarterback of the future, even if he sits behind Sam Darnold to start his rookie season.
23. Minnesota Vikings | Johnny Newton, DT, Illinois
The Vikings have several needs on defense, but they could really use a defensive tackle to create pressure in the middle of Brian Flores’s defensive line. Newton, who had 13 sacks and 22.5 total tackles for loss over the past two seasons, fits the bill. At 6'1, 300 pounds, he has a quick get-off and plenty of power in his hands. Newton should start right away for the Vikings alongside nose tackle Harrison Phillips.
Why I made these picks
Like I said, I don't think McCarthy is likely to make it to the Vikings' 11th pick. The Giants are a threat to take him in the top six, even if GM Joe Schoen isn't publicly acting like it. The Broncos at 12 and the Raiders at 13 would also be candidates to trade up and jump ahead of the Vikings for McCarthy. But in this scenario, he made it to me, and I metaphorically sprinted to turn in the card. I'm very high on McCarthy's upside if he ends up in Minnesota, which is an incredibly good landing spot for a rookie quarterback.
One thing the Vikings are undoubtedly pondering is whether or not they need to go all the way up to the Cardinals' No. 4 pick to get McCarthy, assuming he doesn't sneak into the top three. Could they be patient and hope the Cardinals, Chargers, and Giants all take wide receivers or offensive tackles? That would perhaps allow the Vikings to move up a bit at a lesser cost. But would waiting be too risky, knowing the Giants are a mystery and the Broncos or Raiders could move up and pounce? Probably. It was interesting to see our Denver representative take Bo Nix at No. 12 in this mock.
As for my pick at 23, I was a bit disappointed when Texas DT Byron Murphy II went off the board just two picks before me at 21 (Dolphins). Nonetheless, I was excited to add Newton, who fits the Vikings' most pressing need and has all kinds of ability as an interior pass rusher. He's not the biggest DT and he didn't do any athletic testing in the pre-draft process due to a foot injury, but Newton is simply a very good football player. How fun would it be to watch him wreak havoc in Flores' defense?
To be clear, although I'm a Minnesota native and Northwestern alum who watches a ton of Big Ten football, I didn't come into this planning to take two players from the conference. It just happened to work out that way.
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