2022 NFL Draft: Georgia Defensive Tackle Devonte Wyatt Visits Vikings

Former Georgia defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, a projected late first-round pick, visited the Vikings at TCO Performance Center on Sunday, per his Instagram story.

Georgia three-tech DT Devonte Wyatt, a projected first-round pick, visited the #Vikings yesterday. pic.twitter.com/BG92HyO0Ph
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) April 11, 2022

Wyatt is the top prospect who has had a confirmed visit with the Vikings so far. Most of the players they've hosted have been projected Day 2 picks, Day 3 picks, or UDFAs, but Wyatt is a legitimate first-round talent. He's an incredibly dynamic athlete who was a huge piece of Georgia's dominant, championship-winning defense.

The Vikings having Wyatt in for a pre-draft visit is interesting for a few different reasons. If they want to go all in on making the defensive front the strength of the team, he would be perhaps the perfect piece to complete the puzzle there. Wyatt is a penetrating three-technique who would bring a ton of explosiveness and talent to the defensive line as a 3-4 DE. He can also play some nose tackle, but with the Vikings having Harrison Phillips and Dalvin Tomlinson, Wyatt would be able to focus on getting into the backfield and making plays.

With that said, he probably isn't getting picked at No. 12 overall. Stranger things have happened, and we don't know exactly how the NFL will view certain players, but most projections have Wyatt coming off the board somewhere in the late teens or 20s. Does the Vikings looking into Wyatt indicate that they're considering trading down in the first round? For a team that doesn't have a fourth-round pick, trading down could make a lot of sense if Kayvon Thibodeaux, Sauce Gardner, Kyle Hamilton, and Derek Stingley Jr. are all off the board at 12.

Instead of staying put at 12 in that scenario and taking someone like Trent McDuffie or Jermaine Johnson, Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could see if a team like the Chargers, Saints, or Steelers wanted to come up for a quarterback or an offensive tackle. Then, in that 17-20 range (or even later), the Vikings could likely land Wyatt while also having accumulated additional draft capital.

His fellow Georgia defensive linemen Travon Walker and Jordan Davis are the household names, but Wyatt has a chance to be just as good. His combination of size, speed, and a constant motor makes him someone offenses always have to account for. The 2021 first-team All-SEC pick is the No. 1 interior DL (ahead of Davis) and the No. 23 overall player in this year's class, according to The Athletic's Dane Brugler.

With his athletic traits, Wyatt can win in different ways off the ball, displaying initial quickness, lateral range and chase down speed. In the run game, he understands how to leverage gaps and find the ball carrier, although he would benefit from becoming a better finisher. Overall, Wyatt needs to play with better control and play recognition, but he fires off the ball and competes with the speed and effort to make an impact on all three downs. Wyatt has NFL starting skills and is the best three-technique tackle in this draft class.

Just look at Wyatt's athletic profile. Running a 4.77 40 at 304 pounds is not normal.

Adding Wyatt to a defensive front that includes Phillips, Tomlinson, Za'Darius Smith, and Danielle Hunter would give the Vikings a full complement of pass-rushing weapons. If they were to trade back and take him, they could still address the secondary on Day 2 and continue to add pieces across the board on Day 3.

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