2023 Is a Big Year for Lewis Cine, Andrew Booth, and the Vikings' 2022 Draft Class

At the moment, the Vikings only have five picks in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft. That's the result of several trades, including one that sent their second-rounder to Detroit for tight end T.J. Hockenson. But even though GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would ideally like to have more picks, one thing he thinks will help make up for that lack of volume is a big second season from Minnesota's 2022 draft class.

"I feel like there’s this dynamic now with the draft where it's like every Christmas is a new Christmas and you forgot what you got last year," Adofo-Mensah said on Thursday.

The Vikings selected ten players last year in the first draft of the Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O'Connell era. All ten saw regular season action in their rookie season, even if it was primarily on special teams for some. But overall, it was a disappointing debut campaign for the class, mostly for health reasons.

Lewis Cine, the Vikings' first-round pick, suffered a freak leg injury in Week 4 that ended his season. Second-rounder Andrew Booth Jr. dealt with multiple injuries, including a season-ending knee issue. Fourth-rounder Akayleb Evans showed promise when healthy, but he missed a big chunk of time in the concussion protocol. The Vikings' lone draft pick who started all season, right guard Ed Ingram, led the NFL in pressures allowed.

2023 is a big season for the Vikings' 2022 draft class. Cine, Booth, and Evans will try to stay healthy and carve out big roles. Ingram will look to make a big leap forward. Others like Brian Asamoah, Ty Chandler, and Esezi Otomewo could be in line for bigger roles due to roster changes.

"We've been in the building with a bunch of these guys for a year. We talk a lot about ceiling, but we’ve seen them for a year. We’ve seen their work habits, we’ve seen them move in person. We're really excited about a Lewis Cine, who had his season cut short, or an Akayleb Evans who played snaps, or an Andrew Booth and a Brian Asamoah, Jalen Nailor. There's a lot of people that people don’t really know about that we’re really excited about in this building. So we think about them. They didn’t have to play a lot last year. They're almost part of this draft if you think about it in a sense. Esezi (Otemewo), I don’t want to leave anybody out, Vederian (Lowe) who is in there grinding everyday. Just a lot of guys who we are really excited about."

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all offseason long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.