Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Isn't Giving Up on the Vikings' 2022 Draft Class

Through two seasons, the Vikings' 2022 draft class — their first under GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah — looks like a massive flop. They took ten players that year, including four in the top 70, and all they've really gotten is a mediocre guard and an inconsistent cornerback. But Adofo-Mensah isn't giving up on the class just yet.

The Vikings held the 12th pick in that draft. Instead of taking someone like Jordan Davis or Kyle Hamilton or Trent McDuffie in that spot, they traded back to 32nd and added another premium pick in the process. They selected three defensive players among their four picks from 32 to 66, hoping to bolster their core on that side of the ball. Instead, all three spent their second NFL seasons buried on the depth chart under new coordinator Brian Flores.

First-rounder Lewis Cine has played a grand total of ten defensive snaps in his career. He did suffer a catastrophic leg injury as a rookie, but he was a healthy scratch for most of this year as the Vikings' fifth safety behind Theo Jackson (a sixth-rounder in the same draft). Second-round pick Andrew Booth Jr. has just two career starts while battling various injuries. Third-rounder Brian Asamoah II was a breakout candidate this year, but he played all of 36 defensive snaps while falling behind players like Ivan Pace Jr., Troy Dye, and Anthony Barr on the depth chart at linebacker.

Asked about that class this week, Adofo-Mensah understandably preached patience.

"When you talk about young players, the path isn’t always linear, right? First and foremost, you know that when you study development curves, nobody is peaking in year one, that’s not how it happens," he said. "Also, you know that players — sometimes, it’s year three, five, whatever it is, for different situations and where it’s hard is when you have a player that you have some belief that they could be something in the future, if you bring in a veteran who’s probably better today, you limit that potential for ever seeing it, so it’s that go-between which is difficult."

As Adofo-Mensah mentions, it's a tough situation for the Vikings when young players don't quickly show signs of progress. Even if they believe guys like Cine and Booth and Asamoah still have some upside, the coaching staff isn't going to put them out there for development reasons when they're trying to win games. Cine, for example, happened to be in a loaded safety room this year behind Harrison Smith, Camryn Bynum, Josh Metellus, and Jackson. It's also true that none of the 2022 players were drafted to fit Flores' defense, but you'd like your top picks to be fairly scheme-proof.

"Obviously, who plays is who gives us the best chance to win today, and GMs are probably always willing to take a little more risk today versus the future," Adofo-Mensah said. "All I can say about those two particular players (Cine and Booth) is they work their butts off. They show up. They do all the right things. Everything is different in different situations. Lewis Cine didn’t have a rookie year pretty much. He got the injury and now he comes to learn a new defense with Brian Flores, so I think that has to be considered. Then, Andrew Booth, same thing, learning from a new defense, adjusting to this style of play."

"These guys have shown us nothing but reason to believe they are going to keep on their upward path, wherever that ends up. Ultimately, when you make these decisions, we don’t know that to start, but we have our beliefs, and we're going to adjust where we see fit."

The outlook for some of the other members of the 2022 class isn't quite as bleak. Second-rounder Ed Ingram was one of the worst starting offensive linemen in the league as a rookie, but he took a big step forward by providing league-average play in year two. Fourth-round corner Akayleb Evans started 15 games this year and showed plenty of potential before a brutal three-game finish to the season. His tackling remains a work in progress. Fifth-rounder Ty Chandler, who finished the year as the Vikings' No. 1 running back, sneakily has a chance to be the best player of the bunch if he can improve his blitz pickups.

From a big-picture standpoint, there's no hiding the fact that Adofo-Mensah's first draft class looks like a huge whiff. Still, it's not completely over for those players after two seasons — and it's also worth acknowledging that the Vikings seemingly struck gold with Jordan Addison, Mekhi Blackmon, and Ivan Pace Jr. in 2023.

"At the end of the day, it’s a results business for me, for everybody in this building, and so at some point, we need to just ask those hard questions and see we’re going with those things," Adofo-Mensah said. "But I can tell you this, you believe in those positive sloping lines as long as they show up, do the right thing, are about the right stuff. And a lot of (those guys) are, and we’re going to keep believing in them, but we’re also going to obviously be prepared to improve this roster the best way we see fit."

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