Vikings Select Standout Senior Bowl CB in The Ringer's New NFL Mock Draft

Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was maybe the single biggest winner of this year's Senior Bowl, raising his draft stock with a dominant week of practices. Assuming he tests well at the combine, he's going to be firmly in the CB1 mix alongside players like Clemson's Nate Wiggins and Alabama's Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry.

In a new mock draft from The Ringer's Ben Solak, the Vikings use the 11th overall pick to make Mitchell not only the first cornerback taken, but the first defensive player off the board after ten straight offensive selections.

I see a clear CB1 in Quinyon Mitchell, despite his small-school pedigree. His ability was on film in the MAC and in the Senior Bowl practices against top competition. Mitchell can play man either up at the line or off the ball, he can bait throws and feel routes in zone, and he has the blend of movement skills and size to account for a variety of body types at receiver. I think he’s Greg Newsome II, and I like him better than either of the Alabama corners in this class.

Could Mitchell really be the first defensive player taken in the entire draft, over all the other corners and the top-tier edge rushers? It's not as crazy as it would've sounded a month ago. That's how impressive he was in Mobile. The biggest question mark in his evaluation was how he'd hold up against better competition, and he passed that test with flying colors.

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Mitchell's Senior Bowl performance backed up what he put on tape at Toledo over the past few years. In just the last two seasons, he racked up six interceptions (two of them returned for touchdowns), 37 total pass breakups, and 5.5 tackles for loss. He was absolutely dominant in the MAC, using his elite athleticism and ball skills to make play after play. Mitchell profiles as a true CB1 with his ability to play sticky man coverage, anticipate in zone, and come up to defend the run.

The fit makes a lot of sense. Brian Flores and the Vikings need a great cornerback to maximize their scheme, and they had assistant coaches Daronte Jones and Michael Hutchings working closely with Mitchell during those three days in Mobile. If they fall in love with him as a prospect, they could absolutely make him the guy at No. 11.

Of course, that would mean not taking a quarterback there, but the usual QBs went 1-2-3 in this mock and J.J. McCarthy went eighth to the Falcons. In that situation, the Vikings could take their top defensive player at 11 and maybe look to add Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. later on.

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