On the latest episode of The Real Forno Show, host Tyler Forness does a 7 round mock draft for the Minnesota Vikings and breaks it down.
The Minnesota Vikings continue to be at a crossroads for their future. It’s something that has been discussed far too often over the last few weeks and will continue to be talked about until both free agency and the NFL draft pass.
Is defense going to be the priority in free agency, the draft or both?
We start the process of answering those questions with our first mock draft simulation of the 2024 NFL draft cycle. The purpose of these simulations is to explore different ideas. There is no specific path that is necessarily better than another but we will use these simulations to explore them all.
The Minnesota Vikings find their next franchise quarterback in the most recent mock draft from The Draft Network
With the Reese’s Senior Bowl having come and gone, NFL draft season is officially underway. That means we will get a ton of mock drafts with different directions that teams like the Minnesota Vikings can go. For this one, The Draft Network’s Keith Sanchez dropped his post-Senior Bowl mock draft, which had Minnesota finding their next franchise quarterback.
With the 11th pick, Sanchez had the Vikings choose Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
At the Senior Bowl, Michael Penix Jr. showed that he can work under center and that’s exactly what the Vikings’ front office needed to see. In Minnesota, Penix Jr. would have two high-level weapons to throw the ball to along with one of the best play-callers in the NFL.
In Tyler Forness’ most recent mock draft roundup, Penix was shown to be the quarterback most pundits in the sports media world would take for the Vikings.
Penix had a season to remember in Washington’s final year in the Pac-12, throwing for just under 5,000 yards (4,903) with 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Penix didn’t participate in the Senior Bowl game but was the best quarterback in the practices leading up to it.
If the Vikings decide not to resign Kirk Cousins, this could be the route the front office takes to start the next era of football in Minnesota.
While the top quarterbacks come off the board quickly, it’s the cornerback position that dominates this first round mock draft, with 7 coming off the board in total.
The Super Bowl finally comes our way on Sunday, and with it the 2023 NFL season comes to an end. It’s a bittersweet moment, but it also means the official start to NFL draft season for many.
While many within the community have been doing work on the draft for months, this is when the rest of the NFL world begins to really pay attention to the draft and starts thinking about next season.
The final piece of the NFL draft puzzle will fall into place on Sunday, as the final two spots in the first round become solidified with the Super Bowl result. With that, the next big piece of the puzzle comes in a couple of weeks with the NFL Scouting Combine. That’s when both teams and the media get to see what sort of athletic testing numbers these prospects put up.
Those numbers, for better or worse, will have a major impact on a lot of NFL draft stocks, and the mock drafts from there on out could look wildly different than they do right now. So with that as our framework, let’s take another stab at the first round as things stand today.
The Minnesota Vikings are in a position to take a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. After the Senior Bowl, who is the best option at QB? Purple Daily discusses
The Minnesota Vikings are going to be in the quarterback market this offseason and it likely won’t be Kirk Cousins. Yes, there is still a chance that Cousins returns to the Vikings but it feels unlikely right now.
With that being said, getting the quarterback of the future is extremely important. Purple Daily brought on Vikings Wire’s managing editor Tyler Forness to discuss the quarterback class and how they did at the Senior Bowl.
Where is Bo Nix at? Did he perform well in Mobile?
In his first mock draft of the offseason, NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein has the Minnesota Vikings taking EDGE rusher Jared Verse.
A couple of heavy hitters in the NFL draft world dropped their first mock drafts of the season today. Earlier we got a mock draft from ESPN’s Matt Miller, and now we have one from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. These are two of the more plugged-in sources in the NFL draft world, so these mocks should hold a bit of weight.
There’s a long time between now and April’s NFL draft, but it’s interesting to see what these insiders think the team’s thought processes are at this stage of the offseason. In this mock, Zierlein has the Minnesota Vikings going a popular direction, defense, and adding former Florida State EDGE Jared Verse. Zierlein didn’t have much to say on the pick, saying:
The Vikings have big free agency decisions looming at defensive end. I see the explosive Verse as the best option at a position of need.
That free agent decision he’s referencing is obviously Danielle Hunter, and how that situation plays out is certainly going to have a major impact on the Vikings and their draft plan. However, no matter how that situation plays out, Verse could be a great addition to the Vikings’ defense.
Verse is an ultra-athletic and talented edge rusher who would help tremendously in lessening the blow, should Hunter leave in free agency. If Hunter were to stay, edge rusher becomes less of a priority, but pairing Verse with the Pro Bowl pass rusher Hunter could give the Vikings one of the more dynamic duos in the NFL. It would be a nightmare for opposing offensive coordinators either way.
ESPN’s Matt Miller looks to push the reset button for the Minnesota Vikings in recent mock draft.
ESPN’s Matt Miller reflected on his time in Mobile at this year’s Senior Bowl and decided to do a two-round mock draft based on his findings. For the Minnesota Vikings, they address two premier positions that could cause them headaches this off-season.
At pick 11, the Vikings take Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner to shore up the pass rush, putting the return of Danielle Hunter in question.
The Vikings are at a crossroads with quarterback Kirk Cousins hitting free agency at 36 years old and coming off an Achilles tear suffered in Week 8. Could they pull the trigger on Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Oregon’s Bo Nix or Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.? Yes, but there are needs across the board. Danielle Hunter is a free agent, and Turner would perfectly fit D-coordinator Brian Flores’ defensive wish list at edge rusher.
Turner had 10 sacks in his breakout 2023 season, and one NFC area scout thinks his ceiling is higher than former college teammate Will Anderson Jr., who went No. 3 in last year’s draft. Turner has excellent speed in space with a pro player comparison to the Jaguars’ Josh Allen. He’s my top-ranked defender in the class and would be a steal this late in the night.
Penix’s draft stock varies depending on whom you ask, but the most consistent answer I’ve heard is the second round, given the four season-ending injuries he suffered at Indiana (two knee injuries, two shoulder injuries). Penix has excellent arm strength and velocity, and as a pure passer, he’s a first-rounder. He threw for nearly 5,000 yards in 2023 and helped lead Washington to the national title game. But those injury and durability questions push him to the Vikings.
It’s great news for Minnesota, where Kirk Cousins is set to become a 35-year-old free agent coming off an Achilles injury. Penix can be the quarterback-in-waiting if Cousins is re-signed, or the immediate starter if he is not.
Two of the looming questions for the Vikings are answered, and the direction of the franchise is solidified. Miller essentially has put Minnesota on the path to rebuilding the entire roster, and who could blame him?
If Kwesi Adofo-Mensah does decide to push the reset button, this could be a starting point well worth exploring.
Through five weeks, the Minnesota Vikings have been sent 16 different players across 106 mock drafts. See who experts sent the Vikings this week
Mock draft season is upon us and that means our mock draft roundup is back!
What we do every week is track the mainstream outlets mock drafts and aggregate how many times a player gets selected. Last season, we tallied up 545 mock drafts and that included a whopping 54 different players. With the Minnesota Vikings set to pick 11th overall, there will be a lot of discussions surrounding the quarterbacks in this draft along with trading up.
We will track them and try to determine trends and patterns, along with giving my own analysis on how they could fit with the Vikings.
NFC North mock draft roundup from PFF’s latest projections, with the Lions focusing on defense
It is draft season for all but two teams and their fanbases, for the Detroit Lions this used to be a time that came much sooner.
Mock drafts are flying all around us from every site and publication. The latest we are highlighting comes from PFF and their NFL Draft podcast The PFF NFL Stock Exchange.
Their hosts Connor Rogers and Trevor Sikkema completed a two-round mock draft which allowed them to provide more picks for each team in the division. For the Lions, they focused on defense in an area they need to this offseason. The rest of the division appeared to be playing catch-up after losing the division to the Lions.
The Cleveland Browns will upgrade the offensive line and wide receiver room in the 2024 NFL draft. Could Brigham Young’s Kingsley Suamataia and Western Kentucky’s Malachi Corley be the antidote?
With the Senior Bowl taking place this week draft season is fully upon us as prospects begin the process of proving themself before the draft kicks off in April. The Browns’ approach this year will be interesting as they have some interesting decisions to make on the offensive side of the ball.
Will the team move on from Amari Cooper or Nick Chubb and do they believe Jedrick Wills Jr. will get an extension? This is a great year to need both an offensive tackle and a wide receiver and the Browns will likely look to add to both rooms at some point in the draft.
We have seen over the past few seasons that Andrew Berry focuses more on the future in the draft and not always on immediate needs. Let’s take a look at what the draft could look like if they prioritize the offense early this April in Detroit.
What if the Minnesota Vikings trade back up into the first round for a quarterback? The latest 2024 NFL mock draft dives into it
The Minnesota Vikings have a lot of different ways they can go in the NFL draft. There will be some discussion on what needs are most important but the Vikings can address most of them through both free agency and the NFL draft.
Each week throughout the leadup to the NFL draft, I will be doing different seven round mock drafts for the Vikings as a way to explore different scenarios. You never know who might fall to you and how that could cause a ripple effect and being ready for those situations is paramount come draft weekend.
In the second rendition of our seven round mock draft series, what could a draft look like that has the Vikings trading up into the back of the first round to take a quarterback?
