The most popular selection for the Minnesota Vikings is Deonte Banks and that continued in this USA Today mock draft.
You get a cornerback! You get a cornerback! You get a cornerback!
That’s what it feels like looking at some of these final mock drafts. Everyone wants to send the Vikings a cornerback and for good reason. They have only four NFL caliber cornerbacks on the roster and they need at least one or two more.
A sea change is underway on the Vikings’ defense, with new coordinator Brian Flores set to ramp up the unit’s aggressiveness. In order to pull that off, he’ll require a cornerback like Banks, whose has the size (6-0, 197 pounds) and speed (4.35 seconds in the 40-yard dash) to handle a variety of matchups in man coverage.
Banks came out of nowhere somewhat. He wasn’t on anyone’s radar until Dane Brugler mocked him to the Vikings in the middle of January. Once people discovered Banks, it was no surprise that he became a popular selection.
His elite pairing of physical play and top-tier athleticism make him an ideal cornerback for Brian Flores.
Emmanuel Forbes, who weighs 166 lbs, is sent to Minnesota in Connor Rogers’ final NFL mock draft.
Cornerback continues to be popular among the NFL draft prognosticators. The Minnesota Vikings are in a position where they need to add at least two or three cornerbacks before training camp and the NFL draft is an easy way to do so.
The Vikings have needs both up front and on the back end of their defense. While there’s been rumors they will take Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker here, I think they look to add someone who can make an impact in 2023 because the NFC North is very much up for grabs.
Forbes is an interesting prospect. He has excellent ball skills, evident by his six interceptions and three touchdowns in 2022 and Forbes pairs that with a sub-4.4 second 40-yard dash. The big issue with Forbes is that he is 166 lbs and has a very slender frame because of it.
Getting a cornerback in round one makes a ton of sense, but getting a player smaller than Cameron Dantzler from the same school would raise a lot of eyebrows.
In his final mock draft, Peter Schrager has the Vikings selecting not one, but two controversial players.
The Minnesota Vikings have several roster holes to fill, with the most significant one being wide receiver as they head into Thursday night’s draft. Depending on how the board falls, they may be tempted to choose the best player available instead of drafting for need.
Robinson is a running back with a generational talent, known for his strong pass-catching abilities and elusiveness. Although running back is not a top priority for the Vikings, Robinson is the best player available, and it may be tempting for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to take advantage of his caliber.
Hooker is a decent quarterback prospect with some intriguing traits, making him a developmental pick. He has good accuracy and footwork while in the pocket, but there are concerns about his recent ACL injury and his age. Additionally, the offense he played in college may not translate well to the NFL.
While Hooker will require time to develop behind Kirk Cousins, Robinson could jump right in. These moves would indicate that the Vikings are prepared to win now while also setting themselves up with a young core around Justin Jefferson for the future.
In Doug Farrar’s final first-round mock draft of 2023, four quarterbacks go with the first four picks for the first time in pro football history.
Things get weird as the draft beckons.
Teams looking to trade up or down are increasing the frequency and intensity of their offers. Teams with the desired picks are sitting in the proverbial catbird seat, awaiting the proposal that might pry a pick loose. Players may be involved as well, as every team with a stake in the first round tries to establish pole position before 8:00 p.m. EST on Thursday night.
With all that in mind, we have quite an aggressive final first-round mock for the 2023 NFL draft. For the first time in the history of professional football, quarterbacks are selected with each of the first four picks. It’s only happened with the first three picks three times:
1971: Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning, and Dan Pastorini;
1999: Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, and Akili Smith;
2021: Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance.
Now, the trio becomes a quartet, and here’s how it hypothetically happens:
The Carolina Panthers select Alabama’s Bryce Young with the first overall pick they’ve already acquired from the Chicago Bears;
The Las Vegas Raiders trade up with the Houston Texans for the second overall pick, and select Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud;
The Tennessee Titans trade up with the Arizona Cardinals for the third overall pick, and select Florida’s Anthony Richardson; and
The Indianapolis Colts select Kentucky’s Will Levis with their fourth overall pick.
That takes the Texans out of the quarterback derby high in the first round, and there have been multiple reports indicating that Houston’s on board with that in favor of multiple and valuable picks at other positions.
There is also a fifth quarterback taken in the first round, with Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 19th overall pick. If you think that’s a reach given Hooker’s injury status and time in a spread/veer offense, remember that this is the same franchise that selected Florida’s Kyle Trask in the second round of the 2022 draft. Hooker would be the value pick of the draft in comparison.
We have one more bit of attendant weirdness in this first-round projection: Not only do the Philadelphia Eagles select Texas running back Bijan Robinson with their first of two picks in the first round, they trade up with the Atlanta Falcons to the eighth overall pick to do so. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has never taken a running back in the first round, and the Eagles may not value the position as other teams do, but… I’m looking at the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson in an offense that already pins defenses to the wall with Jalen Hurts in the run game, and I’m thinking “Lombardi Trophy.”
So, with all that background, here’s my most YOLO first-round mock of 2023. Because, you just never know what might happen.
One final mock draft for the Bengals as they face one of the most important drafts in modern franchise history.
Thursday night, the Cincinnati Bengals will make one of the most important picks in modern franchise history in the opening round.
If done well, it is a pick that will straddle the line between instant impact while reinforcing the team at a premium position for the future. That latter part is critical given the big-money extensions likely about to go to Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Over the following six rounds, the Bengals will try to strike that balance again, especially considering how many important names pop up on the team’s list of 38 free agents in 2024.
The championship window is open for the Bengals, but this draft is about furthering those ambitions while trying to find a way to keep that window open as long as possible.
With that theme in mind, here’s our final mock draft before the real thing, using the mock simulator from Pro Football Focus.
Final 2023 mock draft: 3 rounds of projections from Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon on how the draft weekend might play out
It’s finally here. The 2023 NFL draft is kicking off in less than 36 hours in Kansas City. That means it’s time for the final mock draft for this class.
More than any year since 2018, this shapes up to be a wildly unpredictable draft weekend. There are so many “if/then” scenarios that originate from what happens with the No. 2 pick, a selection that a very reliable source advised me wasn’t yet decided upon by the Houston Texans as of Sunday night.
Predicting trades is very difficult. Obviously, there will be picks that get traded during the draft. I eschewed trying to forecast those moves and instead focused on getting the team and the player matched up, with one exception that’s noted in the commentary. As the draft progresses into the Day 2 realm, the focus is as much on the player and draft slot as it is on predicting the team and the player match.
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Without further ado, here is my final three-round mock draft for 2023.
Former NFLers see the Bengals making a surprising pick in the first round.
There have been a lot of different mock drafts for the Cincinnati Bengals, but the 33rd team had a couple former NFL executives predict what the first round would look like.
Mike Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman predicted that the Bengals would choose Brian Branch, a safety from Alabama with their 28th overall pick.
After losing Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell to free agency, the Bengals do need to strengthen their secondary even after signing Nick Scott.
Here’s what Tannenbaum said about Branch:
You’d wish Branch’s offseason workouts were a little bit better, but when you put on the film, it’s obvious he’s a smart player. He was the quarterback of the defense, and I think he’ll turn out to be a good player in the NFL. He might not be a front-line guy because of his lack of speed, but he’ll start near the line of scrimmage and work his way back to free safety.
Branch can play multiple positions and had four interceptions and four sacks in his time with the Crimson Tide.
The draft is Thursday, so the question of how the Bengals will approach it is almost over.
In his final mock draft, Daniel Jeremiah sent the Minnesota Vikings USC wide receiver Jordan Addison.
The Minnesota Vikings should prioritize drafting a wide receiver early in the first round of Thursday’s NFL Draft. With the departure of Adam Thielen, the Vikings only have K.J. Osborn Jalen Nailor and Jalen Reagor behind Justin Jefferson.
The Vikings love versatile receivers who are also great route-runners. That’s a good way to describe Addison, who would take over the role Adam Thielen played.
Addison has impressive short-area quickness and agility, along with excellent hands and route-running abilities. He also has the ability to create separation, which could allow him to take advantage of teams double-teaming Jefferson.
Adding Addison to the Vikings’ offense would be an excellent move. This could provide the team with the potential for a dynamic duo of receivers for the next decade.
A second Bengals mock draft roundup before the 2023 NFL draft.
Mock drafts for the Cincinnati Bengals have taken an interesting turn late in the process before the real 2023 NFL draft starts on Thursday night.
Some mocks have the Bengals taking controversial prospects at positions such as tight end. Multiple have started to suggest the Bengals take a safety prospect despite the addition of Nick Scott in free agency next to first-rounder Dax Hill.
Still, a reminder that no mock is wrong. These are merely projections and for a team that has filled needs very well in free agency, the Bengals might be the hardest team in the draft to predict.
Here’s a look at one final roundup of mock drafts for the Bengals.
With just one day left until the beginning of the NFL Draft, Kevin Fielder releases his final mock draft.
By now, you’ve likely heard about how this year’s NFL Draft is one of the hardest to project.
Between the uncertainty around the quarterback position and the number of players who could find themselves in the first round of the NFL Draft, there is no way to fully project the top 10 of the draft, let alone all 31 first-round picks.
As I sat down to write my final mock draft of the cycle, I found it difficult to get past the Houston Texans at No. 2 overall. The new coaching staff can take plenty of different paths, including passing up on a quarterback, and they’ll all affect the rest of the first round.
As a result, this mock draft might be ruined early on. However, that’s the challenge of trying to predict all 31 picks.
Unlike my other four mock drafts, this one doesn’t have trades. While there will be trades during Thursday’s festivities, it’s hard to predict which teams will move up, so I want to keep this one as chalk as possible.
