Tag: NFL 2020 Draft

Vikings pick Oklahoma defensive tackle Neville Gallimore in recent mock draft

Defensive tackle Neville Gallimore has been a familiar name on mock drafts for the Vikings so far.

When recent mock drafts try to narrow down what Minnesota will do with its No. 25 overall pick, Neville Gallimore is a name that comes up a lot.

The Oklahoma defensive tackle came up yet again, going to the Vikings in a recent mock draft done by FanSided.

The outlet mentioned the team’s problem with the current salary cap and how the team will have to emphasize the draft more this year because of it.

They also said this:

A big-bodied lineman that surprisingly isn’t the best run defender, Gallimore is adept at applying pressure on the quarterback using his hands to disrupt defenders and his athleticism to change directions quickly once he has disrupted them. Gallimore is the type of defender that the Vikings seem to like and needs trumps best player available here for the cap-strapped Vikings.

If Linval Joseph stays, Gallimore could be a nice complement to him, and if not, then the Vikings will lack depth at defensive tackle and might want to add Gallimore anyway, so it makes sense.

The Vikings should not draft a quarterback in the first round

It’s not worth it.

It’s safe to say Kirk Cousins is considered a polarizing player in the eyes of Vikings fans.

Some people want to move on from Cousins, despite a year in which he improved. An obvious alternative to him would be to get a player through the draft.

Though Tua Tagovailoa and others seem enticing, the complications with Cousins’ contract, in addition to the unknowns of a rookie, make it too difficult for the Vikings to find a new quarterback.

The team could restructure with Cousins or sign him to an extension, but if they did that, it would be because the quarterback is taking less money, so the Vikings can assemble talent around him, in order to take the next step. Doing that is building the team around Cousins, not making it so we can get rid of him.

What are the options for trading him? There’s a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would have to wave that to make the trade possible.

Cousins will likely not want to wave that clause to go play for a team that wants him, considering the teams that would. It would likely be a team like the Chargers, which are a year or two away from contending.

There just aren’t that many teams that are as good as Minnesota and would want Cousins.

It also seems like there could be three quarterbacks taken before pick No. 10: Joe Burrow, Tagovailoa, and Justin Herbert.

Minnesota might be able to trade an asset and a first-round pick for another team’s pick that’s better. Sure, doing that might get the Vikings one of the three aforementioned quarterbacks, but Minnesota lacks depth at so many other positions, that getting rid of the first-round pick and possibly a player for a better passer just is not the right thing to prioritize.

Could the Vikings wait in the draft to take a player that’s more of a project? Of course. Should they try and risk giving up talent for a highly rated quarterback in the first round of the draft? I don’t think so.

Vikings draft profile: Defensive Tackle Javon Kinlaw 

In his senior season at South Carolina, Kinlaw totaled 35 tackles and six sacks. 

The Vikings’ 2019 season is in the rear-view mirror, and the 2020 offseason is quickly approaching. Although the Super Bowl is still over a week away, that doesn’t mean it’s too early for Vikings fans to get excited for the NFL Draft. 

NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah came out with his first mock draft of the season, and he had a great talent falling to the Vikings at pick 25. 

Javon Kinlaw is a defensive tackle coming out of the University of South Carolina, and is one of the more talented interior linemen in the draft. In his senior season, Kinlaw totaled 35 tackles and six sacks. 

Already coming off of a solid senior season, Kinlaw has also been one of the more impressive players early on in the senior bowl. 

 

Not only has his play stole the show early on at Senior Bowl practices, but he his life story has also been discussed. Kinlaw opened up to the media what it was like growing up homeless. 

If Kinlaw were to fall to the Vikings at 25, it would have to be a no brainer pick for Rick Spielman and his staff. The pairing of Linval Joseph and Shamar Stephen wasn’t all that dominant in 2019.

After watching the 49ers dominate the trenches and get their run game going against them, the Vikings need to do something to address the interior of their defensive line. The addition of Kinlaw would make an immediate impact on the state of the Vikings front seven.