What a draft it was for the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings drafted an NFL-record 15 players. Surely, it will be difficult for all of those players to make the team, but landing players like Justin Jefferson, Jeff Gladney, Ezra Cleveland and Cameron Dantzler not only filled positions of need, but should be players who can help Mike Zimmer’s squad right away.
Draft guru Mel Kiper handed out his post-draft grades over at ESPN and gave the Vikings an A- grade.
Here’ a bit of what Kiper wrote about the Vikings:
Minnesota came into Thursday night with 12 picks and ended Saturday night with 15 picks, plus an extra fourth-rounder and two extra fifth-round picks in the 2021 draft. With that much capital, it takes a lot not to get an A from me. And really, I like the value the Vikings got throughout, starting with extracting a first-round pick for wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was disgruntled in Minnesota.
For me, to add those four players listed above and to come away with three mid-round picks for next year is huge.
Of course, a grade now doesn’t mean a whole lot. These players need to perform and they’ll certainly get that opportunity in Minnesota. But it is good for Vikings’ fans to see that most draft experts agree that Rick Spielman and his crew did a very solid job.