The Vikings had Christian Darrisaw — one of the top tackle prospects — on the board at No. 14 in the NFL draft. Despite that, the team traded back, and it was still able to land Darrisaw at No. 23.
Darrisaw fills an obvious need for the Vikings. He could come in and start right away. And Minnesota accumulated more picks in the move to trade back.
Bleacher Report isn’t just a fan of the Darrisaw pick, the outlet’s Brad Gagnon ranked the process of getting him as the second best move any team made this offseason. Here’s what he wrote:
“A consensus big board from NFL Mock Draft Database had Darrisaw two spots ahead of Alijah Vera-Tucker, whom the Jets took with Minnesota’s original selection. Watch for the large and athletic Darrisaw to make an immediate impact in Minnesota, and for the Vikings front office to quietly chuckle over the gravy it gets from Mond and/or Davis.”
As Gagnon pointed out, Minnesota used New York’s picks to take Kellen Mond and Wyatt Davis. If Davis starts this year and Mond pans out in the future, this will go down as a superb trade for the Vikings.