Minnesota has a little over two weeks before it has select players in the NFL Draft.
The Vikings don’t have the luxury of drafting solid backups or depth players; this is a season where Minnesota will have to take some players who can come in and start right away.
This time, I decided to go with two positional needs in the first two rounds: cornerback and offensive tackle. There are two cornerbacks on the roster — Mike Hughes and Holton Hill — who I am confident that the team could play next season.
That means that the Vikings should make sure the player they’re taking at corner can at least garner a lot of reps next season, if not start.
When it comes to tackle, I think the team could move tackle Riley Reiff to guard and fill his old spot with a good rookie. It’s a better draft for tackles this season, so that makes sense.
You can see the entire draft, via The Draft Network, here.
Here’s what I did.
Round 1: TCU CB Jeff Gladney
Gladney is good in press coverage and could come in and at least play nickel corner for the Vikings. Hill and Hughes have both been good at times, but both have question marks surrounding them.
Gladney makes it so that the defensive back corps of the Vikings has more depth, and could very well start. Safeties Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith make it so that the Vikings can hide a rookie corner on their defense.