The Minnesota Vikings are in the middle of an extremely important offseason and the NFL Draft might end up being the most crucial three days of general manager Rick Spielman’s time in Minneapolis.
Slammed against the salary cap, the Vikings have parted ways with wide receiver Stefon Diggs, defensive end Everson Griffin and their top three cornerbacks since the 2019 season ended. Understanding that the latest competitive window was closing – especially on defense – Spielman dealt Diggs to Buffalo in exchange for the No. 22 overall pick, giving the Vikings two first round picks and six picks in the first four rounds.
In fact, the Vikings have 12 draft picks overall and, barring trades, will make seven selections – essentially an entire draft class – before the Chicago Bears even make their third pick at No. 163 overall in the fifth round.
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In short, the Vikings are almost certainly destined for a transition year, but if Spielman aces this draft, it won’t be long before Minnesota is back in the playoffs. On the flip side, if he fails to use this draft capital correctly, the Vikings could be in line for a much longer rebuild with bigger organizational changes on the way.
Personally, I think Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer are the right guys for the job in Minnesota, but they’re stuck with Kirk Cousins at quarterback after essentially being forced to extend him for two more years to create necessary cap space in 2020.
And that’s why I’m here to tell you that despite losing what seems like half their defense, Spielman should focus on the offense in the first round. Cousins isn’t a bad quarterback, but he is the type of quarterback that needs as much help as possible around him, and right now he doesn’t have enough help at wide receiver or on the offensive line.
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The line has been a problem under Spielman’s watch. He addressed it last year by taking center Garrett Bradbury in the first round, but it still needs upgrades. Zimmer admitted they might move left tackle Riley Reiff to guard and that makes sense if the Vikings take advantage of the depth of offensive tackles available in the first round.
Personally, I would draft a tackle and a wide receiver in the first round, where the Vikings have the No. 22 and No. 25 overall picks. Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy or Baylor’s Denzel Mims would immediately help fill the void of Diggs and give Cousins another option opposite of Adam Thielen. At tackle, USC’s Austin Jackson, Houston’s Josh Jones or Boise State’s Ezra Cleveland would all make sense, depending on who is available.
All the sudden, the Vikings would have options on their offensive line, potentially kicking Reiff inside and moving Brian O’Neill – a bright spot in 2019 – from right to left tackle.
And what about the defense?
It’s going to take a temporary dip, but Zimmer is an outstanding defensive coach and will keep that unit from falling apart. In this scenario, the Vikings would still have four other picks in the top 132 to address the defense. Plus, key players like Danielle Hunter, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks and Harrison Smith are still there. And Ifeadi Odenigbo is a quiet up-and-coming pass rusher who had seven sacks in his final 10 games of the 2019 season. The pass rush shouldn’t suffer too much.
The Vikings’ bigger problems – both now and in the future – are on offense. Fix that first.