Looks like a great draft for Vikings but time will tell
By Jeff Diamond, former Vikings GM who co-hosted Monday Night Purple and Purple Sunday Postgame last season on News Talk 830 WCCO along with WCCO’s 2020 NFL Draft coverage.
The Vikings 2020 draft certainly looks impressive without yet seeing the new players live and in their purple and white uniforms for practices and games. GM Rick Spielman, Coach Mike Zimmer and their staff hit the need positions of wide receiver, cornerback and offensive line in the early rounds and added depth and interesting prospects at almost every position in the later rounds. The Vikings’ 15 selections were the most for any team since the NFL went to a seven round draft in 1994.
So we know Minnesota reaped quantity out of this draft. The question that will be answered over the next one to three years is how much quality.
I’m always amused when media analysts grade a team’s draft immediately upon completion and the Vikings were at the top of the heap with a grade of A from almost all the reviews. The truth is we won’t know how good these players are until they line up in regular season games which we hope will happen this fall for many of the players but it may take a year or more of development for some of the draftees to get their opportunity and emerge from backup roles. And it may take longer than usual for this rookie class to fully comprehend the offensive and defensive systems and then excel with no offseason program expected and possibly a limited training camp due to the pandemic.
As an example back in a normal year, we can look at the 2015 Vikings draft class when Trae Waynes was Minnesota’s first round pick. He was a fairly solid corner over the past five years before departing in free agency to the Bengals. In retrospect, three players picked after him—Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter and Stefon Diggs—have been more impactful than Waynes with Kendricks and Hunter now Pro Bowlers. It was a stretch then to foresee Hunter’s development from an LSU defensive end with 1.5 sacks in his last college season as a junior to a player with 14.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons for the Vikings as one of the NFL’s best pass rushers.
I’m excited to see what comes out of Minnesota’s 2020 draft class. Here’s some of my early takes on the incoming rookies:
Top seven picks all look to be early contributors:
First round, pick 22: It had to be a pleasant surprise to Spielman and Company that LSU star receiver Justin Jefferson got past the Eagles pick right in front of the Vikings when Philly took another receiver who was generally not as highly regarded in Jalen Reagor. I like players who had big production at top college programs so it doesn’t get much better than selecting Jefferson as the nation’s leading receiver with a school-record 111 receptions (for 1,540 yards and 18 TDs) for the undefeated national champs. Jefferson has the size, speed, hands and route running ability to step into Diggs’ starting spot opposite Adam Thielen and potentially be as impactful as Diggs very soon, perhaps more durable and certainly less of a distraction. So he could be a better player for Minnesota than Diggs over the long haul with the bonus that the Vikings got fourth, fifth and sixth round picks in addition to the Bills’ No. 1—used on Jefferson--in the deal.
First round, pick 31: I thought it was dangerous for the Vikings to trade down from No. 25 to No. 31 but Zimmer says they got the player they wanted in the physical, aggressive and athletic Jeff Gladney, an exciting prospect at the much needed cornerback position. He’ll have a good shot to be a Week 1 starter at outside or slot corner since he played both spots effectively at TCU in the pass heavy Big 12. In that exchange of first round spots with the 49ers, Minnesota picked up fourth and fifth round picks who turned into defensive end D.J. Wonnum and receiver/returner K.J. Osborn.
Second round: I was hoping one of the top four offensive tackles would fall to the Vikings in the first round but they all were gone by Pick No. 13. Spielman still was able to get a player in Ezra Cleveland at No. 58 overall who was considered a first round talent by many scouts. He’s an excellent fit scheme-wise in that he worked in a zone blocking scheme at Boise State that is similar to Gary Kubiak’s system. Cleveland needs to get stronger and is being compared to right tackle Brian O’Neill when he came to the Vikings as the 2018 second rounder. O’Neill became a starter in Week 6 of his rookie year and has developed into one of the best tackles in the league and the hope is Cleveland can do the same quickly so Riley Reiff can be moved to guard.
Third round: I like cornerback Cameron Dantzler’s size at 6’2” and he’s supposedly faster than the 4.6 40 yard dash he ran at the Combine. He can press receivers and play a variety of coverages which is important in Zimmer’s defense. He was one of the best corners in the best conference (SEC at Mississippi State) and had a terrific game against LSU and their premier receiving corps last season. It’s likely he’ll get a lot of play time this season.
Fourth round: According to Spielman, Vikings co-defensive coordinator/D-line coach Andre Patterson highly recommended Wonnum as a raw, athletic player who can be developed into a great pass rusher as Patterson did with Hunter and former fourth rounder Everson Griffen. That’s enough for me to get excited about Wonnum as Patterson was on our Vikings coaching staff back in 1998 and I think he’s one of the best assistant coaches and teachers in the NFL.
Fourth round: James Lynch looks like a great fit as an underrated inside pass rusher who had 13.5 sacks for Baylor last season. Many analysts consider him a steal where he was picked and I always love hearing about players with great motors and high character.
Fourth round--The third fourth rounder—linebacker Troy Dye—led a strong Oregon team in tackles four straight years and should make an immediate impact on special teams. Dye could be a starter by Year 2 if Eric Wilson gets a big free agent offer elsewhere after this season that the Vikings can’t compete with due to their tight cap.
The remaining eight draftees also look promising in varying degrees with lots of interesting players entering the mix. I’ll give my thoughts on this group of players in next week’s column.
More Vikings Draft Observations:
1. Trent Williams non-trade: I thought it was a good thing that the Vikings backed off on trading for the seven time Pro Bowl offensive tackle who missed last season due to contractual issues and personal grievances with the Redskins. Williams is 10 years older than Cleveland (who is 21) and the rookie is expected to be a long time starter in the league who will play under an affordable entry level contract. Williams is headed to San Francisco where he’s scheduled to earn $12 million this season and is looking for a new deal in the $20 million per year range which would have been exceedingly difficult for the Vikings to absorb with their tight salary cap.
2. Good move by Spielman to trade a couple of his surplus later round picks for two 2021 selections: Entering the third day of the draft, Spielman’s trades had the Vikings sitting with an amazing 13 picks over the last four rounds. I liked that he swapped a couple of those picks for valuable choices in the fourth and fifth rounds of next year’s draft. Adding in compensatory picks that will be forthcoming for free agents leaving such as Waynes, Linval Joseph and Stephen Weatherly and Buffalo’s 2021 fourth rounder from the Diggs trade, the Vikings should enter next year’s draft with at least 12 picks once again.
3. First rounders Jefferson and Gladney were classy in thanking the Vikings for selecting them and emphasizing how excited they are to join the team. Jefferson talked of looking forward to playing with Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen. And Gladney was well aware of the Vikings need for corners and Zimmer’s reputation as a cornerback whisperer. I also liked Gladney paying tribute to the health care workers and other first responders during the pandemic.
Around the NFL Draft Observations:
1.Best of the NFC North: Again with the caveat that time will tell, the Vikings draft clearly appears to be the best among NFC North teams. Green Bay was ripped by draft analysts for trading up to select Utah State QB Jordan Love who has talent but is considered a long term project for a team with Aaron Rodgers expected to be a premier passer for several more years. Love better be the next Rodgers who stepped in for Brett Favre or this decision will turn out to be a big mistake when the Packers needed more weapons at wide receiver for Rodgers who can’t be happy with this move.
The Bears had traded away their first round pick in the Khalil Mack deal and took tight end Cole Kmet and corner Jaylon Johnson in Round 2. They look like solid choices but not game changers. Detroit added several fine players led by corner Jeff Okudah and running back D’Andre Swift but I prefer the Vikings haul over the Lions’ additions.
2. Five Gophers drafted: In another indication of the improvement of the Minnesota football program under P.J. Fleck, it was exciting to see the following players selected: safety Antoine Winfield (Round 2—Tampa Bay), receiver Tyler Johnson (Round 5—Tampa Bay), linebacker Kamal Martin (Round 5—Green Bay), linebacker Carter Coughlin (Round 7--New York Giants) and Chris Williamson (Round 7—Giants).
There were 48 Big Ten players picked, second only among conferences to the SEC’s 63 draftees. The SEC had a record 15 players picked in the first round.
3. Record ratings: The 2020 NFL Draft produced record ratings by a significant amount as sports fans viewed the first live sports event in six weeks. Although it would have been much preferred to have a normal draft as opposed to the virtual draft caused by COVID-19, it was fun to see GMs, coaches, Commissioner Roger Goodell and top players shown via teleconferencing in their homes with family members as the draft unfolded. And it was great to not have major tech glitches disrupt the event.
It also was wonderful to see the first responders saluted throughout the three days of draft coverage. And the league’s Draft-a-Thon was highly successful in contributing to over $100 million being raised for COVID-19 relief by fan donations in addition to what the league and its teams have pitched in.
Jeff Diamond was the NFL Executive of the Year in 1998 after the Vikings' 15-1 season. He also is former president of the Tennessee Titans. He does sports/business consulting, media and speaking work including corporate and college speaking on Negotiation, Management, Leadership and Sports Business--contact him at diamondj4@comcast receiver off
