Mock Draft

[CharVike]

If we stick with this 3-4 then we need lbers. Both middle guys gone and is Hunter the best fit. Z that's a ?. Could be 4 fight there. I guess 1 in house if he can handle the run game. If we continue with this soft zone I don't think CB is a need. If a G who can do it all then that is a fit. WR with some speed. If they see a QB they like then that is at the top.

Depending on how this season ends for us, I suspect KOC will fire Donatell and hire someone more in line with his philosophies and approach. Whether that goes back to a 4-3 or stays 3-4 is impossible to know at this point. I think the trenches is where the best teams are truly exceptional, so give me a DL or OL with that first pick, and Overshown (LB, Texas) or Hodges-Tomlinson (CB, TCU) with the 3rd. Grab a WR and a G in the mid rounds. It's early, but as of late December, that's where I'm at.

I hope you are right about the fire deal. KOC almost has to do that. Who feels like sitting through every conference and talking about the defense and what are you going to do. It never ends. If we do get beat early in the post season his head will be the first to roll. He hired a long time vet coach to take that stuff away from him. It's the complete opposite. This entire switch from one scheme to another takes years. KOC only has a 3 year contract. In today's world it's now or your out.

[allday1991]

How about we move up once and take a shot? I remember asking last year if anybody would be happy trading up for Gardner, I don’t think a single member thought this was a good idea. My question now would be how much more confident in the playoffs would you be with sauce on our defence? Just once I wanna see this franchise move up for a guy they believe to be a game changer.

[CharVike]

How about we move up once and take a shot? I remember asking last year if anybody would be happy trading up for Gardner, I don’t think a single member thought this was a good idea. My question now would be how much more confident in the playoffs would you be with sauce on our defence? Just once I wanna see this franchise move up for a guy they believe to be a game changer.

It seems like we have been trading down for decades. I wanted Mac Jones and then posters said you must think Cousins sucks. No when a top flight QB prospect falls you take him. We lost out on Rodgers twice. They are worth their weight in gold. When I say top flight it's a guy who can pass. Not some runner who is trying to figure out how to pass. This past draft was worst than any of the other trade downs. The 12th pick is a nice spot. There's players in that slot like S Hamilton. We trade down to the bottom and the return was worthless. A 1st round pick this year should have been part of the deal. It was a BS move to show you are working. Get into the top 5 for nothing. That's working. With our new genius GM forget about trade up. He can't comprehend that thought. We gave the Lions WR Williams for nothing. Sure the guy might suck but I know he has blazing speed and you can teach that. He ripped through our D easily. We could use a guy like that helping our team. You can't bring the safeties up or he will smoke you. We already found that out.

[IIsweet]

I actually felt that we should have gotten more in the trade. However, if they are all healthy, we got S Cine and CB Booth for WR Jameson Williams. The idea that we get 2 starters for the 1 is not bad. However, they are not healthy and it will be a year or 2 to really see how this trade shapes out.
Going into this draft, I just flat out see us moving back again. We only have 4 picks. Where we will be picking, offers a lot of good players, but I guarantee that KOC and KAM come out and say that the real value in this draft is between picks 42 - 70, and that they will want to get as many of those guys as possible. Which I agree gives us more young players to fit the new defensive scheme and to get more length and a lot faster.
Here is where it can get interesting IMO. If Kwesi makes the tough calls and either restructures or releases the aging high priced leaders of this team (ie. Harrison, EK, Thielen, Z Smith) or even trades Hunter away, I foresee an active free agency period addressing defensive speed at LB, interior DL, maybe secondary, and then I can see them trading up for a specific player. They probably like the future of the secondary but probably still wanting at least 1 -2 more guys. Moving up to get a particular CB could be an idea.

[VikingLord]

How about we move up once and take a shot? I remember asking last year if anybody would be happy trading up for Gardner, I don’t think a single member thought this was a good idea. My question now would be how much more confident in the playoffs would you be with sauce on our defence? Just once I wanna see this franchise move up for a guy they believe to be a game changer.

It seems like we have been trading down for decades. I wanted Mac Jones and then posters said you must think Cousins sucks. No when a top flight QB prospect falls you take him. We lost out on Rodgers twice. They are worth their weight in gold. When I say top flight it's a guy who can pass. Not some runner who is trying to figure out how to pass. This past draft was worst than any of the other trade downs. The 12th pick is a nice spot. There's players in that slot like S Hamilton. We trade down to the bottom and the return was worthless. A 1st round pick this year should have been part of the deal. It was a BS move to show you are working. Get into the top 5 for nothing. That's working. With our new genius GM forget about trade up. He can't comprehend that thought. We gave the Lions WR Williams for nothing. Sure the guy might suck but I know he has blazing speed and you can teach that. He ripped through our D easily. We could use a guy like that helping our team. You can't bring the safeties up or he will smoke you. We already found that out.

A couple of things

- In response to allday, moving up in the 1st is risky. There are no sure things in any draft and it usually is prohibitively expensive to move up far enough to get into the first five picks from where the Vikings were slotted last year. Gardner would have been a good pick, but the Vikings could have gotten Jordan Davis or Trent McDuffie sitting pat at 12 and both would have also made immediate impacts at their respective positions. Jury is out on Cine and Booth thus far. Still a chance one or both of them could turn out to have a similar impact to Gardner.

- In response to CharVike, I don't think Jones has established he is a top-flight QB yet, much less one worth moving up to get. Rodgers was a huge miss the year he came out, but he fell for a reason because people weren't sold on him and the Packers at the time could take a flyer on a first round QB as they had Favre. They did the same thing with Jordan Love. I doubt it turns out as well for them if Rodgers retires or moves on after this season.

- I wasn't happy about what KAM got trading down in the 1st as far as he did, but it's harsh to claim he can't comprehend moving up given he's just had the one draft so far. He needs at least another 2 drafts for anyone to be able to say if he's another Spielman in mentality or what his approach is.

- Williamson didn't really rip through the defense in that last game. He had one reception for 41 yards on 2 targets, and on that single reception he was basically left uncovered and uncontested. Williamson overall finished the regular season with that single 41 yarder against the Vikings on 9 total targets. In other words, he appeared in 6 regular season games this last season (including the 2nd game against the Vikings), and in those six games he was targeted just 9 times and caught one pass. Hard to say that is worth the #12 pick in the 1st round, although much like Cine and Booth, his rookie campaign was heavily impacted by an injury so it's hard to tell.

[Foreman44]

I voiced my opinion of mock drafts. They are a joke to reality. Might have six right in the 32 picks.but have your fun in fantasy, I am not trying to be sarcastic, enjoy.
For me I look at mocks to get a better understanding of what college talent is out there. Especially for fan like me who doesn’t study the college talent.

I know my teams talent. Alabama has. A few other players, like Ohio stares qb, hooker, Georgia qb, a few others.

These mocks show me the talent.

Someone might get a pick right odds are against

[CharVike]

It seems like we have been trading down for decades. I wanted Mac Jones and then posters said you must think Cousins sucks. No when a top flight QB prospect falls you take him. We lost out on Rodgers twice. They are worth their weight in gold. When I say top flight it's a guy who can pass. Not some runner who is trying to figure out how to pass. This past draft was worst than any of the other trade downs. The 12th pick is a nice spot. There's players in that slot like S Hamilton. We trade down to the bottom and the return was worthless. A 1st round pick this year should have been part of the deal. It was a BS move to show you are working. Get into the top 5 for nothing. That's working. With our new genius GM forget about trade up. He can't comprehend that thought. We gave the Lions WR Williams for nothing. Sure the guy might suck but I know he has blazing speed and you can teach that. He ripped through our D easily. We could use a guy like that helping our team. You can't bring the safeties up or he will smoke you. We already found that out.

A couple of things

- In response to allday, moving up in the 1st is risky. There are no sure things in any draft and it usually is prohibitively expensive to move up far enough to get into the first five picks from where the Vikings were slotted last year. Gardner would have been a good pick, but the Vikings could have gotten Jordan Davis or Trent McDuffie sitting pat at 12 and both would have also made immediate impacts at their respective positions. Jury is out on Cine and Booth thus far. Still a chance one or both of them could turn out to have a similar impact to Gardner.

- In response to CharVike, I don't think Jones has established he is a top-flight QB yet, much less one worth moving up to get. Rodgers was a huge miss the year he came out, but he fell for a reason because people weren't sold on him and the Packers at the time could take a flyer on a first round QB as they had Favre. They did the same thing with Jordan Love. I doubt it turns out as well for them if Rodgers retires or moves on after this season.

- I wasn't happy about what KAM got trading down in the 1st as far as he did, but it's harsh to claim he can't comprehend moving up given he's just had the one draft so far. He needs at least another 2 drafts for anyone to be able to say if he's another Spielman in mentality or what his approach is.

- Williamson didn't really rip through the defense in that last game. He had one reception for 41 yards on 2 targets, and on that single reception he was basically left uncovered and uncontested. Williamson overall finished the regular season with that single 41 yarder against the Vikings on 9 total targets. In other words, he appeared in 6 regular season games this last season (including the 2nd game against the Vikings), and in those six games he was targeted just 9 times and caught one pass. Hard to say that is worth the #12 pick in the 1st round, although much like Cine and Booth, his rookie campaign was heavily impacted by an injury so it's hard to tell.

Jones fell to us. Jones isn't a top flight QB yet but it's year 2. He's guided his team to the playoffs once. IIRC Williamson was projected to be lucky to see the field this year. He did that. I would say his projection was meet. He's probably not even at full speed/movement yet. I made my comments about our draft on the PFF rookie post. I think KAM struck out. We let Hamilton go to another team and he had a good rookie season.

[IIsweet]

Btw, we are now drafting #23.
In a mock draft, I just had DT Bryan Bresee available. 6'5" 300 beast at Clemson. I actually am choosing to trade down and accumulate 2024 picks as well as this years draft. 2024 we will have $100 million in cap space and a bunch of draft picks all to build the future. We will be signing JJ of course, but still have a ton of $$$

[Maelstrom88]

Btw, we are now drafting #23.
In a mock draft, I just had DT Bryan Bresee available. 6'5" 300 beast at Clemson. I actually am choosing to trade down and accumulate 2024 picks as well as this years draft. 2024 we will have $100 million in cap space and a bunch of draft picks all to build the future. We will be signing JJ of course, but still have a ton of $$$

Completely agree. I'm all for a trade down this year to load up for 2024. If they stay put I want Oline or Dline.

[IIsweet]

Theoretically, if we switch back to a 4-3, we have quite a few good pieces, but still needing new LBs. Asamoah and then in the draft Overshown from Texas is solid, Pappoe from Auburn can fly, but I really like Jack Campbell from Iowa. 6'5 and a Beast.
We currently can run Phillips and Tomlinson inside with Hunter and Jones outside.

Also, the 2024 draft is potentially LOADED with QB talent

[CharVike]

Theoretically, if we switch back to a 4-3, we have quite a few good pieces, but still needing new LBs. Asamoah and then in the draft Overshown from Texas is solid, Pappoe from Auburn can fly, but I really like Jack Campbell from Iowa. 6'5 and a Beast.
We currently can run Phillips and Tomlinson inside with Hunter and Jones outside.

Also, the 2024 draft is potentially LOADED with QB talent

That's exactly how I think it should be and there is nothing wrong with that. I get the feeling that KOC likes a 3-4 base and then switching to some type of multiple fronts. Sure that sounds great and I guess you can fool teams but so far the results have't been good. I guess you can wait year(s) for this to get into shape but in the meantime we are wasting careers of other players. It seems like our current roster is stacked with DTs so do we really need another?

[VikingLord]

Btw, we are now drafting #23.
In a mock draft, I just had DT Bryan Bresee available. 6'5" 300 beast at Clemson. I actually am choosing to trade down and accumulate 2024 picks as well as this years draft. 2024 we will have $100 million in cap space and a bunch of draft picks all to build the future. We will be signing JJ of course, but still have a ton of $$$

Bresee is pretty good, but I'm not sure he fits well as a down lineman in a 3-4 scheme. He has loads of potential, though, and could develop into an impact player as a pro if he gets the right coaching and is put into a position to play to his strengths. #23 might be a bit early for him. If KAM were to trade back to say, 28 or even the early 2nd, he would be a great pick in that range.

Another DL I really like is Siaki Ika. A lot of mocks have him going in the first half of the 2nd right now, but I don't see how he can possibly stay in that position. He'll almost assuredly move up once teams realize he can actually rush the passer in addition to completely controlling the interior of the DL by himself. I think he has the potential to be more impactful as a pro in a 3-4 where he can anchor the middle and push the pocket. He's another guy who I just have on the edge of #23. I'd like him more at between #25 to #32 in the first, but I'm almost sure he will go by the end of the 1st once all is said-and-done. The team that snags him is going to get an almost immovable 6'3", 350 pound immediate impact player in the middle of the line. He might be as good as Jordan Davis coming out, and I liked Jordan Davis coming out.

If the draft is about getting immediate and long-term impact players, and KAM and KOC really want the 3-4 to succeed, Siaki would be hard to pass up if he's on the board at #23 and they don't trade down.

[IIsweet]

Going to be interesting to see how we draft now? Is the new DC going to remain a 3-4 guy? Are we going back to a 4-3? Maybe a 42 or a 33 ?
This off-season is going to be big

[CharVike]

Btw, we are now drafting #23.
In a mock draft, I just had DT Bryan Bresee available. 6'5" 300 beast at Clemson. I actually am choosing to trade down and accumulate 2024 picks as well as this years draft. 2024 we will have $100 million in cap space and a bunch of draft picks all to build the future. We will be signing JJ of course, but still have a ton of $$$

Bresee is pretty good, but I'm not sure he fits well as a down lineman in a 3-4 scheme. He has loads of potential, though, and could develop into an impact player as a pro if he gets the right coaching and is put into a position to play to his strengths. #23 might be a bit early for him. If KAM were to trade back to say, 28 or even the early 2nd, he would be a great pick in that range.

Another DL I really like is Siaki Ika. A lot of mocks have him going in the first half of the 2nd right now, but I don't see how he can possibly stay in that position. He'll almost assuredly move up once teams realize he can actually rush the passer in addition to completely controlling the interior of the DL by himself. I think he has the potential to be more impactful as a pro in a 3-4 where he can anchor the middle and push the pocket. He's another guy who I just have on the edge of #23. I'd like him more at between #25 to #32 in the first, but I'm almost sure he will go by the end of the 1st once all is said-and-done. The team that snags him is going to get an almost immovable 6'3", 350 pound immediate impact player in the middle of the line. He might be as good as Jordan Davis coming out, and I liked Jordan Davis coming out.

If the draft is about getting immediate and long-term impact players, and KAM and KOC really want the 3-4 to succeed, Siaki would be hard to pass up if he's on the board at #23 and they don't trade down.

If Ika is that good why would he slide that far down? But his size is incredible I'll give that. Davis was/is a good player. He was mentioned on the board last year but we moved far away from him. Basically we missed a few good players based on year 1 after the trade away to the bottom.

[IIsweet]

Thought that I would add an intriguing prospect that I would look at if staying at #23 and taking a player.

DT Mazi Smith Michigan
He's 6'3; 337 and Smith does 22 reps on the bench press, but that’s with 325 (not 225). He close-grip benched 550 pounds. He vertical-jumps 33 inches. He broad-jumped 9-4 1/2. Smith, who had 37 tackles last season, has clocked a 4.41 shuttle time, which would’ve tied the best by any defensive tackle at last year’s NFL Scouting Combine, and it would’ve been better than any defensive tackle weighing 310 pounds or more in the past decade,” Bruce Feldman explains.
Simply put, there isn’t a physical test that Mazi Smith isn’t the best athlete performing. In particular, his rotations strength is off the charts. He literally maxes out Michigan’s combo-twist machine at 600 pounds. He’s the type of athlete strength coaches dream about.

This is exactly the type of player that I feel we need to add.