The long and drawn-out process that leads up to the
NFL Draft finally culminates Thursday when the first picks are made. But if the few months of speculation leading to the draft feel elongated, the week before the draft can seem especially extended.
In these last few days and hours, conversations pick up around the league, but it can be hard to decipher what is real and what are smokescreens either from scouts trying to hide what their team is doing or from agents trying to stir up the demand for their players. With all of that said, let’s empty the digital notebook on the eve of the draft with a look at what I’m hearing about the Vikings.
The Vikings love Rashawn Slater …And to be honest, who doesn’t? In the last month, there has been increased chatter that some around the league actually view the Northwestern offensive tackle as the top player at his position ahead of Oregon’s Penei Sewell, the presumptive top tackle for the last year. While I’m not sure if the Vikings are one of the teams that have Slater graded ahead of Sewell, they really like Slater.
This is an important point to keep in mind when viewing any prospect through the lens of what the Vikings might think: Rick Spielman loves to see how a prospect fares against his toughest collegiate competition. That’s part of why the Vikings drafted Garrett Bradbury, who played very well against Clemson, and,
as Spielman noted in our story earlier this week, why he always had a high grade for Justin Jefferson. And when thinking about that aspect, Slater checks the box in a major way.
Slater opted out for the 2020 season but had his best 2019 performance against Ohio State’s Chase Young, the NFL’s 2020 defensive rookie of the year, when they faced off in college. Young managed one sack that game and only two tackles.
But that’s not the only reason the Vikings are high on Slater. He’s athletic enough to play in their zone-rushing scheme and powerful enough to manage against some of the elite edge rushers the Vikings play twice a year in the NFC North. There’s a reason some teams have Slater ahead of Sewell on their boards.
Spielman attended Slater’s pro day, something he tried to do with prospects he’s considering who sat out the 2020 season.