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Day 1: Trading back from No. 14 and still securing Christian Darrisaw — a top-15 prospect on PFF’s Big Board — is a massive win for Minnesota. Darrisaw is fresh off a season in which he recorded the second-best single-season PFF grade by a Power Five offensive tackle in the PFF College era. He oozes power and plays with the physicality that NFL scouts and coaches dream of.
Day 2: Mond is one of the more experienced quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft class. He dropped back to pass over 1,500 times in Jimbo Fisher’s pro-style offense at Texas A&M. He also brings some athleticism and a decent arm, but that didn’t lead to many high-end plays on his tape. He does provide an upgrade over Minnesota’s current backup quarterback options, putting him in line to sit behind Kirk Cousins.
Eric Wilson departed for Philadelphia in free agency, and Anthony Barr restructured his contract to become a free agent following the 2021 season. That opened the door for Minnesota to target a linebacker within the first two days of this year’s draft. Surratt can make an immediate impact as a blitzer for the Vikings, but he’s still acclimating to the position after recently switching over from quarterback.
Davis struggled a bit in 2020 with a lower-body injury after coming off a very impressive 2019 season. That’s the only reason why he drops to pick 86. If Davis fixes up some mental errors, he can be a real steal this deep in the draft. He plays a position of need for the Vikings and is a power player. When he gets his hands on defenders, they stop in their tracks. A very nice pick — potentially a Week 1 starter for Minnesota.
Jones comes off the board over 100 spots ahead of his PFF Big Board ranking of 204. Not great value. He’s a big body but may not have the flexibility and speed to get around NFL-level tackles. The Vikings are reaching on huge potential that may not ever come to fruition. Jones is one of several similar edge rushers that would likely have been available in a couple of rounds.
Day 3: Smith-Marsette could end up being one of the better deep threats in this class. Iowa’s offense didn’t do him any favors, but he has the speed to eat up a cushion in off coverage and separate down the football field. Minnesota’s offense, which takes its fair share of deep shots, is a good landing spot where Smith-Marsette can compete for snaps right away in a WR3 role behind Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson.
Draft Grade: B+
they graded
CHI. A+DET A-
GB. C-
hard to argue but i will say CHI has no draft picks in the future and DET have no WR’s.
also from PFF:
MOST IMPROVED UNITS1. MINNESOTA VIKINGS OFFENSIVE LINEA perpetual, never-ending need for the Vikings was finding good players to play in front of Kirk Cousins to ease his pocket fears. They’ve cycled through so many below-average players in free agency or the draft over the past few seasons. And they went all-in again this year, selecting Virginia Tech tackle Christian Darrisaw and Ohio State guard Wyatt Davis.
The Vikings traded back from Pick 14 in Round 1 with the New York Jets to drop nine spots, adding Picks 66 and 86 while losing Pick 143, and still got their guy at Pick 23. Then, with Pick 86, they drafted Wyatt Davis. Both players have a great shot at starting in Week 1.
Darrisaw was PFF's No. 3 -ranked tackle on the Big Board and the 15th-best player overall. That’s how you win the draft. Darrisaw absolutely dominated the ACC in 2020, posting a ridiculous 95.6 PFF grade. He still needs to learn some technical aspects of pass blocking, but he’s a bull in the run game and defenders find it hard to latch off him when he gets his paws on them.
In Wyatt Davis, the Vikings got a player who didn’t have the greatest 2020 season, which is why he slipped to Pick 86. He was still the 61st overall player on PFF's Big Board, so we like the value. There were some schematic issues with the Ohio State offensive line this past season, which led to blatant communication errors that Davis was a part of. That shouldn’t be a concern at the next level. Davis can really block people. That’s the main deal here. In one-on-one situations, he’s as good as anyone; we just would have liked to see him bully people a little more in 2020. He was a great pick at that draft slot, nonetheless.
This draft was different and shows a change in strategy and philosophy I really like. I have been critical of moving back in the past. But this time it worked out well.
The realization that outside zone scheme requires more than quick and light linemen is a welcome change. When a team, such as Chicago, stops the run, or the Vikings get behind and have to pass, the line gets over powered. Not good with an immobile QB. There is nothing wrong with a bigger/stronger lineman who is also good at zone blocking. Hard to find, but they did just that in this draft.
It is also good to make riskier picks in round four and later, instead of a hope and a prayer in round seven. Higher risk but higher potential.
I'm usually pretty skeptical. But combining this draft with what they have done in free agency has me encouraged.
I feel like this team has a chance to be competitive this year.
I really like what the Vikings did this year in the Draft. Best IMO in awhile.
The Vikings basically traded AVT for Derrisaw, Mond & Davis who’s just as good or better than AVT.. Chris Simms thinks Mond was a top 20 talent.. I’d give Spielman an A+ draft grade for turning one 1st into 3 without a 2nd.. if any of the Iowa picks or edges pan out A++ #Vikings
2 starters on the online, hope of a future QB, another guy to pound the rock (Cook will miss some games) a 4th receiver with speed. 6'7 TE with decent hands, couple projects to find Hunter 2.0. A athletic smart LB and possible future safety... both are solid dudes.. love it!
It sure turned out good!! I’ll tell you I was quite nervouse between pick 14 and 23. To have still revieved Darrisaw is ledgendary.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
I really like what the Vikings did this year in the Draft. Best IMO in awhile.
The Vikings basically traded AVT for Derrisaw, Mond & Davis who’s just as good or better than AVT.. Chris Simms thinks Mond was a top 20 talent.. I’d give Spielman an A+ draft grade for turning one 1st into 3 without a 2nd.. if any of the Iowa picks or edges pan out A++ #Vikings
This is the important part for me...
I was hoping they'd be able to get up into 2nd rd and get themselves a higher tier DE, WR or S. I was surprised and disappointed they couldn't/didn't.
Getting another DE was the 2nd priority imo behind LT. Questions around Hunter continue etc.
Definitely a strategy change. First, after the trade back which we expected, RS stood pat the last 6 rounds. Man must have been having withdrawal symptoms by round 5. Second, other than Darrisaw, Davis, and Jones, every pick looked like it was based on physical potential rather than college production. The Vikings are seriously rolling the dice on their coaching staff's development abilities.
This draft is like SpaceX: The Vikings want a Mars shot out of rounds 3-7, and if the others all blow up on the launch pad, oh well.
I give it a B. Darrisaw and Davis are A, the rest a C
It's always hard to grade a draft immediately after the fact. What I can grade is the value we got out of our draft...
Day 1 was an A+. Only thing potentially haunting me is passing on Mac Jones at 14. I like him a lot more than most, but we did get Mond later on so it'll be interesting to watch these two QBs in the future.
Day 2 was a A-. LOVED the Mond pick, felt early for the LB, but we followed that up with two good picks that could be contributors this season.
Day 3 was a B. You can tell the Vikings are big on analytics with Chazz on Day 2 and Kene, Robinson, Davidson, and the WR from Iowa.
Overall, I'd give it a A- with the potential to be an A++ if Mond becomes a good starter and those OL picks become fixtures.
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