2025 NFL Combine and Misc Draft Material

[StickierBuns]

"Played decently" by what standard? He was one of the lower rated guards in the league in most categories according to PFF, and who wants a guard who's standard of play is based on the health of the left tackle next to him? Do your job and do it well regardless of anything. Depending on how they feel about the backup tackle position, if some team is offering me a 5th for Brandel...done deal!

Yeah I don't get this about Brandel....like this is somehow an excuse for his poor play. But I also read some Bradbury apologists stuff over the years here as well. Either get serious about kicking some ass on the lines or watch Detroit and Philly mow your ass down. KAM could do the inspired thing here and draft an OG or DT at #24.

[MaroonBells]

"Played decently" by what standard? He was one of the lower rated guards in the league in most categories according to PFF, and who wants a guard who's standard of play is based on the health of the left tackle next to him? Do your job and do it well regardless of anything. Depending on how they feel about the backup tackle position, if some team is offering me a 5th for Brandel...done deal!

Brandel had the highest PFF grade on the team week one. After that he was terribly inconsistent, but still his pass blocking grade through the 7 games with Darrisaw next to him averaged about 70, which is above average. 

When Darrisaw went down in week 8, Brandel's PB grade tanked to 32, then 49 the following week. The rest of the year was marked by more inconsistency. Against Jax, 85. Following week against Tenn, 47. Following week against the Bears, 82. Three weeks later against the Bears, 45. 

If we can get something Brandel, go for it, but it has to be tied to a pick. We can't leave the draft with no left guard at all.

[supafreak84]

Kiper on Savion;

Wide receiver

Savion Williams, TCU
Williams can do a lot of different things on offense, and a savvy NFL offensive coordinator will find ways to get him the football. TCU lined him up out wide on both sides of the field, in the slot and even as a Wildcat quarterback. He runs hard after the catch and breaks tackles, and he ran a solid 4.48-second 40-yard dash at the combine despite his big (6-foot-4, 222-pound) frame. Williams caught 60 passes last season, totaling 611 yards -- 419 of which came after the catch -- and six TDs.

Turn on the tape from the Horned Frogs' October game against Texas Tech to see all he can do. In the first quarter, he scored on a 35-yard run and a 75-yard catch. I think he could return kicks in the pros, too. Having that versatility and size/speed combination makes me think a little about Cordarrelle Patterson.

There are legitimate concerns about his hands, though. He doesn't always look natural catching the ball, and he has a tendency to body-catch too often. But he's improving there; I see more consistency.


Projection: We could see a bunch of receivers come off the board on Day 2, and Williams has a chance to go at the end of that run. If not, I think he's a really solid fourth-round pick as one of my top-10 receivers in this class.

[JustInTime]

Kiper on Savion;

Wide receiver

Savion Williams, TCU
Williams can do a lot of different things on offense, and a savvy NFL offensive coordinator will find ways to get him the football. TCU lined him up out wide on both sides of the field, in the slot and even as a Wildcat quarterback. He runs hard after the catch and breaks tackles, and he ran a solid 4.48-second 40-yard dash at the combine despite his big (6-foot-4, 222-pound) frame. Williams caught 60 passes last season, totaling 611 yards -- 419 of which came after the catch -- and six TDs.

Turn on the tape from the Horned Frogs' October game against Texas Tech to see all he can do. In the first quarter, he scored on a 35-yard run and a 75-yard catch. I think he could return kicks in the pros, too. Having that versatility and size/speed combination makes me think a little about Cordarrelle Patterson.

There are legitimate concerns about his hands, though. He doesn't always look natural catching the ball, and he has a tendency to body-catch too often. But he's improving there; I see more consistency.


Projection: We could see a bunch of receivers come off the board on Day 2, and Williams has a chance to go at the end of that run. If not, I think he's a really solid fourth-round pick as one of my top-10 receivers in this class.

I posted a link earlier with every attempt Williams had in 24. I defy anyone to watch the full reel and come away with the impression he had bad hands.

[supafreak84]

I posted a link earlier with every attempt Williams had in 24. I defy anyone to watch the full reel and come away with the impression he had bad hands.

I watched him play his first game of the year against Stanford and thought, "there's no way this guy isn't a 1st round pick next April." He could absolutely be one of those players who is better as a pro than was a college player. I still contend that we could use an upgrade at backup receiver positions.

[MaroonBells]

I posted a link earlier with every attempt Williams had in 24. I defy anyone to watch the full reel and come away with the impression he had bad hands.

I haven't watched enough of him to say anything about his hands, but I am more worried about his routes than I am his hands. If he were an accomplished route runner he'd easily be a 1st rounder. I worry he'll end up with the Bears, who may also have Jeanty...not to mention Caleb Williams. That's the last thing I want to see.

[purplefaithful]

What is the Vikings' draft strategy with limited resources?

EAGAN, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings' draft outlook can be boiled down to one sentence: The NFL's oldest team in 2024 has the league's fewest resources to get younger in 2025.

The Vikings head into next week's draft owning a league-low four picks. Unless they acquire additional picks via trade, they will become the 20th team to select four or fewer players since the draft moved to seven rounds in 1994, according to ESPN Research. Ninety-eight percent of teams have made more picks during that 30-year span.

The deficit is self-inflicted and largely the result of two trades the Vikings made last season to acquire linebacker Dallas Turner. But it is also a trend that spans multiple years. If they make their four picks as scheduled next week, the Vikings will have totaled 27 draft selections since general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's arrival in 2022 -- tied for the second-lowest total in the NFL during that span.

"These are things that we've planned out over the course of the past couple years and feel confident about," Adofo-Mensah said on Thursday.

Adofo-Mensah has already dipped into his 2026 pool as well, having traded away likely fourth-round and sixth-round picks to acquire left tackle Cam Robinson and running back Cam Akers last season, respectively. Neither remain with the team.

It begs the question: What should be made of the Vikings' unusual approach to the draft, which NFL teams consider the lifeblood of roster building? The situation, and Minnesota's larger draft performance over the previous three seasons, is a matter of great weight within the team facility.

Owners Zygi and Mark Wilf have yet to finalize a contract extension for Adofo-Mensah, whose deal expires in 12 months, despite the team posting the NFL's sixth-best winning percentage (.667) during his tenure. Poor draft results have forced the team to make massive forays into free agency in the past two offseasons, and the team has committed to a league-high $315 million in cash payroll for 2025, not counting deferrals, according to Roster Management System.

Their roster also had the highest average age based on weighted snaps, and that ranking is unlikely to change after they signed or re-signed five likely starters this spring who are 30 years old or older.

Adofo-Mensah believes that his free agent activity has opened options in the draft, stressing Thursday his desire to "be in a place where we're proactive, not reactive; impact-focused, not need-focused." But drafts are filled with uncertainty, and the odds of finding impact players increases based on the total number of players selected.

That puts Adofo-Mensah's 2024 draft decisions under scrutiny. The Vikings first sent the Houston Texans their second- and sixth-round picks in 2024, and a second-round pick in 2025, to acquire the No. 23 overall pick. Then they used a 2024 fifth-round pick along with third- and fourth-rounders in 2025 to swap No. 23 for No. 17 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. (They also received a 2024 seventh-round pick back from the Texans.)

In total, it took six draft picks to acquire Turner, calculated by ESPN Analytics, roughly double the value of the No. 17 pick alone.

At the time, Adofo-Mensah joked about tossing aside his analytics background as a "spreadsheet and calculator guy." Sometimes, he said, "you've got to step out from there, take your Clark Kent glasses off and just have a championship mindset and swing for a great player."

Turner's playing time as a rookie was blocked by two Pro Bowl edge rushers, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. Turner played 26.8% of snaps, a rate lower than 52 other defensive rookies in the NFL last season.

Asked to revisit the approach Thursday, Adofo-Mensah said he had no regrets. 

He said he acquired the No. 23 pick to avoid a "gun-to-the-head moment" on draft day as the Vikings attempted to ensure they could draft a quarterback. When they didn't need that pick to secure quarterback J.J. McCarthy at No. 10, Adofo-Mensah said he focused on Turner because he didn't know if he would be in position in future years to draft a player the team considered so talented.

"I'm pretty tough on myself, I would say," Adofo-Mensah said. "When you're trying for self-improvement, holding yourself to that standard, we all have that little voice that says, 'we're good enough.' And I'm not scared of questioning that voice every now and, again, to be really hard on myself. But I know exactly why we did those things at the time.

"Ultimately, we don't know how that answer's going to work out, but looking back on it, we feel good about that exact approach and that thought process."

Turner's modest contributions as a rookie illustrated another trend that can't be ignored. The only impact player the Vikings have drafted in the past three seasons is receiver Jordan Addison in 2023. 

McCarthy could join that list as soon as this season, and Turner seems likely to get more opportunities as well. Cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, a third-round pick in 2023 who missed 2024 because of a torn ACL, could resume a key role in 2025.

The 2024 draft's success will ride on the development of McCarthy and Turner. To date, however, the Vikings have gotten just 107 starts from players drafted between 2022-24. That's the second lowest in the league.

Regardless, Adofo-Mensah's job does not appear threatened despite the slow progress on a contract extension -- especially compared to the urgency the Vikings displayed in re-signing coach Kevin O'Connell in January. 

Mark Wilf said as recently as March 31 that there have been "very, very positive conversations" about Adofo-Mensah's future. When asked if an agreement is something he wants to reach, Wilf said: "Yes, it is."

Wilf acknowledged that "free agency has become a more important part of the team building dynamic" and said that draft assessments take two or three years to be made properly.

"Kwesi is part of our football leadership," Wilf said. "We feel great about the moves he's made in terms of positioning, along with coach O'Connell and [executive director of football operations Rob Brzezinski] in terms of our salary cap position, our draft position and potential. And so we have all the faith in Kwesi."

ESPN

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I watched him play his first game of the year against Stanford and thought, "there's no way this guy isn't a 1st round pick next April." He could absolutely be one of those players who is better as a pro than was a college player. I still contend that we could use an upgrade at backup receiver positions.

I haven't watched enough of him to say anything about his hands, but I am more worried about his routes than I am his hands. If he were an accomplished route runner he'd easily be a 1st rounder. I worry he'll end up with the Bears, who may also have Jeanty...not to mention Caleb Williams. That's the last thing I want to see.

I'm hoping Raiders take Jeanty off the table for the Bears...I dont know how much they love (or don't love) Sanders if he makes it to 6. 
Spytek is on record saying they think highly of taking a RB early. Could be subterfuge?

Hey, lets add Henderson and Savion - and celebrate this generations 98 offense & 3 deep. There is something "full circle" about having a buckeye tailback again

[supafreak84]

Interesting article which confirmed what we already knew, and that is Kwesi needs to hit on this draft and get some immediate impact because the results have not been great and his strategies questionable.

[MaroonBells]

Interesting article which confirmed what we already knew, and that is Kwesi needs to hit on this draft and get some immediate impact because the results have not been great and his strategies questionable.

Replicate the impact of the 2023 draft and I'll be a happy man.

[StickierBuns]

Replicate the impact of the 2023 draft and I'll be a happy man.

Then you are easily pleased. That's a low bar. 1 really good pick and 5 others that were gross. Cool. We got the 4th best WR2 and then nothing. I wonder how other WRers might play next to the best WRer in the NFL Justin Jefferson? I'm going to guess very interchangeable.