Kiper updated Big Board

supafreak84 wrote:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2026/story/_/id/46573669/2026-nfl-draft-rankings-mel-kiper-big-board-top-prospects-players-positions

The Dante Moore decision will be an interesting one. All reports are he planned to return next year to Oregon, but hard to turn down being a top 3 pick

Its early, but it would be nice to have a shot at Mansoor Delane...

I haven't watched anything yet, but just going off of his list, here's how I'd rank the players in terms of our needs. A lot will change between now and April, but it's a fair bet one of these players is wearing purple next year. 

Arvel Reese, LB
Caleb Downs. S
Sonny Styles, LB
Jeremiyah Love, RB
Jermod McCoy, CB
Mansoor Delane, CB
Kelly Jones, CB
Peter Woods, DT

Living in Oregon, with friends that are connected to ducks program everyone expects moore to return.

There isn't a compelling reason for him to leave.

With NIL money, especially in Oregon, players are not as desperate to leave college as they are already becoming extremely wealthy. I think it would be a smart move my Moore to stay in school. I remember when Darnold came out, I did not think he was ready, there were a lot of weaknesses in his game that he needed to work out and really thought he should have stayed another year, but the allure of being a top 3 pick at that time was too much. I always wondered if he had stayed in school another year if his career in the NFL may have started out much differently. Look at the NBA where some of these kids coming out so early end up failing immediately and are never able to catch up.

Mattyman wrote:
Living in Oregon, with friends that are connected to ducks program everyone expects moore to return.

There isn't a compelling reason for him to leave.

I mean, being the #1 overall pick in the draft is fairly compelling. Some teams will like him better then Mendoza. That's where his stock is at currently with more games to play. If he returns to college, who knows how it goes but he would certainly thrust himself into a deeper and better draft crop of quarterbacks. As much as it makes sense in some aspects to return to college, declaring for the draft where he is a surefire top 5 pick makes even more sense.

MaroonBells wrote:
I haven't watched anything yet, but just going off of his list, here's how I'd rank the players in terms of our needs. A lot will change between now and April, but it's a fair bet one of these players is wearing purple next year. 

Arvel Reese, LB
Caleb Downs. S
Sonny Styles, LB
Jeremiyah Love, RB
Jermod McCoy, CB
Mansoor Delane, CB
Kelly Jones, CB
Peter Woods, DT

At least half of those guys (probably more) will be gone by the time the Vikings pick

MaroonBells wrote:
I haven't watched anything yet, but just going off of his list, here's how I'd rank the players in terms of our needs. A lot will change between now and April, but it's a fair bet one of these players is wearing purple next year. 

Arvel Reese, LB
Caleb Downs. S
Sonny Styles, LB
Jeremiyah Love, RB
Jermod McCoy, CB
Mansoor Delane, CB
Kelly Jones, CB
Peter Woods, DT

I like Styles and Delane is the CB I want the most if we go CB in the first.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2026/story/_/id/47503334/2026-nfl-mock-draft-first-round-predictions-32-picks-jordan-reid

Jordan Reid at ESPN just released his new mock draft. I think you'll see a lot of variations of different mocks having us taking a corner at #18 much like everyone had us taking a safety last year. Certainly a need there and would make some sense, but there will be some defensive lineman of interest in that area, maybe the TE Sadiq if Hockenson is cut, or I still think it's possible we look at offensive line again. The offense and JJ McCarthy certainly need the most help.

If the Oregon kid can really go top 3 or 1 overall and this isn't a Shedeur Sanders headfake, he'd be insane to return to school. The only thing that would give me pause if I was Moore, would be the prospect of going to the Jets. If NYJ drafted and planned to start a barely legal to drink Moore on Day 1, that is a recipe for disaster if there ever was one.

The Vikings need help at a lot of positions but likely won't be DESPERATE at any positions after free agency. Maybe Safety? BPA at CB, S, LB, OL, TE, DT, RB would all make sense to me. Just draft someone who can play please!

pattersaur wrote:
If the Oregon kid can really go top 3 or 1 overall and this isn't a Shedeur Sanders headfake, he'd be insane to return to school. The only thing that would give me pause if I was Moore, would be the prospect of going to the Jets. If NYJ drafted and planned to start a barely legal to drink Moore on Day 1, that is a recipe for disaster if there ever was one.

The Vikings need help at a lot of positions but likely won't be DESPERATE at any positions after free agency. Maybe Safety? BPA at CB, S, LB, OL, TE, DT, RB would all make sense to me. Just draft someone who can play please!

I was just listening to McShay talk about this very situation on his podcast the other day. He said nobody wants to go to the Jets for obvious reasons and if he were Danta Moores agent or representative, he'd contact the Raiders and gauge their interest in drafting Moore should he declare for the draft.i could also see a situation where if he did declare, pulling an Eli and try to force his way to Arizona or Miami.

The distinction of being the number 1 overall pick to a bad organization doesn't interest Moore.

After black Monday and all the coaching changes coming it's not complicated , why moote will stay at Oregon.

Mattyman wrote:
Living in Oregon, with friends that are connected to ducks program everyone expects moore to return.

There isn't a compelling reason for him to leave.

I would agree...especially in the age of NIL, if a kid can make $millions now by staying in college another year, it reduces the temptation to jump to the NFL for big bucks.  

A bird in hand.

IF you are going to be a top 3-4 pick? Chances are high you are going to a bad org..Especially at QB

This year is no exception:

Raiders
Jets
Cards
Titans
Giants
Cleveland

Any surprises in this top 6? Looks pretty familiar to me

purplefaithful wrote:

Its early, but it would be nice to have a shot at Mansoor Delane...

I love Delane. However, I think we played ourselves out of a shot at him at 18. I do really like Brandon Cisse from South Carolina. I think he is a special player.

I would take an OT, ours are on the sidelines too much.

FLVike wrote:
I would take an OT, ours are on the sidelines too much.

They are probably the best tandem in the league

Montana Tom wrote:

I would agree...especially in the age of NIL, if a kid can make $millions now by staying in college another year, it reduces the temptation to jump to the NFL for big bucks.  

A bird in hand.

I was told he's going to d sign a deal with Nike. 

With that and nil money he can take out a major insurance policy thrul loyds of London. 

Ducks roster will be improved next year. Be interesting to see how many players declare early.

That More is a red shirt sophomore and only 20 years old is part of it, He only  weighs 205 lbs.....

FLVike wrote:
I would take an OT, ours are on the sidelines too much.

I mentioned the Vikings might be wise to take a tackle early because of the constant injury concerns along our line. Alec Lewis had this to say regarding Christian Darrisaw;

"Lewis also noted that team must spend the next few months ensuring Darrisaw will have a "normal schedule next season" and "any lingering uncertainty would dictate their being aggressive at the tackle position, either via the draft or free agency."

To me, the Darrisaw situation was one of the stranger stories of the year. The fact that there is still potential "lingering concern" about his health status for next season is highly concerning

supafreak84 wrote:

I mentioned the Vikings might be wise to take a tackle early because of the constant injury concerns along our line. Alec Lewis had this to say regarding Christian Darrisaw;

"Lewis also noted that team must spend the next few months ensuring Darrisaw will have a "normal schedule next season" and "any lingering uncertainty would dictate their being aggressive at the tackle position, either via the draft or free agency."

To me, the Darrisaw situation was one of the stranger stories of the year. The fact that there is still potential "lingering concern" about his health status for next season is highly concerning

What Lewis says doesn't make a lot of sense. The earliest we're going to have any real, usable information about Darrisaw that would eliminate "uncertainty" is OTAs and Minicamp, both of which occur well after the draft and free agency. If the Vikings don't have the highest paid tackle tandem in the NFL, they're not far off. Imagine the foolishness of adding a free agent left tackle to that. And why would he sign here in the first place? 

Darrisaw probably just needs some time away from the daily grind.

MaroonBells wrote:

What Lewis says doesn't make a lot of sense. The earliest we're going to have any real, usable information about Darrisaw that would eliminate "uncertainty" is OTAs and Minicamp, both of which occur well after the draft and free agency. If the Vikings don't have the highest paid tackle tandem in the NFL, they're not far off. Imagine the foolishness of adding a free agent left tackle to that. And why would he sign here in the first place? 

Darrisaw probably just needs some time away from the daily grind.

I'm guessing they are wanting him in the building this offseason recovering and monitoring his recovery as it didnt go as expected this season. If they have concerns about the long term health of that knee, they'll know and can address the position accordingly.

MaroonBells wrote:

What Lewis says doesn't make a lot of sense. The earliest we're going to have any real, usable information about Darrisaw that would eliminate "uncertainty" is OTAs and Minicamp, both of which occur well after the draft and free agency. If the Vikings don't have the highest paid tackle tandem in the NFL, they're not far off. Imagine the foolishness of adding a free agent left tackle to that. And why would he sign here in the first place? 

Darrisaw probably just needs some time away from the daily grind.

The way he just kinda dipped out of the Lions game this year and I think one other game seemed odd. Seems like at least some of it was mental stuff this year, in addition to a big man coming back from a big injury.

Hopefully he's ready to rock next season. If not then yeah, OT would became a huge need. But I think he'll be good.