The weekly mothership mock draft is out, and our own Dan Kadar has expanded it to three rounds. For those of you who think I'm the ultimate OSU homer when I do these things, just wait until you see who Dan mocks to the Vikings in two of his three picks.
But first, let's set the board for the first round. He projects WR's Laquon Treadwell and Josh Doctson to be off the board, and I've been with this line of thinking for awhile. But Dan still likes the Vikings to go WR, so, he calls:
23. Minnesota Vikings - Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State
Even with Doctson and Treadwell gone, the Vikings still have some good wide receiver options in the first round. I give Thomas the nod because he's a bigger receiver than Corey Coleman of Baylor and gives the Vikings a good possession-type receiver who can go up and make difficult catches.
If you're on the wide receiver bandwagon, Thomas is the best one remaining, and I actually think he might be a better pro WR than Doctson, but that's just me. I also find it interesting that the Vikings are part of a run on wide receivers in the back end of the first round, with Doctson, Thomas, and Baylor's Corey Coleman going in succession (Treadwell was long gone to the Rams at 15).
I think Dan is right that there's going to be a run on wide receivers, but I think it might actually be earlier, although who really knows how this pans out until it actually does, right? Either way, WR still seems to be the near consensus position the Vikings will go in the first round, and with Doctson and Treadwell off the board, Thomas is a great option here.
He also seems to believe (as do I) the Vikings will now forego offensive line (he has projected OL in past mocks) in the first round based on what they did in free agency. However, with Taylor Decker and Jason Spriggs still on the board, OT could still be an option for the Vikings here, too.
BUT THE SECOND ROUND IS WHERE I GROW TO LOVE DAN WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO:
54. Minnesota Vikings - Joshua Perry, OLB, Ohio State
Okay, enough joking around about OSU homerism here. For those of you that read my draft posts (and why you do I'll never know, but thanks) you know I've thought the Vikings still want defense in the first round, for a couple reasons. For one, I believe there's more defensive players in the draft that have the potential to be solid pros than on offense, and Mike Zimmer is a defense first guy. It's hard to argue with his results and the transformation of the Minnesota defense over the last two years, which makes me think LB is the target in the first round.
All that aside, if Minnesota does go offense in the first round, defense is still a big possibility here, and with the way Dan's draft unfolds, Perry is a great pick here. He's a guy you can work into a rotation right away, can play inside or outside, and is a sound, fundamental tackler.
Finally, his third round pick gets the Vikings a guy at a position the Vikings addressed in free agency, but still needs help:
86. Minnesota Vikings - Justin Simmons, S, Boston College
Again, another pick I like. If you're a person that thinks safety needs to be addressed before the third round, I can get behind this sentiment if you give me a convincing argument. I don't think re-signing Andrew Sendejo was the right answer, nor was signing Michael Griffin from the Titans in free agency. That makes this a position that needs to be addressed early, and if you think the second round is an option then you're potentially looking at guys like Vonn Bell, Karl Joseph, Darian Thompson, and Jeremy Cash. I don't know that safety is as coveted a position early on like WR or even offensive line is trending to be this year, so the chance of one of those other safeties being available is pretty decent. In my 2.0 mock I linked to earlier, I was able to grab Bell in the third round, for example.
Still, Simmons is a good pick here, and it's three good picks for the Vikings if the board falls this way.