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Welcome, one and all, to what is likely going to be the final installment of this year's Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database. I know I said I'd like to get another version of this in during draft week, but between family issues I have to attend to and the rest of our draft preparations, it's going to be a mild upset if I'm able to hammer another one of these out between now and then.
We finish with 102 mock drafts in our database for this year, encompassing 103 first-round selections (one of the mocks has the Vikings trading back up into the first round to make a second selection, hence the discrepancy). Here is the full and final list of this year's mocks, sorted by when they were last updated. Selections with a * next to them indicate some sort of trade. Click on the link to that particular draft for a full explanation.
Site | Name | Date | Round 1 (8) | Round 2 (40) | Round 3 (72) | Round 3 (96) |
NFL Draft Geek | Staff | 3-May | Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville* | None (Traded) | Chris Borland, LB, Wisconsin |
Football Draft Analysis | Staff | 3-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
Draft Insiders | Staff | 3-May | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | LaMarcus Joyner, CB, Florida State | Kareem Martin, DE, North Carolina | Ed Reynolds, S, Stanford |
New NFL Draft | Staff | 3-May | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State | Josh Mauro, DE, Stanford | Craig Loston, S, LSU |
CBS Sports | Pat Kirwan | 2-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida* | |||
CBS Sports | Will Brinson | 2-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida* | |||
Walter Football | Walt | 2-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida* | DeMarcus Lawrence, DE, Boise State | Jaylen Watkins, CB, Florida | Craig Loston, S, LSU |
Inside the Iggles | Dave Searles | 2-May | C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama | |||
FF Toolbox | Staff | 2-May | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
East Coast Sports | Al Fronczak | 1-May | Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA | |||
Alpha Football Expert | Staff | 1-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | Ra'Shede Hageman, DT, Minnesota | ||
eDraft | Derrik Klassen | 1-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State | ||
ESPN | Combined | 1-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | LaMarcus Joyner, CB, Florida State | Donte Moncrief, WR, Mississippi | Tre Mason, RB, Auburn |
NESN | Doug Kyed | 1-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | Jason Verrett, CB, TCU | ||
New York Daily News | Gary Myers | 1-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
Only College Sports | Staff | 1-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
XN Sports | Sam Spiegelman | 1-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
Football Fan Spot | Staff | 1-May | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida* | Mike Martin, G, USC | ||
NFL's Future | Staff | 1-May | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | DeMarcus Lawrence, DE, Boise State | ||
Draft Preview | Shawn Baptist | 1-May | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | Chris Borland, LB, Wisconsin | Gabe Jackson, G, Mississippi State | Pierre Desir, CB, Lindenwood |
NFL Rough Draft | Staff | 1-May | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State | Bishop Sankey, RB, Washington | Ed Reynolds, S, Stanford |
The Football Expert | Clint Clearwater | 1-May | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | Trai Turner, G, LSU | Keith McGill, CB, Utah | Jackson Jeffcoat, DE, Texas |
NFL.com | Bucky Brooks | 1-May | Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo | |||
Cover 32 | Tarrell Brown | 30-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
KFFL | Tim Heaney | 30-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
Optimum Scouting | Eric Galko | 30-Apr | Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State | Zach Mettenberger, QB, LSU | ||
Sporting News | Eric Galko | 30-Apr | Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State | |||
DraftCalc | Staff | 30-Apr | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | |||
Sports Bank | Paul Banks | 30-Apr | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | |||
College Sports Madness | Dan Levine | 30-Apr | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | |||
CBS Sports | Pete Prisco | 30-Apr | Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech | |||
Draft Site | D.J. Boyer | 29-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | Kyle van Noy, LB, BYU | Marcus Smith, DE, Louisville | Bruce Ellington, WR, South Carolina |
ESPN | Todd McShay | 29-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | LaMarcus Joyner, CB, Florida State | ||
ESPN | Mel Kiper | 29-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | Kyle van Noy, LB, BYU | ||
Draft Board Guru | Doug Martz | 29-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida* | |||
CBS Atlanta | Robbie Rosenhaus | 29-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville* | Kyle van Noy, LB, BYU | Philip Gaines, CB, Rice* | |
CBS Sports | Dane Brugler | 28-Apr | Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh | |||
CBS Sports | Rob Rang | 28-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
Draft Season | OneBar | 28-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | Jimmie Ward, S, Northern Illinois | ||
Cincinnati Enquirer | Paul Dehner, Jr. | 28-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
SB Nation | Dan Kadar | 28-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | LaMarcus Joyner, CB, Florida State | ||
Ourlads | Staff | 28-Apr | C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama | Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois | ||
Walter Football | Charlie Campbell | 28-Apr | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | Kareem Martin, DE, North Carolina | Cyril Richardson, G, Baylor | Ka'Deem Carey, RB, Arizona |
Draft Wiz | Staff | 27-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | DeMarcus Lawrence, DE, Boise State | ||
Geeking Football | Staff | 27-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | LaMarcus Joyner, CB, Florida State | Donte Moncrief, WR, Mississippi | Lamin Barrow, LB, LSU |
900 Football | Jay Goldberg | 27-Apr | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | Deone Buchanan, S, Washington State | Jeremy Hill, RB, LSU | Gabe Jackson, G, Mississippi State |
Draft King | Lou Pickney | 26-Apr | C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama | |||
Football's Future | Robert Davis | 26-Apr | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | |||
NFL Draft Blitz | Alex Khvatov | 25-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State | Cyril Richardson, G, Baylor | Robert Herron, WR, Wyoming |
Draft Season | Lomas | 25-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State | Carl Bradford, LB, Arizona State | Jeremy Hill, RB, LSU |
NFL.com | Brian Baldinger | 24-Apr | Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA | |||
Breaking Football | Staff | 22-Apr | Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA | |||
Yahoo! Shutdown Corner | Eric Edholm | 22-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | Phillip Gaines, CB, Rice | ||
National Football Post | Greg Gabriel | 22-Apr | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | |||
CNN-SI | Don Banks | 22-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
Fox Sports | Joel Klatt | 22-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
Draft Countdown | Scott Wright | 21-Apr | Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA | Zach Mettenberger, QB, LSU | Deone Buchanan, S, Washington State | Terrance West, RB, Towson |
SB Nation | Matthew Fairburn | 21-Apr | Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA | Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois | ||
Fanspeak | Phil Thompson | 21-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida* | |||
NFL.com | Charles Davis | 21-Apr | C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama | |||
Football Nation | Ryan Hutson | 21-Apr | Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State | |||
Fansided | Josh Sanchez | 19-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
Kansas City Star | Terez Paylor | 19-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
Big Blue View | KSIXI | 18-Apr | Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama | Zach Mettenberger, QB, LSU | ||
Draft Ace | Staff | 18-Apr | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | |||
Cincy Jungle | 12ozProSpective | 18-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
CNN-SI | Chris Burke | 17-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville* | Kyle van Noy, LB, BYU | ||
Vikings Corner | Daniel House | 16-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
DraftTek | Staff | 16-Apr | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | Jace Amaro, TE, Texas Tech | Kelcy Quarles, DT, South Carolina | Chris Smith, DE, Arkansas |
First Round Grade | Bryan Perez | 15-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
Great Blue North | Staff | 15-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State | DeMarcus Lawrence, DE, Boise State | Bruce Ellington, WR, South Carolina |
Rotoworld | Josh Norris | 14-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida* | |||
Draft Season | Lupagus | 14-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | Kony Ealy, DE, Missouri | Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska | Telvin Smith, LB, Florida State |
Big Cat Country | Adam Stites | 11-Apr | C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama | |||
USA Today | Nate Davis | 10-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
NFL.com | Mike Huguenin | 10-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
Sports Unbiased | Zachary Cintron | 10-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | David Yankey, G, Stanford | ||
NFL.com | Daniel Jeremiah | 9-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
Draft Report | Staff | 8-Apr | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | Stephon Tuitt, DE, Notre Dame | ||
NFL.com | Chase Goodbread | 8-Apr | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | |||
NFL Draft Room | Staff | 8-Apr | Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson | |||
The Sideline View | Lance Zierlein | 8-Apr | Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson | |||
Pro Football Talk | Mike Florio | 7-Apr | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida | |||
The Phinsider | Kevin Nogle | 7-Apr | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | |||
Draft Season | Ultimate | 7-Apr | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | Marcus Roberson, CB, Florida | Kareem Martin, DE, North Carolina | Telvin Smith, LB, Florida State |
Bleacher Report | Matt Miller | 4-Apr | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State | Telvin Smith, LB, Florida State | Yawin Smallwood, LB, Connecticut |
The Viking Age | Adam Carlson | 3-Apr | Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo* | |||
CNN-SI | Doug Farrar | 3-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
NFL.com | Matt Smith | 3-Apr | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
Leading the League | Staff | 2-Apr | C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama* | |||
NFL.com | Bryan Fischer | 1-Apr | Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo | |||
Sports By Schmucks | Staff | 28-Mar | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||
Backyard Banter | Matthew Harmon | 25-Mar | Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State* | |||
Pro Player Insiders | Nathan Rickard | 21-Mar | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | |||
Cat Scratch Reader | Stevie Mercury | 21-Mar | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville* | |||
With The First Pick | Staff | 13-Mar | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | |||
Sports Jabber | Staff | 10-Mar | Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA | |||
NFL Draft 101 | Marc Sluis | 10-Mar | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State | Trent Murphy, DE, Stanford | James Hurst, OT, North Carolina | Pierre Desir, CB, Lindenwood |
Tony Softli | Tony Softli | 7-Mar | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M | |||
International Business Times | Anthony Riccobono | 3-Mar | Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA | |||
Vikings Territory | Brett Anderson | 24-Feb | Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo |
As you'd expect, the quarterbacks are still dominating the chart, accounting for 75 of the 103 selections in this version of the database (72.8%). If you think you're seeing a lot more of Blake Bortles in this installment than you have the past few weeks. . .well, that's because you are. Bortles has picked up an absolutely ridiculous wave of momentum over the past week or so, and is now the pick in 33 of the drafts we have listed. He had 13 selections in last week's database, so he has gone up nearly 2.5 times in the past seven days. So, the guy that led the first installment of this year's database winds up being on top of the final version as well.
Bortles' climb has come at the expense of a drop for the other three quarterbacks in our database. Teddy Bridgewater has seen his total fall from 26 selections to 19, Johnny Manziel has dropped from 16 to 13, and Derek Carr has gone from 13 down to 10.
Linebackers remain the second-highest selected position group, appearing 18 times in this week's Mock Draft Database (17.5%). Anthony Barr held on to the lead and held steady with 8 overall selections, while C.J. Mosley picked up one more pick to increase his total to 6. Khalil Mack saw his pick total drop from 6 to 4 since last week.
Cornerbacks have made a bit of a jump up since last week, but only a mild one, as they still only account for five of our 103 selections this time around (4.9%). Justin Gilbert received two votes, as did Darqueze Dennard, who reappeared in the database after a four-week absence. Kyle Fuller held on to his one selection as well.
The wide receivers are now represented by Sammy Watkins alone, as he wound up with two selections in our final database (1.9%), with Mike Evans dropping out of the selections. Aaron Donald also wound up with two selections (1.9%) to hold the fort down for the defensive tackle position. Safety Ha'Sean Clinton Dix stayed in the database this week as well with one selection (1.0%) to represent the safety position.
Overall, since we started this year's process, 18 different players have been mocked to the Minnesota Vikings at the #8 overall spot (or a spot they've traded into) in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Thirteen of those players appear in this final version. That's a far cry from the 40 that appeared in the final version of last year's database, but in 2013 the team was projected to have two first-round picks, and they were picking significantly later which allows for more variance.
Here are the graphics for this installment of the database, starting with the donut graph representing the breakdown of this week's picks. As always. . .say it along with me. . .you may click to embiggen.
And, lastly, the "Jell-o salad" graph for the trends from the entire database, and you can see just how huge a jump Blake Bortles made in this final installment as well as all the ups and downs, appearances and disappearances, of everyone that appeared in this year's database.
And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Your 2014 Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database. I hope you've enjoyed this year's look at what the experts are projecting for our favorite football team, and we're already looking forward to doing next year's version (unless Rick Spielman decides to trade away the team's first-round selection next year or something like that). Thankfully, we're only a few days away from the actual draft, and then the speculation will well and truly be over.