2014 NFL Draft Do-Over: Two Minnesota Vikings In Top Ten Picks

With the benefit of a season and a half of hindsight, the folks over at NFL.com put together a do-over of the 2014 NFL Draft if it were to be re-done, knowing what they know now. With the do-over, two members of the Minnesota Vikings' 2014 draft class have found their way into the top ten.

The first current Viking that goes off the board in this redone draft is not, in fact, linebacker Anthony Barr, but rather quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Lance Zierlein, who put the new selection order together, has Bridgewater coming off the board at #7 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The logic behind the selection, according to Zierlein, is that with this being the 2014 Draft, Jameis Winston would not yet be in the picture and the Buccaneers would still be in need of a quarterback. Given the way Bridgewater has progressed so far this season, it might surprise some folks to see that at least one person thinks that Bridgewater is worthy of a top ten selection. It doesn't surprise me, or probably anyone else that actually watches the Vikings play football, but there you go.

Thankfully, in this redone draft, the Vikings still manage to land Barr, who Zierlein still has going to Minnesota at #9 overall. Zierlein keeps the Cleveland Browns at #8, which is where they were after their trade-up with Minnesota on draft night, but he has the Browns passing on Barr. . .again. . .to select wide receiver Sammy Watkins.

We've seen early on how good the Vikings' 2015 draft class has been so far, with Eric Kendricks, T.J. Clemmings, Danielle Hunter, and Stefon Diggs all making early contributions. If NFL.com has a 2015 NFL Draft do-over at around this time next year, it will be interesting to see how many of those players end up in the first round. But, for now, we have to settle for knowing that the Vikings' top two picks in 2014 have stood out among their peers to this point in their NFL journey.