2015 Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database: Pre-Combine Edition

Before the excitement of guys running around in shorts and t-shirts and jumping really high that is the NFL Scouting Combine descends upon us next week, it's time to fire up the 2015 version of the Minnesota Vikings' Mock Draft Database.

We've started relatively small, as we always do, with 30 mock drafts from around the internet to kick things off. These come from a wide range of sources and levels of expertise. . .well, as much expertise as one can have in the art of the mock draft, in any case. Let's take a look at what these 30 mock drafters have for the Pre-Combine edition of our database.

For now, we have these sorted by the date they were last updated, with the newest ones at the top.

As you can see, there is one choice that absolutely dominates the first-round projections for our favorite football team. Overall, however, there are eleven different names at six different positions projected in the first round for the Minnesota Vikings. In last year's Pre-Combine database, there were only seven at two different positions (quarterback and linebacker), so there is significantly more diversity this year despite the Vikings only being three spots farther down in the selection order.

Of the 30 mock drafts that we've selected for our Pre-Combine database, a whopping 19 of them have the Vikings taking a wide receiver with their first pick. That's about a 63% selection rate for the wide receiver position, far more than all the other positions in this database combined. The overwhelming favorite at this point is Louisville wide receiver DeVante Parker, who appears 13 times. That's 43% of our mock drafts that have the Vikings reuniting Parker with his former Louisville teammate, Teddy Bridgewater. Kevin White of West Virginia comes in second among wide receivers, and second in our database overall, with five selections, or right around 17% of selections. There was also one selection for Amari Cooper out of Alabama (3%).

The only other position with multiple players and multiple selections is the offensive line, which garnered eight of the 30 selections in this Pre-Combine database. So, approximately 27% of our mock drafters think the Vikings need to shore up the offensive line. The most popular pick among the offensive linemen so far is Iowa guard/tackle Brandon Scherff, who appears three times (10%). Pittsburgh offensive tackle T.J. Clemmings comes away with two selections this time around (7%), while La'el Collins of LSU and Andrus Peat of Stanford each come away with one selection (3% each).

There are four positions that had one player receiving one selection this time around, or approximately 3% of the proverbial pie. The defensive tackles are represented by Danny Shelton of Washington, the safeties by Landon Collins of Alabama, the cornerbacks by Trae Waynes of Michigan State, and the linebackers by Shelton's Washington teammate, Shaq Thompson. I'm classing Thompson as a linebacker for the purposes of the database because that's where he's said he'd prefer to play.

So, those of you that have followed the database over the past couple of years know that they're usually accompanied by two different graphs that focus on the Vikings' first-round pick. One of these two graphs, lovingly referred to as the "Jell-o Salad graph," shows the trends of players rising and falling in our database throughout the pre-draft process, is not going to be appearing in this version because. . .well, because one database isn't really enough to do a "trend." We'll start that with either v1.0 of the database next week or v2.0 two weeks from now.

We do, however, have our "donut graph," which shows which percentage of the current database each player listed holds. Here's a look at that now.

As we have in past years, we've grouped the different position groups by color. In this year's database, we'll be going with the following color scheme:

Wide receivers - Purples
Offensive linemen - Greens
Defensive linemen - Reds
Defensive backs - Blues
Linebackers - Oranges/yellows
Running backs - Blacks/grays (not represented in the Pre-Combine database)
Quarterbacks - AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA like this team is taking a quarterback in the first round TEDDY RULZ!

As I mentioned in the introduction a couple of days ago, as we get closer to the 2015 NFL Draft, we will be adding more mocks to our database. Last year, by the end of the process, we wound up at 102 overall mocks, representing a wide range of experience across the spectrum. We will get up to either v10.0 or v11.0 this year, depending on whether or not we can manage to squeeze one in on the day of the draft itself. Either way, by the end of the process, we'll have the most comprehensive database of mock draft picks for the Minnesota Vikings that you'll find anywhere.

We hope that you'll be making us your go-to place for Minnesota Vikings draft information leading up to the 2015 NFL Draft in Chicago (not New York, but Chicago) on 30 April. For now, enjoy the first version of this year's Mock Draft Database!