We are officially just 54 days away from the 2016 NFL Draft in Chicago, ladies and gentlemen. With the start of the new league year (and, along with it, the start of free agency) just a few days away, the offseason is about to get into full swing across the league. The 2016 NFL Scouting Combine is also, officially, in the books, and we're starting to see how the impact of that is shaping the views of draft experts everywhere when it comes to what the 32 NFL teams should do.
With today's Database update, we are now up to 50 different perspectives about what the Minnesota Vikings should do with the 23rd overall selection. More importantly, of those 50 drafts, 38 of them have either been updated or added since last week's update, which means we're going to see the impact of the Combine on the stock of various players.
So, without further delay, here are the 50 mock drafts that make up our Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database this week.
Site | Name | Date | Round 1 (23) | Round 2 (54) | Round 3 (86) |
Bigfoot Sports | Staff | 5-Mar | Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State | ||
Sleeper U | Staff | 5-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
Alpha Football | Staff | 4-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | Sterling Shepard, WR, Oklahoma | |
Draft Season | Lupagus | 4-Mar | Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State | Vernon Butler, DT, Louisiana Tech | |
DraftTek | Consensus | 4-Mar | Darron Lee, LB, Ohio State | Miles Killebrew, S, Southern Utah | Kyle Murphy, OT, Stanford |
Kansas City Star | Terez Paylor | 4-Mar | Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State | ||
NFL.com | Lance Zierlein | 4-Mar | Will Fuller, WR, Notre Dame | ||
Scout.com | John Holler | 4-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
The Game Haus | Joey Heisman | 4-Mar | Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State | ||
USA Today | Nate Davis | 4-Mar | Eli Apple, CB, Ohio State | ||
Draft Ace | Ryan McCrystal | 3-Mar | Cody Whitehair, G, Kansas State | Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh | Su'a Cravens, LB, Southern California |
Draft Site | D.J. Boyer | 3-Mar | Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State | Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State | Daryl Worley, CB, West Virginia |
Fox Sports | Peter Schrager | 3-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
NFL.com | Charles Davis | 3-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
Pro Football Focus | Steve Palazzolo | 3-Mar | Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State | ||
Rotoworld | Josh Norris | 3-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
Walter Football | Walter Cherepinsky | 3-Mar | Laquon Treadwell, WR, Mississippi | Vadal Alexander, G, Louisiana State | Sean Davis, S, Maryland |
Yahoo! Shutdown Corner | Eric Edholm | 3-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
CBS Sports | Will Brinson | 2-Mar | Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor | ||
Draft King | Lou Pickney | 2-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
Draft Utopia | Chris Ransom | 2-Mar | Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State | Su'a Cravens, LB, Southern California | Jordan Jenkins, LB, Georgia |
ESPN | Todd McShay | 2-Mar | Vonn Bell, S, Ohio State | ||
NESN | Staff | 2-Mar | Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh | ||
NFL.com | Bucky Brooks | 2-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
San Diego Union-Tribune | Eddie Brown | 2-Mar | Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor | Su'a Cravens, LB, Southern California | Karl Joseph, S, West Virginia |
SI.com | Chris Burke | 2-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
The Sports Bank | Paul Banks | 2-Mar | Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State | ||
CBS Sports | Pete Prisco | 1-Mar | Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State | ||
CBS Sports | Rob Rang | 1-Mar | Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State | ||
CBS Sports | Dane Brugler | 1-Mar | Cody Whitehair, G, Kansas State | ||
Music City Miracles | Terry Lambert | 1-Mar | Laquon Treadwell, WR, Mississippi | ||
NFL.com | Daniel Jeremiah | 1-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
Sporting News | Eric Galko | 1-Mar | Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama | ||
Tankathon | Staff | 1-Mar | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
College Football Metrics | R.C. Fisher | 29-Feb | Laquon Treadwell, WR, Mississippi | Miles Killebrew, S, Southern Utah | Vadal Alexander, G, Louisiana State |
Draft Season | Onebar | 29-Feb | Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State | ||
SB Nation | Dan Kadar | 29-Feb | Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State | ||
BFLO360 | BFLO | 28-Feb | Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State | ||
Riggo's Rag | Maurice Barksdale | 23-Feb | Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State | ||
The Big Lead | Jason McIntyre | 22-Feb | Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State | ||
Walter Football | Charlie Campbell | 22-Feb | Darron Lee, LB, Ohio State | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | James Bradberry, S, Samford |
EDS Football | Kevin Hanson | 19-Feb | Darron Lee, LB, Ohio State | ||
Breaking Football | Keet Bailey | 18-Feb | Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor | ||
Draft Season | Ultimate | 18-Feb | Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State | ||
ESPN | Mel Kiper | 18-Feb | Cody Whitehair, G, Kansas State | ||
NFL.com | Chad Reuter | 17-Feb | Josh Doctson, WR, Texas Christian | ||
Fanspeak | Steve Shoup | 16-Feb | Darron Lee, LB, Ohio State | ||
Football's Future | Robert Davis | 13-Feb | Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State | ||
24/7 Sports | Staff | 12-Feb | Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State | Sterling Shepard, WR, Oklahoma | |
Cover32 | Staff | 12-Feb | Mackensie Alexander, CB, Clemson |
We have a few new names this week, as well as a couple of players that have dropped off the chart. Let's hit the breakdown.
Not surprisingly, the wide receiver position continues to dominate the discussion for Minnesota, given a weak free agent crop at the position. What is surprising is the leap that one particular player has taken, and that's Josh Doctson of Texas Christian. Doctson blistered the Combine last weekend, and jumped from three selections last week to a whopping 13 in this week's Database (26%). We saw something similiar following last year's combine, when cornerback Trae Waynes made a huge jump after an outstanding showing in Indianapolis. Waynes didn't take the overall lead for a while, but he did make a significant post-Combine leap. Michael Thomas of THE. . .dramatic pause. . .Ohio State University took a bit of a fall, going from nine selections last week to just seven this time (14%). Laquon Treadwell of Mississippi saw a slight rise this week, going from two selections to three (6%). Corey Coleman of Baylor held on to his three selections from last week (6%), and Tyler Boyd of Pitt held steady as well at one selection (2%). The new face at the wide receiver spot this week is Will Fuller of Notre Dame, who appeared in one mock in our Database (2%). Overall, the wide receivers take up have of the donut for the Database this week, picking up 28 of the 50 selections (56%).
The offensive line represents the next largest group this week, as they picked up 13 of our 50 selections (26%). The top spot at the position is held by a couple of guys from the B1G, as Taylor Decker of Ohio State and Jack Conklin of Michigan State are in a tie for the lead. They both picked up five selections in this week's Database (10% each). That's a two-pick increase for Conklin and a one-pick increase for Decker from last week. After a weaker than expected showing in Indy, Cody Whitehair of Kansas State lost a little bit of steam, falling from four selections last week to three this week (6%). Offensive tackle Jason Spriggs of Indiana is no longer in our database after appearing once last week.
Next up is the linebacker position, which is again represented by just one player. Su'a Cravens of USC does not appear as a first round selection for the Vikings this week (though he does appear several times in later rounds), so we're back to Darron Lee of Ohio State being the lone rep at the position. He did see a pretty sizeable drop, however, falling from seven selections in last week's Database to just four this week (8%).
Following them, we have the defensive backs, with three total selections (6%) split among three players. Mackensie Alexander of Clemson held steady with one selection, and we have two more Buckeyes in the Database this week. Both safety Vonn Bell and cornerback Eli Apple are making their debut this week in our Database.
The defensive line had one selection this week (2%), but it belongs to a different player than it did previously. Sheldon Rankins of Louisville is no longer in our Database, and he has been replaced by defensive end Shilique Calhoun of Michigan State.
And, yes, we finally have a running back appearance in our database, as one courageous soul mocked the Vikings to select Derrick Henry of Alabama with their first round selection (2%).
To review:
Debuting this week: Will Fuller, Shilique Calhoun, Eli Apple, Vonn Bell, Derrick Henry
Dropping out this week: Jason Spriggs, Sheldon Rankins, Su'a Cravens
So, let's get this in visual form, shall we? Let's start with this week's donut for what we've seen in this week's Database by itself.
Hopefully the names that go with each slice are fairly easy to read. We had to move some of them around a bit because they didn't show up quite as well against the background colors.
Now, for the first time this year, we have the "Jell-o salad" graph to depict how players are trending from one week to the next.
If that one's a little tougher to read, you can get a full-sized version of it right here. You can see the significant jump for Doctson this week, and the fact that the purple (for wide receivers) is dominating the chart at this point. I'd be surprised if that were to change at any point in the pre-draft process.
But that's what we have around the world of NFL Mock Drafts and what they see for the Minnesota Vikings this week, folks. We'll be back next Saturday with our weekly update.