Looking At Big Blue View’s Seven-Round Mock For Minnesota

Since we are getting into that season. . .notice Ted doing a full Minnesota Vikings-centric mock draft yesterday. . .we’ve found another mock to break down and see what they have predicted for the purple and gold when the draft starts next month.

(Yes, the draft is. . .mercifully. . .about a month away. Finally.)

Our friends over at SB Nation’s site for the New York Giants, Big Blue View, have put together a full seven-round mock draft for us to peruse. Since this is a mock that actually goes beyond Round 1, it’s actually useful to us as Vikings fans. So, who do the folks from BBV have the Vikings drafting this year? Let’s break it down here.

Round 2, Pick 48 - Dan Feeney, G, Indiana

After addressing the tackle positions in free agency, virtual Rick Spielman uses the Vikings’ first selection to address the interior of the offensive line. Feeney is one of the top guards in this year’s draft class, and is the first player in this mock that’s listed as a guard to come off of the board. (There are some players that go before him that might not have defined positions but could end up at guard.) If Feeney was available at pick #48, he’d be a smart pick for Minnesota, and would probably slot in as the Day 1 starter at right guard. I have no problem with this selection.

Round 3, Pick 80 - Duke Riley, LB, Louisiana State

With the retirement of Chad Greenway, the Vikings look to grab his replacement with the first of their two third-round selections. Riley only started for one season at LSU, but was a pretty consistent producer and projects as a weakside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme like Minnesota’s. Selecting someone like Riley would mean that the Vikings intend to keep Eric Kendricks in the middle linebacker role, and I assume that Riley would come off the field in nickel situations.

Round 3, Pick 86 (from Miami) - Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State

The Vikings have a pair of solid receivers in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, but as things stand right now they don’t really have a guy that can stretch the field. That’s the role that Godwin would play in the Minnesota offense should he wind up here. According to the folks from Pro Football Focus, Godwin had 14 catches for 504 yards and seven scores on passes that traveled 20 yards or more down the field. PFF also tells us that he’s good at making contested catches, which is another dimension the Vikings’ offense could use.

Round 4, Pick 121 - Ryan Glasgow, DT, Michigan

The defensive tackle situation for the Vikings is in a bit of flux. Sure, Linval Joseph is a monster, but Tom Johnson is coming off of an injury (and is getting older) and nobody knows for sure what’s going on with Sharrif Floyd at this point, so this could be a priority position. Glasgow projects as more of a run stopper than a pass rushing threat at this point, but that’s the sort of player Minnesota needs on the inside as a part of their tackle rotation. His brother, Graham, is a guard for the Detroit Lions, so this pick gives them the opportunity to meet up a couple of times a year.

Round 4, Pick 129 (from Miami) - Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami (FL)

Speaking of positions that are in flux, we have the quarterback situation. Sam Bradford is in the starter’s chair right now, but that’s about all we know. Nobody knows when or if Teddy Bridgewater will be back for sure, and the team has no idea what they have in Taylor Heinicke yet. So, grabbing a quarterback for backup/developmental purposes is something the Vikings are going to have to look at later in the draft. Kaaya isn’t in the top tier of quarterbacks in this year’s draft, but he does have some potential.

Fun fact: Kaaya’s mother, Angela Means Kaaya, used to be an actress. You’ve probably seen her before. . .she played Felisha in the movie Friday. (As in, “Bye, Felisha.”) That’s how IMDB has Felisha spelled, anyway, so that’s what I’m going with.

Round 5, Pick 160 - Avery Moss, DE, Youngstown State

The Vikings dip into the small school ranks with this pick, as they grab a former Nebraska Cornhusker that followed his coach, Bo Pelini, from Lincoln to Youngstown State. Part of the reason that he was a former Husker is. . .well, because Nebraska kicked him out after he was charged with public indecency and disturbing the peace. Other than that, I don’t know a whole lot about Moss other than his stat line, which shows that he had 10 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss for Youngstown State in 2016. He sounds like someone the Vikings might think they could develop if his off-field issues have disappeared.

Round 6, Pick 199 - Tarik Cohen, RB, North Carolina A&T

It took a while, but this draft finally has the Vikings addressing their need at the running back position. I’ll be honest. . .I’d probably have difficulty picking Cohen out of a two-person lineup consisting of him and my next door neighbor, so I don’t know a whole lot about him. From what I can find about him on various scouting sites, he’s a smaller back (like 5’6”, 175 small) and sounds like he’d project as more of a change of pace/return specialist at the NFL level. With the signing of Latavius Murray, that might be the sort of back the Vikings are looking for to put in the backfield with Murray and Jerick McKinnon.

Round 7, Pick 232 - Jay Guillermo, C, Clemson

Minnesota finally gets back to the offensive line with their final pick in the draft. Guillermo was named to the AP-All Bowl team after his performance in Clemson’s win over Ohio State, but beyond that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot out there about him. With the Vikings’ offensive line issues and Joe Berger not getting any younger, it couldn’t hurt to take a flyer on someone like Guillermo later on in the draft.

Overall, I don’t think this is a bad collection of picks for the Vikings. I might like them to get a running back a little earlier than this projection does, and maybe another offensive lineman higher up in the draft, but overall I think this would be a decent draft for the Vikings if things materialized this way.

(They won’t.)

What do you think of Big Blue View’s mock draft and how things fell for the Vikings?