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We are finally. . .mercifully. . .just two weeks away from the start of the 2017 NFL Draft. While a lot of mock drafts don’t reach where the Minnesota Vikings are projected to have their first selection, one of the draft experts that resides behind the great E$PN paywall has put together a mock that gives us a few of the team’s selections.
Todd McShay has put together a three-round mock draft (with no trades other than deals that have already been completed), and has the Vikings addressing what might be their three primary needs with those selections.
With the first of their three picks, McShay has the Vikings selecting offensive lineman Dion Dawkins out of Temple University. Dawkins played tackle for the Owls this past season, but according to McShay lined up as a guard at the Senior Bowl. Most seem to think that’s his best fit at the NFL level, and if the Vikings took him here he’d probably be penciled in to the starting right guard spot.
Next, with the first of their two third-round selections, McShay has the purple filling a hole at defensive tackle with the selection of Jaleel Johnson from the University of Iowa. Johnson is a very good pass rusher from the defensive tackle spot, though he’s not great against the run. The Vikings are going to need help at that spot depending on the status of Sharrif Floyd and Tom Johnson going forward.
With their other third-round pick, the one acquired from the Miami Dolphins, the Vikings tab a running back. The pick here from McShay is Texas running back D’Onta Foreman, who we’ve talked about a few times in this space before. Foreman is a bruiser at 250 pounds, and while he doesn’t offer a lot in the passing game at this point, his skills as a runner are very good. The Vikings could put him into the rotation with Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon early on with favorable results, in my opinion.
That’s what Todd McShay sees the Vikings doing in the first three rounds of this year’s NFL Draft. What do you think of his selections?