Kiper, McShay Mocks Have Vikings Going Different Directions

For the first time this offseason, the draft experts from ESPN have done mock drafts that are actually long enough for fans of the Minnesota Vikings to care about, and they each have different ideas on which way the team should go with the 48th overall selection.

Behind the great E$PN paywall, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have each done a two-round mock draft, which means that the Vikings actually get to participate. Surprisingly, neither of them have the Vikings selecting an offensive lineman at #48.

We’ll start with Kiper, who actually has the Vikings addressing the wide receiver position in Round 2 with the selection of JuJu Smith-Schuster out of the University of Southern California.

The Vikings got only one catch out of their first-round pick from last year (Laquon Treadwell), and so they could use another wideout. Smith-Schuster had an inconsistent season, but he has No. 1 potential. He had 20 touchdowns the past two seasons.

Smith-Schuster is an interesting case. The folks from NFL.com compare him to Anquan Boldin, in that he doesn’t have great speed but does have very good hands with enough physical ability to allow him to win contested catches. His profile that’s linked above says that he’d be best served as a complement for a team that has a speedy receiver on the outside. . .something that I’m not completely sure the Vikings have right now.

McShay, on the other hand, has the Vikings selecting Florida defensive tackle Caleb Brantley at #48.

A highly disruptive interior run defender, Brandley posted 16 total tackles for loss the past two seasons. He also showed more flashes as a pass-rusher than his 5.5 sacks since 2015 would suggest.

Again, according to his NFL.com profile, Brantley has played less than half of Florida’s defensive snaps in any given year, but has still shown the ability to be a disruptor in the run game. His pro comparison on that profile is Aaron Donald, so. . .yeah, if the Vikings were guaranteed to get that in the second round, that would be nice. Who knows if Brantley can actually be that sort of player long-term?

That’s who the folks at ESPN have the Vikings selecting in Round 2, ladies and gentlemen. What do you think?