Waiting too long to get your Vikings in fantasy football might be a mistake

We’re about two and a half months from the start of Training Camp for the 2018 NFL season, and that means we’re even further away from the start of fantasy football drafts from coast to coast. If a new mock that came out on Thursday from NFL.com is any indication, it doesn’t appear you’re going to want to wait too long before getting any members of the Minnesota Vikings on your squad.

(Yes, we don’t have actual mock drafts any more. We now have fantasy football mocks. Yes, it’s the offseason.)

The experts from the NFL’s official website put together a 12-team PPR (point per reception) league and did a draft based on the way they see things right now. So, where do they see the main components of our favorite football team going?

Well, they have three members of the Vikings going off the board in the first two rounds. . .something that we haven’t seen in a long time. Running back Dalvin Cook was the first member of the purple to go off the board, getting selected at #20 overall. The next two Vikings went off the board not long after, as wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen went back-to-back at picks #23 and #24.

Interesting that Diggs went ahead of Thielen, despite the fact that Thielen was the much more productive receiver this past season. Diggs has had some injury issues in each of the past couple of seasons, but if he stays healthy, he could have the sort of numbers that Thielen did last year, that’s for sure.

The next member of the team off the board was a bit of a surprise, or at least it was to me. Tight end Kyle Rudolph was the next Viking drafted, and he didn’t go until pick #93. He was the ninth tight end taken in the mock, meaning that he’s still viewed as a #1 tight end, which isn’t bad. Kirk Cousins does like to make use of the tight ends, though, so maybe Rudolph is in for a big year.

Speaking of Cousins, he didn’t wind up going until Round 12, the 137th overall pick. He was the tenth quarterback drafted, so one team is expecting him to be their primary starter. If the Vikings’ offense puts together the sort of performance that would justify three of their skill position players going in the first two rounds of a fantasy football draft, it would appear that getting Cousins that late would be a steal.

The Vikings’ other running back, Latavius Murray, was drafted in Round 13 (by the same team that drafted Cook, which is probably a smart move). The Minnesota defense was the third defense off the board in the mock, despite being taken all the way down in Round 14 of a 16-round draft.

In recent years, the Vikings’ offense (with the obvious exception of Adrian Peterson) hasn’t really been explosive enough to justify a lot of high-level selections in fantasy leagues. It would appear, however, that this is going to be the year that changes significantly.