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2021 Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database, v9.0 (FINAL)

Who comes out on top in our final compilation?

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Arizona State v USC Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

It’s Draft Day, everyone! We made it! We really, really made it.

As promised, I have cobbled together one last version of this year’s Mock Draft Database to see who the experts everywhere have the Minnesota Vikings selecting in tonight’s first round. It’s still about nine hours until draft time, so a few of these mocks might update between now and the time the ceremonial booing of Roger Goodell gets underway, but for the most part this should be a pretty solid gauge of where the experts see the Vikings going.

With that, here are the 100 mocks that make up the final version of the 2021 Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database. Nearly all of these have been updated within the past couple of days, so this is going to be about as hot and fresh as it gets. Mocks that involve the Vikings making a trade are shown in italics, while mocks that have them making a trade up are shown in bold italics. The latter shouldn’t be hard to find. . .there’s only one and it’s right up at the top.

2021 Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database, v9.0 (FINAL)

Site Name Date Round 1 (14) Round 3 (79) Round 3 (91)
Site Name Date Round 1 (14) Round 3 (79) Round 3 (91)
4 for 4 Anthony Staggs 29 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
AL.com Mark Inabinett 29 Apr Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern
Alpha Football Staff 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal Joseph Assai, DE, Texas Jamar Johnson, S, Indiana
Behind the Steel Curtain Andrew Wilbar 29 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech Jevon Holland, S, Oregon Alim McNeil, DT, North Carolina State
CBS Sports Chris Trapasso 29 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
CBS Sports Josh Edwards 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
CBS Sports Pete Prisco 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
CBS Sports Ryan Wilson 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Draft Examiner Staff 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
E$PN Mel Kiper Jr. 29 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
E$PN Todd McShay 29 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
EDS Football Kevin Hanson 29 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL) Payton Turner, DE, Houston Ben Cleveland, OL, Georgia
NFL Draft MPH Staff 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
NFL.com Charlie Casserley 29 Apr Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State
NFL.com Lance Zierlein 29 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
NFL.com Peter Schrager 29 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
Pro Football Focus Cris Collinsworth 29 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
Pro Football Network Dalton Miller 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Sporting News Vinnie Iyer 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal Jabril Cox, LB, Louisiana State Hunter Long, TE, Boston College
Sports Illustrated Conor Orr 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Joe Marino 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Jordan Reid 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Kyle Crabbs 29 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
The Huddle Report Brian Johannes 29 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Huddle Report Jeremy Bissett 29 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
The Ringer Danny Kelly 29 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
The Sports Bank Paul Banks 29 Apr Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami (FL)
Walter Football Charlie Campbell 29 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech Monty Rice, LB, Georgia Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina
Walter Football Walter Cherepinsky 29 Apr Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern Andre Cisco, S, Syracuse Cameron Sample, DE, Tulane
Yardbarker Seth Trachtman 29 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech Shaun Wade, CB, Ohio State Malcolm Koonce, DE, Buffalo
Blue Chip Scouting Mike Hrynyshyn 28 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
Buffalo Rumblings Bruce Nolan 28 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan Ben Cleveland, OL, Georgia Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa
CBS Sports Will Brinson 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Denver Post Ryan O'Halloran 28 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Draft King Lou Pinckney 28 Apr Azeez Ojulari, DE, Georgia
Drafticipation Hunter Ainsley 28 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
Draftplex Jason Pruett 28 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
DraftTek Staff (Mark P.) 28 Apr Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State Walker Little, OT, Stanford Milton Williams, DT, Louisiana Tech
Eleven Warriors Dan Hope 28 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Fueled by Sports Staff 28 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
Last Word on Pro Football Mike Randle 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
M Live Ben Raven 28 Apr Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina
Mac Sports and Suds Mac 28 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL) Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa Ben Cleveland, OL, Georgia
Mike Drop Sports Mike Schneid 28 Apr Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State
Newsday Nick Klopsis 28 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
NFL Trade Rumors Logan Ulrich 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
NFL.com Charles Davis 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
NFL.com Daniel Jeremiah 28 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
Pro Football Focus Mike Renner 28 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Pro Football Network Ben Allbright 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Pro Football Network Tony Pauline 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal Payton Turner, DE, Houston Divine Deablo, S, Virginia Tech
SB Nation Writers Mock 28 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Sports Gambling Podcast Ryan Kramer 28 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
Sports Illustrated James Rapien 28 Apr Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina
Sports Illustrated Zack Patraw 28 Apr Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State
Sportsnet Andy McNamara 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Tankathon Staff 28 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech Trey Smith, OL, Tennessee Dayo Odeyingbo, DE, Vanderbilt
TGIS Tyler Vesley 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Ben Solak 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Brentley Weissman 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Drae Harris 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Jamie Eisner 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Ryan Fowler 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Trevor Sikkema 28 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
UK Draft Staff 28 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal Marvin Wilson, DT, Florida State Israel Mukuamu, CB, South Carolina
Yahoo! Sports Eric Edholm 28 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
Draft ID Harris Oates 27 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Draft Utopia Tony Mario 27 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa Tommy Togiai, DT, Ohio State
Draft Wire Staff 27 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
ESPN Staff 27 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Fantasy Pros Mike Tagliere 27 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
Football Diehards John Laub 27 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Mass Live Nick O'Malley 27 Apr Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern
Miami Herald Armando Salguero 27 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
NBC Sports Thor Nystrom 27 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
NFL Draft Pro Staff 27 Apr Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama
NFL Draft Rite Katson/Berg 27 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
NFL.com Bucky Brooks 27 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Ninety-Nine Yards Owain Jones 27 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Philadelphia Inquirer Les Bowen 27 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Pro Football Focus Staff 27 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal Dayo Odeyingbo, DE, Vanderbilt Bobby Brown, DT, Texas A&M
Pro Football Talk Mike Florio 27 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Sports Illustrated Albert Breer 27 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Sports Illustrated Roy Countryman 27 Apr Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern
The Dawg Land Alex Hale 27 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
The Draft Network Jake Arians 27 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
The Draft Network Justin Melo 27 Apr Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State
The Game Haus Joe Ditullo 27 Apr Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami (FL)
The Sports Wave Xavier Aguiar 27 Apr Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech
Comm Show Bomb Show TA 26 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
Draft Wire Luke Easterling 26 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
Establish the Run Evan Silva 26 Apr Alijah Vera-Tucker, G, Southern Cal
Grueling Truth Sam Teets 26 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
NFL.com Rhett Lewis 26 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
Say It Again Network Josh Braegger 26 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
Sports Time HQ Keith Sheeran 26 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
Sportsnaut Matt Johnson 26 Apr Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami (FL)
The Draft Network Alexis Mansanarez 26 Apr Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State
Football Fan Spot Steven Lourie 25 Apr Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan
NFL.com Chad Reuter 23 Apr Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern Tutu Atwell, WR, Louisville Ben Cleveland, OL, Georgia

After a bit of back-and-forth over the past couple of weeks, the offensive linemen firmly established themselves at the top of the heap in our final Database of the season. Of the 100 mocks that we compiled, 60 of them have the Vikings selecting an offensive lineman in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The runaway winner is USC guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, whose name appears 32 times in our last update. Assuming the Vikings wanted him to play guard, this would be just the second time in team history that the Vikings have taken a guard in Round 1. The other one was some guy named Randall McDaniel, who I understand turned out to be pretty solid.

Virginia Tech tackle Christian Darrisaw came in second, being picked 19 times in our final update. Northwestern tackle Rashawn Slater saw his name appear five times, while Oklahoma State tackle Teven Jenkins was selected four times in this last update.

The defensive linemen saw a bit of a slip in this last update, with 34 selections going to that position. The top spot among the defensive lineman actually wound up being split between two different players, as Michigan’s Kwity Paye and Miami’s Jaelan Phillips each garnered 16 selections from the experts. The only two selections that didn’t go to either of those two players went to Phillips’ teammate, Gregory Rousseau. If you’ll recall, Rousseau was on top of the heap in our first Mock Draft Database of the year, which gives you a pretty good idea of how rapidly things can change.

That only leaves six selections for all of the other position groups, and half of those went to linebackers. Penn State star Micah Parsons found himself being tabbed by the Vikings twice in this final update, while Georgia linebacker Azeez Ojulari managed to nab one selection.

The experts did allow Mike Zimmer to scratch his cornerback itch a couple of times in this final update, with two of the experts selecting South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn. The only other selection went to a wide receiver, as Alabama star Jaylen Waddle once again makes his way into the Database with one selection.

That’s everyone for this final update, folks. Overall, throughout the course of this pre-draft process, there have been 28 different players mocked to the Vikings in various forms:

  • 7 defensive linemen (Gregory Rousseau, Kwity Paye, Christian Barmore, Jayson Oweh, Jaelan Phillips, Levi Onwuzurike, Ronnie Perkins)
  • 6 offensive lineman (Christian Darrisaw, Rashawn Slater, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Samuel Cosmi, Penei Sewell, Teven Jenkins)
  • 5 defensive backs (Jaycee Horn, Patrick Surtain II, Caleb Farley, Trevon Moehrig, Greg Newsome II)
  • 4 pass catchers (Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, Rashod Bateman, Kyle Pitts)
  • 4 linebackers (Micah Parsons, Dylan Moses, Azeez Ojulari, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah)
  • 2 quarterbacks (Trey Lance, Mac Jones)

Of those 28 players, however, only 11 of them appear in our final update. Four of those 11 players (Vera-Tucker, Darrisaw, Paye, and Phillips) account for 83% of the selections this time around.

Here are the final graphic representations of how everything looks for this year, starting with the donut graph that breaks down our final group of selections for this year. As always, click to embiggen the picture if it allows you to see it more easily.

Last, but not least, our final trend graph of the year, which allows you to see the rise and fall of all 28 players that appeared in our Database throughout the course of the pre-draft process. You can click to embiggen this one as well.

I want to thank a couple of sites that I’ve been making use of in order to compile the Database each week. Those are the NFL Mock Draft Database and the Walter Football Mock Draft Database. It’s much easier to do this with those folks putting all of the various mocks in easy-to-find places.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this year’s edition of the Mock Draft Database and that it has proven insightful for you as we get closer to the 2021 NFL Draft. This is the seventh year that I’ve done the Mock Draft Database since it started in 2013. . .remember there wasn’t one in 2017 because the Vikings didn’t have a first-rounder that year. . .and it’s helped me to sort of get an idea of where the purple are looking.

With that, we’re about six hours or so away from the start of the festivities, so make sure that you’re here for everything draft-related for the rest of this afternoon and into this evening!