Minnesota Vikings Dream Draft

The days before the NFL Draft are the days to dream. The Minnesota Vikings currently have only five picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. It’s tough to dream big with only five picks. My guess is that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will find a way to come out of the draft with more than five players. For now, there are only five picks. 

The picks:

Round 1 (23)

Round 3 (87)

Round 4 (119)

Round 5 (158)

Round 6 (211)

The Dream:

Round 1 (#23)

Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee

Round 3 (#87)

Darius Rush, CB, South Carolina

Round 4 (#119)

Karl Brooks, DL, Bowling Green

Round 5 (#158)

Marte Mapu, LB, Sacramento State

Round 6 (#211)

Bryce Ford-Wheaton, WR, West Virginia

***

A dream draft for the Vikings would include a franchise quarterback. The dream would be that Hendon Hooker becomes that quarterback. His age (25) is a worry to some. Those that worry about his age don’t like that he’d be a 26-year old first time starter in 2024. For comparison, Aaron Rodgers was going into his 25th year when he became the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. He did fairly well. Kurt Warner was a 28-year old, first-time starter for the St. Louis Rams. He did fairly well. Both won Super Bowls. Warner even won as a 28-year old, first-rime starter. 

A problem with selecting Hooker in the first round is that it ignores more immediate needs and the Vikings have several immediate needs. Cornerback, receiver, linebacker, and defensive line sit atop the list of needs. Selecting a quarterback in the first and having no second-round pick forces the Vikings to start addressing those needs in the third round. That’s a late start. A more dreamy Vikings draft would include a trade back in the first round and still be able to select Hooker. I believe that would be a very optimistic dream. In fact, it might be overly optimistic that he’ll even be available at #23.

For this draft dream, I’m dreaming that Hooker is the Vikings pick at #23. That will force the Vikings to start addressing those more immediate needs with their third-round pick.

I really like the four dream picks. What I don’t like about those picks is that Washington State linebacker Daiyan Henley, North Carolina receiver Josh Downs, Oklahoma receiver Marvin Mims, Mississippi receiver Jonathan Mingo, and Wake Forest receiver A.T. Perry aren’t among them. The Vikings will miss out on a lot of talented players without a second-round pick. Darius Rush, Karl Brooks, and Marte Mapu are three of my favorite players in this draft. Selecting those players in their respective rounds forces the Vikings to not address receiver until the sixth round. The hope in this dream is that Bryce Ford-Wheaton will become the Vikings next late-round receiver to excel in the league. 

Two more sleeps until draft day.