Vikings Visits

NFL teams are allowed to bring as many as 30 prospects to their facilities in advance of the NFL Draft. As with many things this time of year the teams aren't always forthcoming with a list of those prospects. Any news of these visits likely comes from the agents of the players. They are the ones that benefit the most from the news. Well, the players do as well. The following are the prospects that have ventured to Minnesota for a visit.

Rodney Adams, WR, South Florida
Dylan Bradley, DE, Southern Mississippi
Pat Elflein, C, Ohio State
Dan Feeney, G, Indiana
Worth Gregory, P, East Carolina
Brian Hill, RB, Wyoming
Kareem Hunt, RB, Toledo
Josh Jones, S, North Carolina State
Alvin Kamara, RB, Tennessee
Damontae Kazee, CB, San Diego State
Brendan Langley, DB, Lamar
Elijah Lee, LB, Kansas State
Mitch Leidner, QB, Minnesota
Jack Lynn, LB, Minnesota
Marlon Mack, RB, South Florida
Leon McQuay III, S, USC
Jaylen Myrick, CB, Minnesota
Dare Ogunbowale, RB, Wisconsin
Jonah Pirsig, T, Minnesota
Curtis Samuel, RB, Ohio State
Damarius Travis, S, Minnesota
Drew Wolitarsky, WR, Minnesota

Several University of Minnesota players have visited. If I recall correctly teams can have some pre-draft contact with local players that don't count against the 30-player limit.

Depending on how the local players count as many as 14 visits remain unknown.

The number of running backs coming through the Vikings facilities might be the most interesting takeaway from this list. Brian Hill, Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara, Marlon Mack, Dare Ogunbowale, and versatile Curtis Samuel. They also spent some significant pre-draft time with Oklahoma backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon. The Vikings running back depth chart is topped by Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon so adding another in the draft should surprise no one.

If the amount of contact during the draft evaluation process is an absolute indication of interest running back Alvin Kamara, defensive end Dylan Bradley, and linebacker Elijah Lee top the Vikings "want list." They met with Kamara at the Combine and worked out Bradley and Lee in addition to inviting them to Minnesota.

The visits could mean anything from a lot to nothing. That's a wide range. They are just part of the process. A team just wants to check some boxes. They just want to confirm that this is a player that they want in their organization. They might even want to confirm that this is a player that they DON'T want in their organization. I think that there is a "real" reason for every invite so I have doubts that any invite is a smokescreen.

I usually tend to focus more on the positions of the players invited than the players themselves. Since 31 other teams are involved the draft never goes as planned or hoped. It can be a mistake to focus on a particular player.

Visit lists aren't an exact blueprint of a team's draft day plans. They are just another part of the draft evaluation fun.