Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman reportedly targets 10 selections in each NFL Draft. He enters the 2020 NFL Draft with 12 picks.
1. (22)-from Buffalo
1. (25)
2. (58)
3. (89)
3. (105)-compensatory
4. (132)
5. (155)-from Buffalo
6. (201)-from Buffalo
6. (205)
7. (219)
7. (249)-compensatory
7. (253)-compensatory
Already possessing more picks than he targets, I've come to think that this could be a draft in which Spielman moves up early in the draft. The Vikings wouldn't move up in the first round for the sheer thrill of it. That would be silly. There would have to be a player that they really like. Who could that player be? It's best to start with the team's needs.
offensive line improvement
receiver
cornerback
defensive end
defensive tackle
Obviously, the Vikings would be trading up for players that aren't expected to make it to their next pick. Their first pick in this draft is #22. I don't think that the Vikings can afford to spend the necessary picks to trade into the Top 10. So, I'm guessing that their supposed trade targets will be players that slip out of the Top 10. This is a very strong draft. There will be players selected in the early- to mid-teens that would be Top 5 picks in many other drafts. Here are a few of those players that fit the Vikings' needs.
First Round
Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia
Andrew Thomas is projected by most to be the last of the top four tackles to be selected. That's due more to the unique traits of the other three than any real knock on Thomas. Alabama's Jedrick Wills is the technician. Iowa's Tristan Wirfs is freakishly athletic. Mekhi Becton is mammoth-sized. All three should be selected before the 11th pick. Thomas might be best seen as a blend of the three tackles expected to be selected before him. He doesn't stand out in any one category like the other three but ranks well in all three categories. He might become the best NFL tackle of the group. Who knows? I do know that he'd be the top offensive tackle in some of the recent drafts. The Vikings have reportedly spent some time with Wirfs. Perhaps he's more of a trade target than Thomas. I presently don't see Wirfs dropping far enough for the Vikings to afford. But then Randy Moss was never supposed to fall all the way to #21.
Then we get to a ridiculous group of receivers.
Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama
CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma
Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama
The 2020 NFL Draft will be loaded with receivers. 30, or more, could be selected before the fourth round is done. As great as this class is at the position there are three that truly stand out over the rest. Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb, and Henry Ruggs III would each be Top 5 picks in most drafts. Three quarterbacks, three offensive tackles, and some defensive players will probably force these terrific pass-catchers out of the Top 10 of this draft. There are many draft projections in which all three are selected with picks 11-13. However, the impressive receiver talent behind them might cause the teams with those picks to go another direction in the first round. That would allow one or more of Jeudy, Lamb, and Ruggs to fall a little further. They could fall into the "Vikings Trade Zone!"
There's a couple defensive players that could intrigue the Vikings.
Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina
C.J. Henderson, CB, Florida
Of the two, I see Javon Kinlaw as the trade target. As with Andrew Thomas, Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb, and Henry Ruggs III, Kinlaw would easily be a Top 10 pick in any other draft. He might be a Top 10 pick in this draft. This freakishly athletic, long, raw football player just feels like Mike Zimmer's ideal defensive tackle. Kinlaw is far from a finished product but with his raw talent he should disrupt offenses immediately. It's fun to imagine (if he's in Vikings purple) what he'll be when he gets a handle on what he's doing. At the start of the draft evaluation process, Kinlaw was the first player that I targeted for the Vikings. He wasn't being considered with the draft's elite players by most of the talking heads. In his first mock, Daniel Jeremiah had him going to the Vikings at #25. It didn't take Jeremiah, and others, long to realize that it was unlikely that Kinlaw would get that far.
I'm not sold on C.J. Henderson as a trade target. He's widely considered the second cornerback in the draft. It's been assumed for a while that Ohio State's Jeff Okudah is the consensus #1 at the position. Until this week. Peter King reported in his weekly column that 40 percent of the team's have Henderson as the #1 corner. For that reason, I've included him as a potential trade target. There are too many talented corners (corners that I consider comparable to Henderson) that should be available when the Vikings are slated to pick. I just don't think that they'd spend the necessary picks to trade up for Henderson.
If the Vikings trade up in the first round, I think that it would be for either Andrew Thomas or Javon Kinlaw. It's fun to think that it would be for one of the pass-catching playmakers but there are simply too many talented receivers in this draft. Jeudy, Lamb, and Ruggs wouldn't impact the team as much as Thomas or Kinlaw could. For me the two targets rank as targets in the following order:
1. Andrew Thomas
2. Javon Kinlaw
Offensive line has been a problem for far too long. Adding Thomas to current building blocks Brian O'Neil and Garrett Bradbury would be a bold step in the right direction. Mike Zimmer might see things differently but I think that improving the offensive line is more important than adding a potentially elite player to the interior of the defensive line. I'm not going to guess what it'd take to trade up far enough to get either player. I don't buy into the draft pick value charts that pop up on the internet. In my opinion, teams trade up for a particular player, not a particular pick. Players hold different values to different teams so how can anyone put a set price on that player. If I had to guess at a cost, it would take #22 and either their second round pick or both thirds to trade up 10-12 picks. The ideal cost would #22 and one third. That would still leave the Vikings with at least one pick in every round. If I had to guess a team to target as a trading partner, it would be the San Francisco 49ers at #13. I'd target them partly because of the location of their pick but mostly because the 49ers' greatest team need is more draft picks. Other than that, the Vikings just have to hope that their trade target gets to #13.
When a fan dreams of their team trading up in the draft that trade usually occurs in the first round. As the Vikings did in 2017 to secure Dalvin Cook a trade up for a unique player could occur in the second, or any, round. Here are some of the players that I could see the Vikings targeting in the second and third rounds. Each goes with the assumption that the team didn't select those positions earlier in the draft.
Second Round
Austin Jackson, OT, USC
Ezra Cleveland, OT, Boise State
A.J. Terrell, CB, Clemson
Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson
Michael Pittman Jr., WR, USC
Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona State
Ross Blacklock, DT, TCU
Justin Madubuike, DT, Texas A&M
Jordan Elliott, DT, Missouri
For some of the above players (Ross Blacklock and Austin Jackson in particular) it might take a trade into the bottom of the first round to get them.
Third Round
Amik Roberston, CB, Louisiana Tech
Damon Arnette, CB, Ohio State
Van Jefferson, WR, Florida
Darrell Taylor, DE, Tennessee
Amik Robertson is one of my favorite players in the entire draft. He'd easily be an early first round pick if he was 6'1" and not 5'8". He plays much bigger than his itty bitty size. He's effectively covered receivers that are nearly a foot taller than himself. I have no idea where Robertson will be drafted. I've heard Mel Kiper Jr. say that he's a fourth- or fifth-round pick. I think that he'll go much earlier. He's too talented. I'd be thrilled if the Vikings didn't even monkey around and just took him in the second round. For this exercise, I include Robertson as a trade up target in the third round.
I hate the thought of the Vikings using their second or both third round picks to secure an elite player in the first round. It sucks to go through an entire Day 2 round without a pick. However, I love the thought of the Vikings adding a player like Andrew Thomas or Javon Kinlaw. There's always a price to pay in order to improve the team.
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