Minnesota Vikings 7-Round Mock Draft

The Mock Draft simulators make it too damn easy to eat up so damn much time. It’s addicting. For no particular reason, I favor the Mock Draft Machine at The Draft Network. I recently came up with this 7-Round Mock Draft for the Minnesota Vikings. It’s really a 6-Round Mock Draft as the Vikings have no seventh-round pick. 

1(14) Alijah Vera-Tucker, OT, USC

3(78) Carlos Basham Jr., Edge, Wake Forest

3(90) James Hudson, OT, Cincinnati

4(119) Jaylen Twyman, DT, Pittsburgh

4(125) Talanoa Hufanga, S, USC

4(134) Ambry Thomas, CB, Michigan

4(143) Elerson Smith, Edge, Northern Iowa

5(157) Chuba Hubbard, RB, Oklahoma State

5(168) Jaelon Darden, WR, North Texas

6(199) Cade Johnson, WR, South Dakota State

After Penei Sewell and Rashawn Slater, Alijah Vera-Tucker is my favorite offensive lineman. Continued improvement of the offensive line is the Vikings biggest need. I like Vera-Tucker as an offensive tackle or a guard. If the Vikings go offensive line with the 14th pick, the dream would be Sewell or Slater. The reality will probably be a choice between Vera-Tucker, Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw, or possibly Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins. I would be a fan of Vera-Tucker or Darrisaw and I could warm to Jenkins. I like getting Vera-Tucker and James Hudson in this mock. I think that both could be present and future cornerstones of the offensive line. Hudson might be a little too raw to start right away but his potential may be as great as any offensive tackle in the draft not named Sewell or Slater. If Hudson did eventually develop into the Vikings left tackle, Vera-Tucker would fit in nicely as the team’s left guard for the next decade. I like the potential of this offensive line:

LT  James Hudson

LG Alijah Vera-Tucker

C   Garrett Bradbury

RG Ezra Cleveland

RT Brian O’Neill

I suppose what I like most about this mock is getting Carlos Basham Jr. in the third round. I’d be happily stunned if he made it to the 90th pick in the real draft. 

I’ve had a draft crush on Jaylen Twyman since the start of the draft evaluation season. Until the draft actually kicks off, it’s only a guess as to how teams will judge the players that opted out on the 2020 college football season. There are players like Ja’Marr Chase and Caleb Farley that were going to be top picks no matter what decision they made. Then there are players like Twyman and Ambry Thomas. Both might’ve been first- or second-round picks if they’d played football in the fall. Now it seems like both are seen as Day 3 picks because they decided not to play. We’ll know what the people that actually make these decisions think in three weeks. 

With Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison, Chuba Hubbard in the fifth round is something of a luxury pick. 

I suppose what I like least about this draft is not selecting a receiver until the final two picks. I do like the potential of the receivers that I selected with those final two picks. 

In the real draft, I’d like to see the Vikings select a quarterback with one of their third- or fourth-round picks. Stanford’s Davis Mills or Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond would be nice. 

Three more weeks.