Yahoo Sports mocks Christian McCaffrey to Vikings in 2017 NFL Draft
By Adam Carlson
Yahoo Sports released their Mock Draft 3.0 showing the Minnesota Vikings landing Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey in round 2 of the 2017 NFL Draft.
While the NFL is entering the Wild Card week of the playoffs, fans of the Minnesota Vikings are instead turning their attention to the offseason. Free agency, salary cap, the NFL Draft and more are already big topics of conversation.
Of course, that means it’s mock draft season as well, and one of the biggest groups of trying to guess which top players will land where is Yahoo Sports, who recently released their 3.0 version on January 6th.
In that mock draft, Eric Edholm predicted the first two rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft, where the Minnesota Vikings will only have one selection since their first round draft pick goes to the Philadelphia Eagles for the trade involving quarterback Sam Bradford.
Edholm mocked Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey to the team, with his explanation as follows:
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"“Boy, do they need an offensive tackle. And the last time they took a Cardinal back in Round 2 (Toby Gerhart) it didn’t work out. But McCaffrey could be ideal in this West Coast passing game and fill the returner void if Cordarrelle Patterson walks in free agency. If this is it for Adrian Peterson, it’s likely the men replacing him will have far different skill sets.”"
The Minnesota Vikings second round draft pick will likely be a player who helps out in the running game, but unless the team secures a decent option at the left tackle position before the draft, that is where fans should expect the team’s focus to be.
However, McCaffrey is a very interesting prospect who could have an interesting fit in the Minnesota offense, as Edholm says. But without the run blocking and pass protection, it would be hard to validate selecting a running back with the Vikings top pick.
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What do you think? Would you like the Minnesota Vikings to select Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft or do you think a different player or position would help more? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.