Minnesota Vikings Draft 2020: Seven-round mock draft

Justin Herbert – QB (Oregon)

The Kirk Cousins haters seemed to have disappeared after a strong showing by the Vikings quarterback during the past few weeks.

Cousins currently on pace to have another season with at least 4,000 passing yards, over 30 touchdowns, and less than six interceptions. His final totals for 2019 will be MVP-caliber numbers if he continues at his current pace.

Despite the pretty stats Cousins is putting up again this year, Minnesota can’t be blind to the fact that they still need a quarterback of the future. Cousins is going to be the Vikings’ starting quarterback next season, but what about the year after that? Minnesota needs to start looking ahead to life after Cousins and Justin Herbert would be a good selection.

Herbert is undoubtedly still raw. There are some mental mistakes he makes that need to be cleaned up. Sitting behind Cousins his first year and essentially redshirting his rookie season would likely be the best thing for Herbert.

The current Oregon quarterback has a lot of infringing tools that make him a good fit for the Vikings. He has very good arm strength and he can work the ball to every area of the field. He also has the ability to throw his receivers open, which not many young passers have the ability to do.

He’s much more of an athletic quarterback than Cousins is, though he’s not anywhere near a Lamar Jackson type of athlete. He has good footwork in the pocket, he’s able to slide side-to-side to avoid pressure, and he climbs the pocket well. He’s confident in his arm and puts the ball in a good location for his receiver to either run under or make a play.

Overall, this would be a great first-round pick by Minnesota to really shore up the future of the team. It would give them the necessary time to groom their young franchise quarterback and it would also put him behind a good signal-caller to learn from in Cousins.