Re-drafting the Minnesota Vikings 2019 rookie class

Original Pick:

Armon Watts – DT (Arkansas)

Re-draft:

Watts

Armon Watts turned out to be a solid sixth-round pick for the Vikings. He wasn’t active until the 10th week of the season, but he made a splash in that contest with three tackles and half a sack.

Watts finished his rookie year with 13 tackles and he flashed at least once during every game he was active. He is still very raw but has a high ceiling. He is a choice Minnesota would definitely make again if given the chance.

Original Pick:

Marcus Epps – S (Wyoming)

Re-draft:

Bisi Johnson – WR (Colorado State)

Marcus Epps was a safety/corner hybrid the Vikings chose in the sixth round. He did make the team and he was even active for the team’s first eight games.

But then Minnesota released him to bring back Andrew Sendejo and Epps was signed by the Eagles. The rookie safety finished the season with only six tackles and he is still very much a work in progress.

The Vikings would’ve been much better off taking Bisi Johnson at this point. Johnson has been a huge surprise for Minnesota this season. The rookie pass-catcher worked his way onto the roster and he then became the Vikings’ third receiver after Chad Beebe went down early in the year with an injury.

This season, Johnson caught 31 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns. With his sure hands and smooth route running he has gained Kirk Cousins‘ confidence and he gets his fair share of targets on an offense that is loaded with weapons.

Original Pick:

Oli Udoh – OT (Elon)

Re-draft:

Dennis Daley – OT (South Carolina)

Minnesota was on the lookout for offensive line help in the 2019 NFL Draft. In the sixth round, they rolled the dice on a small school prospect out of Elon named Oli Udoh.

Not much was known about the guy, but he had impressive size and good athletic ability. He was labeled a project and he turned out to be just that, as he was only active for one game this year. Udoh will continue to be developed and the next step would be for him to play in more games that matter for the Vikings in 2020.

Minnesota would’ve been better off taking South Carolina’s Dennis Daley. He has identical size to Udoh, but he played in 14 games for the Carolina Panthers this season with nine of them being starts. The Vikings are extremely thin at tackle and having a late-round pick who showed he is able to contribute in year one would’ve been a nice luxury for them to have in 2019.