Best and worst Minnesota Vikings third-round picks of last decade

Pat Elflein – OL (2017)

Pat Eflein‘s career with the Vikings got off to a great start. He was drafted in the third round in 2017 and Minnesota was excited to have him, as he offered position flexibility and was seen as a hard-nosed physical blocker who could bring some nastiness to the team’s offensive line.

He lived up to the hype right out of the gate. Elflein earned the starting center job and played at a very high level for the Vikings in 2017.

He was every bit as physical as he showed in college and his play helped Minnesota make a deep playoff push that inevitably ended in heartache. It was in these playoffs in which Elflein ended up sustaining an ankle injury.

During the 2018 offseason, Elflein had surgery on his ankle and he also had surgery on a lingering shoulder injury. That surgery and the recovery that came after it kept him out of the Vikings’ entire offseason program. He ended up being available by Week 3 of the 2018 season, but he just hasn’t been the same since those injuries.

Elflein struggled playing at center throughout the 2018 season. He was a liability in both pass protection and in the running game. His decline in performance was a huge reason why Minnesota used a first-round pick on a center last year.

It was believed the move to guard would do Elflein good since that was his natural position, but it didn’t. He struggled again and he was easily the worst lineman on the Vikings roster a season ago as he was responsible for numerous pressures and penalties.

Maybe Elflein just lost his confidence after suffering those early injuries and subsequent surgeries or he never regained his strength. While Minnesota has gotten plenty of run out of him, his performance has not been up to the standards of a typical third-round pick.