5 prospects the Vikings should approach with caution in 2020
By Nik Edlund
Netane Muti – OG (Fresno State)
The Vikings have to bring in at least one guard in this year’s NFL Draft. The team foolishly let Josh Kline go and currently topping the depth chart is the very underwhelming Pat Elflein and the unproven Dru Samia.
Minnesota will want to add a rookie to the mix to compete with these two and Dakota Dozier and Brett Jones this summer. If the Vikings do this in one of the middle rounds, they could look at Netaine Muti, but they should approach this big man with some hesitation.
Physically, Muti has everything teams are looking for. He’s a thickly put together guy at 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds. He’s got plenty of strength and he demonstrated that at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine when he benched pressed 225 pounds an impressive 44 times.
He is a little heavy-footed and he isn’t the athlete that many of the guards in this class are. He can, however, anchor in pass protection and overpower defenders in the run game. Muti has also played some snaps at tackle, so his position flexibility will be a bonus.
The issue with Muti is his overall health. He has a long history of injuries and Is why he only played in a total of 19 games at Fresno State.
He missed the 2016 season because he blew out his Achilles earlier that summer. He ruptured his Achilles again in 2018 and suffered a Lisfranc injury that required surgery in 2019. For a guy so thickly built, having these previous injuries to his lower body is a huge concern.
Talent-wise, Muti should be about a third-round choice. But the injury history could push him down the board a few rounds. Even if the Vikings land him in the fifth round, they should curb their expectations until he can string together a healthy season or two.