Vikings make unsurprising pick in super early 2021 mock draft

With the 2020 NFL Draft now over, the attention has already switched to next year’s draft and who could end up landing with the Minnesota Vikings.

To say that the Minnesota Vikings had an eventful 2020 NFL Draft would be the understatement of the year. The Vikings, who already had 12 picks heading into the draft, ended the weekend with 15 new players after all seven rounds of the annual event came to a close.

Minnesota had about 30 open spots on their roster before the draft and with the selections they made combined with the recent undrafted free agents they signed, the team now only has three spots left on their 90-man roster.

If anyone thought they were going to be done reading about mock drafts until next season, think again because people are already cranking out their predictions for 2021.

Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller released his first 2021 mock draft on Monday and for the Vikings, he has them selecting LSU defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin.

Miller mentioned that Shelvin would have been picked in the first round of this year’s draft if he were included and he’s already thought of as one of the top defensive tackles in all of college football.

The massive 6-foot-3, 346-pound defensive tackle appeared in 13 games for LSU last season and he finished with 39 tackles (three for a loss) and two pass deflections.

It would be an interesting addition for Minnesota and one that would indicate that this year’s signing of free-agent defensive tackle Michael Pierce didn’t work out. Pierce is expected to take over Linval Joseph’s role as the Vikings’ nose tackle in 2020 and the deal he signed this offseason doesn’t expire until 2023.

It’s very possible that Minnesota could end up drafting Shelvin in 2021. But they would probably just prefer to have Pierce turn into a solid nose tackle and focus on other needs when the time comes for next year’s draft.