What the Vikings can expect from their 2020 seventh-round picks
By Nik Edlund
Kyle Hinton – G (Washburn)
The Minnesota Vikings finally addressed one of their biggest areas of need with their last pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. The team needed help at guard after cutting Josh Kline. They went into the draft with huge question marks at both starting guard spots with Pat Elflein as one projected starter and Dru Samia as the other, and many figured this need would’ve been addressed long before round seven started.
Elflein has been brutal the last couple of seasons, and Samia is unproven, as he’s only appeared in one game in his career so far. The fact that the Vikings waited so long to address this need was very surprising.
They took a big boy from a small school, Washburn’s Kyle Hinton. Hinton is a 6-foot-3, 310-pound beast who moves very well. While the level of competition he played at will be a concern, the good news is that he dominated it. He can get outside quickly to lead a play and then destroys his man. He also has a knack for flattening one defender and then working downfield to find the next would-be tackler to demolish.
The Vikings should expect for Hinton to compete for one of those guard jobs as they’ve already stated it’s a wide-open competition. He’s an extreme long shot to win the job or even land on the active roster, as he just needs time to acclimate to the NFL game.
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Kyle Hinton does have plenty of potential and a high ceiling. He’ll just need time to develop. He’s a prime candidate for the 2020 Minnesota Vikings practice squad.