5 needs the Minnesota Vikings can hold off drafting in 2021

Offensive Tackle

Offensive tackle has been a popular mock pick to the Vikings recently, but anyone making that choice for the team simply isn’t doing their homework. Offensive tackle is arguably one of the deeper positions on the Purple and one they don’t have to address in the draft this year.

The big reason why they don’t need to is due to the play of Riley Reiff. Yes, this guy is a 32-year-old veteran set to make about $13 million next season, but the dude played out of his head last year and earned every penny of that. They also drafted Ezra Cleveland to be the heir apparent, and taking another tackle early would be overkill.

If Mike Zimmer wants to coach the Vikings beyond this year, they need to not just have a winning record but need to make a deep playoff run. That’s why cutting Reiff, even at his huge cap number, makes no sense. They need his veteran leadership and elite play to protect Cousins’ blind side for another season.

If they were to release him and go with a rookie, it would be a major downgrade. The Vikings, and Zimmer especially, can’t take that risk this season and go with an inexperienced and unproven commodity. If a rookie were to come in and struggle, it would be a catastrophic blow to the Vikings’ offense destroying the one major strength this team currently has.