The Vikings definitely have some glaring holes on their team, but there are some positions that they don’t have to address in the draft this season.
The Minnesota Vikings are entering a very crucial offseason and a draft that is key to their success in 2021. The team struggled to keep its quarterback upright last year, but they really had trouble on the defensive side of the ball.
The Vikings couldn’t stop the run, failed to pressure opposing quarterbacks, and their young secondary struggled to stick close to the receivers they were tasked to cover.
It was a complete mess that culminated in a 7-9 finish and had the team looking from the outside when it came to the playoffs. The Vikings have to fix these holes if they want to get back into the playoff picture this coming season.
While certain areas need to be addressed with new and younger faces, some positions on the team can stay at the status quo. This may be due to a player’s durability, or it has to do with the fact that the Vikings are getting certain players back from injury, and their return will give the team the boost they need.
So what are five positions that the Vikings don’t have to address in this year’s draft, whether there is a need there or not?
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.
Wide Receiver
The Vikings have plenty of draft picks this year, and surely they’ll use one of them on a wide receiver, but they really don’t have to.
The Vikings have one of the best tandems in the league in Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson. Those are a couple of elite route runners with exceptional hands and have a great rapport with Kirk Cousins.
Behind them are Bisi Johnson and Chad Beebe, who have proven to be reliable targets when called into action. While the Vikings could be tempted to take a player like Alabama‘s DeVonta Smith if he’s sitting there at pick 14, they certainly don’t have to.
Cousins loves his top two targets and will throw the ball to them no matter who else is lined up out wide. This was proven over and over again last season. Sometimes it got him in trouble, but more often than not, his receivers would make a play even if they were double covered.
The Vikings can also hold off on a wide receiver because of the two talented pass-catching tight ends they have. Irv Smith Jr. is basically a wide receiver in a tight end’s body, and Tyler Conklin emerged as a threat in the passing game last season. These guys can get the leftover scraps that don’t go to Thielen and Jefferson.
With Adam Thielen turning 31 at the start of the 2021 season, the Vikings will eventually want to get his replacement on the roster, but that doesn’t have to happen in this April’s draft.
Defensive End
This one will make this writer sound like a hypocrite, as he’s been pretty vocal about his desire to see the Vikings’ pass rush improve with a first-round edge rusher, but the Vikings actually could hold off addressing this need in 2021 and be just fine.
The biggest reason for this is the return of Danielle Hunter. His loss a season ago had a profound negative impact on the Vikings’ defense. The pass rush the team lost from him being out hurt every level of this defense and especially did no favors to a young cornerback group whose receivers had all the time in the world to shake free of them.
Hunter’s loss also hurt the run defense as he was a force in that area, and it showed as teams’ backs had no problems getting to the outside against the Vikings defense last season.
Hunter will go back to being his dominating force at the right defensive end position next season and the Vikings already have an impressive young player to start opposite him. D.J. Wonnum had a solid rookie season and will be much better with a full offseason and another preseason under his belt. Ifeadi Odenigbo can go back to his situational role and could produce another seven-sack season as he did in 2021.
At this point, it is fair to say that the Vikings are likely to take a defensive end with the 14th pick, but they could actually not address that position at all in the draft and still be improved over what was on the field in 2020.
Quarterback
The Vikings could use an upgrade at backup quarterback and could also stand to get a young signal-caller on the roster this year, but they likely won’t. The team has to win now, so taking a quarterback for the future at pick 14 is very doubtful. They also have Kirk Cousins under center, who has been playing great football if Vikings fans want to admit it or not.
The team could stand to get a better option at backup quarterback as Sean Mannion really brings nothing exciting to the table, but also know that they have one of the most durable quarterbacks in the league in Kirk Cousins. He just doesn’t get hurt.
He has taken a ton of hits playing behind the Vikings’ porous offensive line, and whether it is his childbearing thighs or big ol’ dad butt, the guy just absorbs hits and gets right back up. Cousins has started every single game since 2015, only missing one because Zimmer decided to bench him to ensure his health for the playoffs.
The Vikings know that their backup doesn’t really matter, as chances are Cousins will continue to remain healthy. This is why Mannion is likely to be back, as he’s a cheap option who knows the system. The team could still take a quarterback in the mid-rounds to develop, but if fans think they will land the next face of the franchise in this draft, they will be very sad come April.
Linebacker
If the Minnesota Vikings’ cut Anthony Barr here in the coming weeks or days, they’ll definitely use an early pick at the linebacker position, but that’s probably not going to happen. Barr’s presence on the defense was sorely missed last year as players like Todd Davis lacked the physical ability to make the types of plays that Barr can.
Barr is excellent in coverage, but he also has the speed to contain backs on the outside and force them back to where there is help. He also was Mike Zimmer’s first draft choice, and the fact he reneged on the New York Jets to come back to the Vikings shows there is a mutual love between player and team. Spielman also stated that he doesn’t want to commit more money to the linebacker position, so investing in a first-round linebacker like Micah Parsons seems unlikely.
What is more likely to happen is that the Vikings bring Barr back at a reduced cost and then roll with Troy Dye as the starter on the weakside. Dye got some experience in 2020 but needs to add some bulk to his frame. If he can come back heavier and stronger, perhaps he can make some more plays.
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The Minnesota Vikings can also utilize undrafted rookie Blake Lynch, who showed promise in spot duty, and they would be wise to bring back the aforementioned Davis, who did play well when forced into action before he was familiar with Zimmer’s system. Linebacker is a need that should be addressed in the future, but it definitely doesn’t need this year.