When the 2021 NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday, how many selections will the Minnesota Vikings be in possession of?
Last year around this time, the Minnesota Vikings had already finished making all of their picks in the 2020 NFL Draft.
It was a very busy draft for the Vikings as they ended the event with a total of 15 new players for their roster. Minnesota’s 15 selections in 2020 were the most ever by an NFL team since the league switched the draft to a seven-round format.
This year, the Vikings currently have 10 draft picks. However, there is no reason to think that Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman isn’t capable of adding even more selections during the three days of the 2021 draft.
Vikings Draft Picks: When does Minnesota get to make their selections in each round?
Heading into this year’s NFL Draft, the Vikings have picks in five of the seven rounds. Minnesota traded away their second-round selection to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020 to acquire Yannick Ngakoue and they lost their seventh-round pick in March as part of a penalty for a violation of the salary cap.
Below is the list of all 10 of the Vikings’ current selections in the 2021 draft.
- No. 14 (1)
- No. 78 (3)
- No. 90 (3)
- No. 119 (4)
- No. 125 (4)
- No. 134 (4)
- No. 143 (4)
- No. 157 (5)
- No. 168 (5)
- No. 199 (6)
Don’t expect all of these to remain Minnesota’s picks in the draft as Spielman will likely be figuring out a way to land selections in both the second and seventh rounds.
The second round has treated the Vikings well during Spielman’s tenure. This is where they’ve been able to find some of their top current players like Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks, and Brian O’Neill.
The seventh round has become a valuable place to have draft selections for Minnesota as well during Spielman’s time with the team. The Vikings general manager has used the picks in this round to add some of the prospects they like that might end up elsewhere if they become undrafted free agents.
With the Vikings having at least 11 picks in three of the last four years, there’s also a good chance that they will end the 2021 draft with more than 10 new players. Multiple trades during the draft are just something Minnesota’s fans have become accustomed to with Spielman as the team’s general manager and this should remain the expectation for this year.
Vikings Draft 2021: Realistic three-round mock draft
Which prospects will the Minnesota Vikings end up selecting with their picks during the first three rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft?
Will the Vikings end up with at least 10 new players for the fourth time in the last five drafts or will Minnesota end the event with less than nine new members of their roster for just the third time since 2014?