How will the 11 players the Minnesota Vikings just selected in the 2021 NFL Draft perform in their first season with the franchise?
After three days and 11 selections in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings have a new group of players to help them reach the ultimate goal.
This year, it seemed like the Vikings‘ biggest priority was improving the trenches. Of the 11 players Minnesota picked in the 2021 draft, five were either offensive or defensive linemen.
The Vikings also made a selection that possibly signaled the beginning of the end for Kirk Cousins in the Twin Cities. Minnesota added former Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond in the third round and some believe he has the ability to take over as the Vikings’ starting signal-caller within the next year or two.
At this point, it’s hard to determine how big of an impact Minnesota’s 2021 draft class will have on the team next season. Still, we’re going to try and predict some of the things that will happen with the Vikings’ new batch of players during their first year with the team.
Two rookie offensive linemen will start for Minnesota in Week 1
For the first time since 2012, the Vikings used their first-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft to select an offensive tackle.
Christian Darrisaw is the guy Minnesota settled on and he’s expected to play an immediate role in the offense next season. With Riley Reiff out of the picture, Darrisaw will open his rookie year as the team’s new starter at left tackle. He has the talent to remain the Vikings’ blindside blocker for the next decade.
In addition to picking up Darrisaw, Minnesota was also able to land a very talented guard in Wyatt Davis during the third round of this year’s draft.
During his college career at Ohio State, Davis was a two-time AP First-Team All-American. So he’s not about to lose a starting job to someone like Dakota Dozier or Dru Samia.
Darrisaw and Davis will be in the starting lineup when the Vikings take the field for their first game of the 2021 season. Hopefully, they end up remaining in the starting lineup for the next handful of years.
Mond will impress in limited action
With their first pick on Day 2 of this year’s draft, the Vikings decided to add someone who could replace Kirk Cousins as early as 2022.
Minnesota drafting Kellen Mond this past weekend certainly raised a bunch of eyebrows. But the Vikings were also in need of a better backup option behind Cousins, so the selection wasn’t exactly shocking.
Mond won’t be opening the 2021 season as a starter, but he will get some opportunities to show why Minnesota spent a third-round pick on him.
The Vikings’ newest passer will get a good amount of action during the preseason and it won’t take long for him to secure the role as the team’s No. 2 quarterback in 2021.
Mond will also get a chance to start in a regular-season game in 2021. By the final matchup on their schedule for next season, a playoff spot will already be locked up by Minnesota, so they will end up sitting most of their starters during the last week of the regular season.
Even without some of the Vikings’ top offensive weapons on the field, Mond will finish the game with at least 250 passing yards, and multiple touchdown passes. His performance will end up instilling enough confidence in Minnesota that the team will look to trade Cousins during the 2022 offseason.
Smith-Marsette will emerge as Minnesota’s No. 3 receiver
Minnesota’s No. 3 receiver typically doesn’t have a large role in their current offensive scheme. But it’s still important for the team to have a third wide receiver next season who is talented enough to fill in for Adam Thielen or Justin Jefferson if one of them has to miss any time due to injury.
Chad Beebe and Bisi Johnson are not the guys the Vikings want to use as a temporary No. 2 receiver in 2021, but a guy they just selected in the fifth round of this year’s NFL Draft is.
Former Iowa pass-catcher Ihmir Smith-Marsette was Minnesota’s first of two fifth-round picks last weekend and he is full of potential. During his college career, he scored a total of 20 touchdowns as a receiver, a rusher, and a returner.
With a 14.7 yards per catch average at Iowa, Smith-Marsette can provide the Vikings with the ability to stretch the field, unlike Beebe and Johnson. Minnesota’s newest receiver made a ton of plays in college and there’s reason to believe he’ll continue to do the same in a purple and gold uniform.
Twyman will be the steal of the draft class
Jaylen Twyman landing with the Vikings in the 2021 NFL Draft was a bit of a pleasant surprise. Many figured he would probably be off the board by the time Minnesota actually drafted him in the sixth round, so his selection is one that comes with some good value.
Twyman opted out of his 2020 season at Pitt to help take care of his family. But in 2019, he performed like someone who had the potential to be an early-round draft pick.
Recency bias and some underwhelming testing numbers at his Pro Day this year resulted in Trywman falling to the sixth round. But it won’t take long for the Vikings to be thanking the rest of the NFL for not grabbing this guy before they were able to pick him up.
Twyman won’t be grabbing a job in the starting lineup for Minnesota next season, but he will have a significant role on the team’s defense. The Vikings will utilize him as a situational pass rusher and he will end his rookie year with at least six sacks.
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Had Twyman suited up for Pitt in 2020, he likely doesn’t last in the draft until the sixth round. But he didn’t and now Minnesota gets to take advantage of him proving his doubters wrong for the rest of his career in the NFL.