5 players the Vikings could’ve drafted instead of Jeff Gladney

(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Jeremy Chinn
(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Jeremy Chinn
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Minnesota Vikings
(Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports) Antoine Winfield Jr.

The Minnesota Vikings released Jeff Gladney this week. Who are five players they should’ve chosen in the 2020 NFL Draft instead?

Jeff Gladney was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury earlier this week on charges of felony domestic abuse and it only took a few hours later for the Minnesota Vikings to cut their former first-round draft pick.

Gladney obviously still has to go through the justice system to ultimately be proven innocent or guilty, but the charges and details of what he’s accused of doing are very disturbing to the point the Vikings decided they were better off without him on the roster.

Gladney did have a decent rookie season in 2020, but he will go down as one of Minnesota’s worst first-round picks of all time. They’ll certainly be going over their procedures and processes when it comes to vetting the characters and backgrounds of prospects in the future.

The Vikings either missed badly on Gladney or he put on a very believable front to fool the team’s front office, and they’ll want to make sure that never happens again.

Now that Gladney is gone, it’s time to go back and second guess Minnesota’s decision on the first night of the 2020 NFL Draft and look at some of the prospects the team could’ve chosen with the 31st overall pick instead.

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