Vikings Draft 2022: Prospects impacted the most by the NFL Combine
By Luke Parrish
Which prospects hurt their stock enough to fall out of Minnesota’s range?
As players rise up the boards, there are just as many prospects that will have to fall down the ladder a bit to make room. Unfortunately for those guys, their names will not be called as early as expected.
George Karlaftis – EDGE (Purdue)
Purdue’s George Karlaftis is the type of rusher that will make an impact right out of the gate in both the run game and pass game but his ceiling is severely limited when compared to the other pass rushers in this class.
There have been rumors that the media covering the NFL Draft is much higher on Karlaftis than the front offices actually were, causing some over-drafts in mocks. Karlaftis had been linked to plenty of teams in the top 14 but that no longer seems likely. With Jermaine Johnson clearly surpassing him, Karlaftis is arguably the fifth-best EDGE in the draft.
The Vikings do have a need on the defensive line but the board likely is not going to fall in a way that leaves Karlaftis as their best option. He seems to be trending towards the back of the first round, just as we saw with Gregory Rousseau last season.
In a loaded EDGE class, George Karlaftis did not do enough to separate himself from the pack. He is firmly behind several other pass rushers and likely out of the mix with the 12th pick.
Devin Lloyd – LB (Utah)
If the Vikings had any desire to draft an off-ball linebacker with the 12th overall pick, that should be out of their minds following the Combine. Devin Lloyd, the only linebacker worth exploring at that spot, did not have the Combine that many expected.
His film shows a ton of instincts and reactive playmaking that comes off as explosiveness. He was expected to test at a high level and flash his speed as a field spacer but that was far from the case. Lloyd ran just a 4.66-second 40-yard dash which is not going to cut it as a top-15 pick.
Teams that look at linebackers that high in the draft typically value elite speed in order to have the basis of their explosion from sideline to sideline. Think back to Devin White, Devin Bush, Micah Parsons. Speed kills at the position and Devin Lloyd simply does not have that sort of burst that others did.
While the 40-yard dash is a bit of an overrated test during the pre-draft cycle, a slow time like this is frustrating for a player like Lloyd. Can he hang with the speed of the NFL to make the same impact that he did in college?