3 prospects the Vikings should trade up for in the 2022 NFL Draft

Daxton Hill – SAF (Michigan)

This argument can be made for pretty much any of the second-tier safeties in this class. While Kyle Hamilton will be out of reach for the Minnesota Vikings, the group of Daxton Hill, Jalen Pitre, Jaquan Brisker, and Lewis Cine appears to be crowding the 30-45 range in the draft. The Vikings should double-dip in the secondary and add a versatile safety next to Harrison Smith and hope to have a leader once Smith hangs ’em up.

Daxton Hill is a rangy safety with a ton of speed that can impact the game in so many ways. He’s a violent hitter when coming downhill – though he is also a bit of a dangerous tackler that uses way too much of his body and leaves it all on the line. His tenacity could revamp the Vikings’ defense in a major way.

He can be left alone in single-high coverage and allow Harrison Smith to remain fluid and switch up looks on the defensive side of the ball. Smith has been a chess piece for Minnesota and giving him another safety to help on the back end would allow him to keep that sort of impact in the late stages of his career.

Any of the safeties taken in this range would be an immediate starter next to Harrison Smith. The Vikings have cleaned up the holes on their defense this offseason aside from the secondary so why not use the draft to tie together the roster?

Daxton Hill and Jalen Pitre make more sense in this spot as a potential trade-up because of their versatility in the secondary. Both of them could line up in the slot and play the nickel spot given the rest of the cornerbacks on the roster.

Moving up from the 46th pick to get into the mid-30s or early 40s will probably be necessary to land these players, if not earlier. Given the rest of the safety talent in this draft, they may not have a choice but to move up.