Did the Minnesota Vikings fumble the 2022 NFL Draft?

Despite some major changes this offseason, why did things still look the same for the Minnesota Vikings during the 2022 NFL Draft?

Despite the team being led by a new general manager in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the moves made by the Minnesota Vikings during the 2022 NFL Draft were very similar to some of the draft decisions that were made by the previous regime.

Minnesota used their first two picks on defensive backs, they made more than a handful of trades, and they ended the draft with 10 new players.

Many were expecting the Vikings to experience a giant wave of change after the departures of Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer earlier this year. That hasn’t really been the case though, especially in the draft. However, there might be a reason for this that not many are talking about.

Noticeable changes for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL Draft are more likely to happen in 2023

When a team hires a new general manager, typically that new hire doesn’t get to add his own roster-building staff until after the draft. It’s understandable since it would be incredibly foolish for a new general manager to bring in completely new scouting and personnel staff just a few months before the draft.

This is what took place with Minnesota this year as the majority of the staff members that Adofo-Mensah utilized during the draft process were hired during Spielman’s tenure. Which is why the outcome of this year’s draft for the Vikings might have looked so similar to how things went under the previous general manager.

We discussed this and more on the latest episode of “The Viking Age Podcast”. The most recent episode of the show can be viewed on our site’s very own YouTube Channel or it can be listened to on almost every platform where audio podcasts are available.

Do keep up to date with the latest episodes of our podcast, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel in addition to subscribing to the show on your preferred audio streaming platform, which might include the Apple Podcast App, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.