Enough time has passed since they were selected, so after the 2022 season, it’s safe to call these Minnesota Vikings draft picks busts.
The NFL Draft is an interesting phenomenon. Fans and media types spend months agonizing over prospects and trying to figure out what their team will ultimately do to make their rosters better. While the Minnesota Vikings and other teams around the NFL don’t always do what we want, one thing that is safe to say is that everyone hopes the players chosen will pan out, even if it wasn’t who we were hoping for.
The truth is, not every draft pick will be a contributor right off the bat, in fact, most aren’t. One has to allow a few seasons before we can confidently say whether or not this player will figure things out.
Today we will look at a handful of Vikings who have been with the team long enough to where we can make a solid declaration of their bust status. Maybe we had hoped these players would develop into a star, or maybe expectations were that they were just going to be an average starter.
Heck, maybe we even envisioned a role player who could get a handful of sacks every year in spot duty. Whatever the case, and whatever the measurement, it’s safe to now say these players aren’t going to hit that mark.
Here are four players drafted by Minnesota that we can now confidently say are busts.
James Lynch – DT
James Lynch was a fourth-round pick by the Vikings back in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was coming off a monster season at Baylor where he had 13.5 sacks and nearly 20 tackles for a loss.
When Minnesota took him there was hope he would be able to transfer that interior pressure to the NFL. The belief was that he could be a situational piece who could occasionally pressure and sack the quarterback, in a similar way that Tom Johnson did for the Vikings in his run with the team.
After three seasons in the league, Lynch looks more like Tom Compton than Tom Johnson. The redhead has mustered just two career sacks. In addition to that thin stat line, he’s totaled 53 tackles, four tackles for a loss, and a fumble recovery. He just hasn’t measured up to being a fourth-round pick.
In Lynch’s defense, he has had to play in different schemes that required him to do different things. He’s at his best when just going full boar at the quarterback. He doesn’t have the size to hold his ground and be a force in the run game.
The hope for James Lynch was that he could be a situational pass rusher who gives the team a handful of sacks a season. He has yet to develop into that role, and it’s safe to say he never will.
Irv Smith Jr. – TE
Injuries will be the reason that Irv Smith Jr. will go down as a bust with the Vikings. The guy had all the potential in the world but was constantly dinged, and injured.
In four seasons with the team, he played in just 37 games with 15 starts. He accumulated 91 receptions for 858 yards and nine total touchdowns. The hope was that after a couple of years, he’d post those types of numbers in a single season.
That’s the kind of talent Smith has. He’s excellent after the catch with great speed, and toughness to break tackles. He was basically a wide receiver playing tight end and should have created constant mismatches when lined up against linebackers and safeties.
Minnesota got to see glimpses of Smith’s potential but he could not stay on the field long enough to fully realize it.
He was supposed to be a star tight end for the Vikings, but his failure led the team to go out and trade for T.J. Hockenson and he is now their future at the tight end position. Not only is he the future, but he also instantly produced in the way that many assumed Smith would.
Smith still has time to salvage his career. He may find an opportunity with another team this offseason, but we can now confidently label him a bust when it comes to his time with Minnesota.
Troy Dye – LB
Troy Dye was another fourth-round pick from the 2020 NFL Draft. He was an ultra-athletic linebacking prospect who had the speed and size to close in on ball carriers and stick stride for stride with tight ends and backs in pass coverage. He’s been through three full seasons in the NFL, and what he has become is nothing more than a special teamer.
Dye’s stat line is pretty sparse. He has just 63 career tackles, one fumble recovery, and a couple of pass breakups. He’s started only six games for the Vikings, as he’s primarily been a special teamer. The biggest reason for this is probably just Dye’s build.
He’s an extremely thin-built linebacker who actually looks more like a punter when he’s on the field. Dye still has good speed but Vikings fans only get to see that when he’s flying down the field as a gunner on a punt.
The potential and hope for Dye when he was drafted was to eventually develop into a starting linebacker for Minnesota. Instead, they’ve had to go out and sign veterans like Nick Vigil and Jordan Hicks to be a one-season stopgap.
At this point, it’s safe to say that Dye will never be a starting linebacker for the Vikings, the only question is how long will he stick around as a core special teamer?
Armon Watts – DT
Armon Watts was a sixth-round pick for the Vikings in 2019 and he did show some promise at times. He played sparingly early in his career but when he was on the field, he made some things happen, with 1.5 sacks and 13 tackles.
He continued to improve, peaking in 2021 when he had 46 tackles, three tackles for a loss, and an impressive five sacks. Going into the 2022 season, he was a projected starter and it appeared it would stay that way as the regular season approached. Instead, Watts was cut and the team went out and traded for Ross Blacklock who did absolutely nothing.
Watts was picked up by the Chicago Bears just like everyone else who was cut last August. He went on to rack up 35 tackles with four tackles for a loss and one sack. Watts is by no means a star in this league but he’s playing pretty well for a sixth-round pick.
As far as the Vikings go, he can now be considered a bust as he lasted just three seasons with the team. It’s still worth wondering why he was let go as the players kept instead were not very good at all.