6 first-round mistakes that continue to haunt the Vikings
By Luke Parrish
First-Round Mistake No. 4
The Vikings reached for need in 2019
In 2019, the Vikings were desperate to find a starting center, and they used their first-round pick on Garrett Bradbury. Now, while I do think Bradbury has improved quite a bit and is not the bust that many believe he is, I do agree that they could have used that pick on someone better.
The Titans selected Jeffery Simmons with the very next pick after he slid due to some off-field issues. Montez Sweat, Deebo Samuel, and A.J. Brown were all selected a little later in that draft as well.
If the Vikings really wanted to take a center in this class, they could have waited a little longer and found value. Elgton Jenkins, Erik McCoy, and Connor McGovern were all selected on Day 2 and could have been better values for the Vikings.
They passed up several prospects who were much better players than Bradbury simply because of the hole in the middle of their offensive line, and that hurt them in the long run. Luckily, the Vikings have stopped making that sort of mistake and have not drafted specifically for need recently, which has helped their roster tremendously.
The 2019 draft class was not nearly as deep as some others in recent years, but the Vikings could have improved the roster with Jeffery Simmons or Montez Sweat.