Is there any hope for the Minnesota Vikings 2022 Draft Class?
By Nik Edlund
Minnesota Vikings 2022 Draft Class
The Bad
There's been plenty of bad in this class. These are the picks that aren't total busts, but they are also not consistently productive members of the purple and gold.
Cornerback Akayleb Evans is a good example of this. He had an up-and-down rookie season. He looked quite good at times, but at other times looked like the fourth-round rookie he was.
He suffered multiple concussions and missed time but came back strong in the 2023 preseason, putting together a great camp and earning a starting job.
His second season was again full of highs and lows until the wheels fell off toward the end. Maybe Evans was hurt, but he looked completely lost in Brian Flores's defense.
The man he was covering was often running free, and that led to easy completions for opposing offenses. He played so poorly that he was benched in favor of undrafted rookie Jaylin Williams.
Wide receiver Jalen Nailor can also be classified as bad from this draft. Like Evans, he's flashed potential but cannot stay healthy.
He was the talk of the preseason but was hurt right around the first preseason game. He has just 12 catches for 208 yards and one touchdown in his career so far.
Tight end Nick Muse would also likely be put in this group. It's nice that he's still on the team, but he is usually a healthy scratch on gameday.