Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso breaks down 5 Minnesota Vikings mock drafts and what could impact their pick in free agency

Episode Date: March 8, 2021

Matthew Coller and CBS Sports draft analyst Chris Trapasso take five mock drafts from ESPN, NFL Network and PFF and break down five different players who analysts have going to the Minnesota Vikings. Does it make sense for the Vikings to take a beast tackle? What would that say about Ezra Cleveland? How about an edge rusher whether Danielle Hunter stays or not? Why trading down makes sense and how a receiver pick would help the Vikings the most right away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get Coors Light in the new look delivered straight to your door with Drizzly or Instacart, Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado, and as always, celebrate. Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Scout Logistics and by Symbol, your stock market for sports. Joining me is CBS Sports Draft Analyst Chris Trapasso, the host of The Prospect Podcast, a show that I am regularly lucky enough to appear on. So you guys should go find that wherever you get your podcasts, The Prospect. What's going on, man? It's officially your season. Yeah, I'm very excited. I mean, we have free agency coming up at the what early next week. We're going to see a lot of cap casualties, but I love coming on to talk about specific teams draft plans because me as a draft analyst,

I'm just scouting players and looking at the draft as a whole and ranking them based on me being a GM of some team that doesn't exist. To have a team that has specific needs and maybe they want a slot corner, not a long corner, or they need defensive tackle. It's fun to talk about team specific draft stuff. So I'm really excited for this podcast. Okay. Well, I have a very specific angle for you today, Chris, I have taken five different mock drafts from notable mock drafters and five different players from these five mocks. And I'm going to give you the player that the mocker has given to the Vikings and we can break it down. And then I'm going to give you the player that the mocker has given to the Vikings and we can break it down. And then I want you to give me your most recent mock and who you have

going to the Vikings. So let's start with Austin Gale's mock for pro football focus. He has Christian Derisaw going to the Vikings. Christian Barmore is still on the board when they pick Derisaw. He is the left tackle from Virginia Tech. He strikes me as the freak of this draft, the monster who has physically dominated everyone, maybe not quite to the level of Mekhi Becton, but I think if we had the regular NFL combine, we'd be watching this guy and saying he dominated in Indy. Chris, I don't think that anybody would be upset in Vikings land if they took Christian Derrissaw. Well, right now, and I'm pretty sure this is how it's going to end up. He's my number

two offensive tackle in this draft class, which is a little bit different from the consensus. I think in general, if you look around the internet or watch NFL network or ESPN, it's mostly Christian or I would say Christian Slater, the actor. Rashawn Slater as the number two offensive tackle. Rashawn Slater from Northwestern. I think with Christian Darsaw, like what you just said, he is a freak of nature. If Penny Sewell was not in this draft class, we would be like, wow, like this Virginia Tech offensive tackle, 6'5", 315 with room to add some weight,

moves like he's a center. In pass protection, he gives you everything that you want. offensive tackle, 6'5", 315 with room to add some weight, moves like he's a center. In pass protection, he gives you everything that you want. Lateral agility to slide to the inside against an inside swim move. Plenty of power. You never see him get bull rushed. And then I think for the Vikings, and I've certainly mocked him to the Vikings in the past, he is the perfect fit in his zone blocking scheme

because he is so athletic. You see him out in space, on zone plays at Virginia Tech, looks effortless, is not lunging out in front of his feet, finds linebackers with a lot of consistency. You got to tell me what this future is for Riley Reif. If there's a chance that he's a cap casualty or this is the last season that he's going to be in Minnesota, I think a left tackle and one Christian D'Arcy would be a home run of a pick for the Vikings. And this is what's interesting about every mock that we're looking at, Chris, here is it's all free agency dependent. This is also what happens, by the way, when you're

up against the salary cap, because if the cap was not an issue, they'd for sure be keeping Riley reef. They were happy with how he played happy with his locker room presence, but you have to make room somehow. And he's one of the guys that could get let go. But I would say this, even if reef does stay on a short-term extension or restructure for next season, I don't think it's a crazy idea to draft his successor. If Christian Derrissaw sat for one year, I'm okay with that. I know that we always want to fill needs right away, but when you look at the first year impact, a lot of the recent draft picks aside from Justin Jefferson, relying on that is not really a sure thing. Setting yourself up for the future, letting a player develop for a year is okay you do not

have to force a guy into a spot and say hey go play left tackle at the nfl level against really really great players right away and hope that that works out i think you can have a guy develop and one point to that christian darasau is a freak of an. Like if it's a run of the mill linebacker or wide receiver that, you know, you can get in any draft, regardless of where you're picking, then I don't know if I would love to have that guy that you pick him. And then you let him sit with Darasaw.

Like he's special. He truly is. And I, like you said in the intro, had there been a combine, there would be people talking about the closeness to him and Penny Sewell I think Penny Sewell would have been heavier he would have been bigger he would have tested a little better but I think just from watching the film

athletically Darasau is close so if you're picking in the top 15 like the Vikings are you don't want to pass up on that and just only look to 2021 you would love to have him already ready to go already having a year in an NFL strength and conditioning program under his belt when he is set to be your starter at left tackle in 2022 and it's never a bad thing like you said if Riley Reeves getting up there in age if his play significantly dips or if there's any injuries to have this super talented guy that could be injected to a lot of teams starting lineups in week one to have him on your roster i think that's super valuable right and you do need to have an answer on riley reef how long is he

going to be here if he signs a three-year contract extension then drafting derisaw makes a whole lot less sense unless you're going to move on from Brian O'Neill and free agency next year. And I don't see that happening. He's going to probably sign an extension this off season. One more note on Christian Derrissaw before we move on. According to PFF, he allowed zero sacks and zero QB hits, but PFF's player comp concerns me a little bit, Chris. Maybe this is just on physical traits, but it's Eric Flowers. Are you seeing that at all? Because Eric Flowers has been a pretty big disappointment. I mean, it has to just be on his physical makeup, right?

That's gotta be what it is. And I have a lot of respect for all the guys at PFF. I do not see that one whatsoever because Eric Flowers coming out of Miami in 2015, he was his physical freak, but his film was not clean whatsoever. You saw a lot of deficiencies in pass protection. I think Christian D'Arsa is somewhere between Russell Okung and Trent Williams. I think he's just clean film, checks all the boxes. Obviously, with Trent Williams, you've like all pro play for a long time, but Russell Okung has been in the league for a long time and he's just been a really good left tackle wherever he's been. I think that's almost,

maybe not the floor for Christian Darasov, but like that's what you're most likely going to get if he develops a little bit of some of the weaker points of his game, I think you could really have a Trent Williams. I don't see Eric Flowers whatsoever. There were a lot of technical parts of his game that needed to get better. And he was a good run blocker, but was really not a good pass protector. Darasaw is ready to be a good pass protector today. Another interesting note is that Darasaw has a 95 zone blocking grade out of 100 by pff so that

seems like the type of scheme fit the vikings would be looking for all right next mock charlie casterly always has some very interesting and unique takes sometimes a little off the deep end in his mock he has justin fields dropping to 24th chris if if Justin Fields is available at 14th and the Vikings don't take him, I will never let that go for the rest of eternity, but that is not going to happen because he's not getting out of the top 10. I don't think, but Cass release pick in his mock. The reason I decided to bring it up is because I haven't seen this guy a lot. And I think it makes a lot of sense. Uh, it is Jalen Phillips of Miami. But in this mock, Kyle Pitts is still on the board.

If Kyle Pitts is still on the board at 14, does that change the formula for you of the Vikings drafting a defensive lineman or drafting a different need? Because Pitts is just such a great prospect. Yeah, definitely. If Kyle Pitts is there, especially with what recently happened with Kyle Rudolph being released, he's just a prospect. Even if you're a team that's not going to throw to the tight end a lot, and I do think the Vikings would probably like to re-inject that to their offense a little bit more, you have to pick Kyle Pitts.

I don't see a situation in which Kyle Pitts is there at 14. Like you said, Charlie Casterly can kind of be off the deep end a little bit, but he was a GM for a long time. He's plugged in. I just don't think that over the next six weeks, we're going to see a lot of mock drafts with Kyle Pitts on the board at 14. But if he's there, he's just so good. You have to pick them. I'm in the same boat. Chris Irv Smith Jr. has shown some good things, but this is a team that likes to play with multiple tight ends with their system. We know also they're probably not changing the system.

So Kirk Cousins has had his two best career years in a two tight end system the last two years. That would also allow them to move these guys all over the place, put them in the slot, put them outside. I think both Irv Smith Jr. and Kyle Pitts could do that. So it's not a need. I get that. Not a need at all. That would be best player available because Pitts is not some decent receiver prospect. He's one of the best football players in this entire draft. Anyway, let's talk

about the guy that they did take in this scenario. Jalen Phillips out of Miami, a one-year wonder guy didn't have a huge sample size of snaps, but his performance was really, really good. I have not seen this name though, Chris, very often at the top of the draft. I would be fine with that. Actually. He's actually my number three edge rusher in this draft class. And that is kind of sort of factoring in only him being a one-year wonder too, because I think his film is that good in the one year at Miami that at UCLA. And we've said this a lot. He was the number one recruit in the entire nation in the class of 2017 or

2018, maybe goes to UCLA plays early and make some plays, but has a couple of concussions, retires from football, goes to UCLA, plays early and makes some plays, but has a couple of concussions, retires from football, then transfers to Miami, obviously unretires, and everything that he showed in 2020 burst off the snap, bend the ability to flatten to the quarterback, and to me, which is huge and is the separator between being a good prospect and a great prospect on the edge his pass rushing moves are fully developed you would have thought that he had already had two full seasons already in college the way that he knows how to use his hands

uh very he does not play complacent and he does not just try to bull rush offensive tackles and that's it. And he's like 6'5", 255. He has a lot of traits that are first-round caliber. So there would be a little bit of a concern because of the one-year wonder thing and because he had concussions. And you're like, if he has another one, is he going to think about retiring or what's going to be the future there? But strictly on the field, I think think he middle of the first round maybe 14s a little early I think I have him graded like at number 20 22 something like that but that's not

that big of a discrepancy I would be fine with Jalen Phillips I think it makes sense for what the Vikings need and with Gregory Rousseau his former teammate that he never really got to play with at Miami getting so much of the attention I think Jalen Phillips is a better prospect than Gregory Rousseau. Maybe Rousseau has more upside because he's 6'7", and he was only a redshirt freshman, but Jalen Phillips is ready to produce today, and I think because he's so athletic, there is some upside with him as well. Phillips's production this year was pretty outrageous, Chris. He only played 286 pass rush snaps and had 42 pressures, which is a crazy good pressure rate. He had a pass rush productivity higher than Quiddy Pay.

So there's some pretty impressive stuff from what Phillips did in that small sample. And even though the Vikings signed Steven Weatherly as a rotational rusher, and even though Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said that he feels like Daniil Hunter is going to return, or at least he was talking that way when we talked to him recently, I think an edge rusher is still fine at number 14. If you feel like your star is coming back and you've drafted another star, that's okay to have a lot of these guys coming off the edge a lot of talent there to create pressure and i don't feel like anyone else dj wanham stephen weatherly if a fatty

adenabo returns he's an rfa i don't feel like any of them is a difference maker and if they become a difference maker it's okay to have multiple pass rushers who could do a lot of different things for you yeah and i think all that makes perfect sense for why edge rusher is kind of a dark horse position for the Vikings at 14. And really, when you look around the NFL at the best teams that have a really good pass rush, it's not just Nick Bosa. They have other rotational pieces. It's not just Joey Bosa. It's Melvin Ingram. Yes, you can have Miles Garrett have a season with 15 and a half sacks, but I think the Browns wish they had a true number two. They had Olivier Vernon there. So even if you're Rick Spielman and you're thinking we're going to have

Danell Hunter back, he's going to be fine. We're going to get his contract worked out. You still need like a really good number two in today's NFL and for planning for the future. It's great insurance. And I really think Jalen Phillips kind of reminds me of Danelle Hunter in a way that he's kind of under the radar and is a freak of an athlete that literally was the number one recruit in the entire nation. I think he kind of fits the mold of what the Vikings would like have wanted in the past at the edge rusher spot. He's tall, he's long. You can add more weight and muscle to his frame.

I think that would be a pick that might get a little bit of criticism on draft night, but would actually be a smart pick in terms of value and planning for the long term. And then with Phillips, it's not just a developmental guy. That's a project that in three or four years might be good he can come in and be a good player in year one especially if he's not that number one alpha rusher if you do have hunter back and then by year two or year three then you could really have a quality tandem and then in that you know dire situation where daniel hunter is traded i think phillips truly has the physical and athletic traits to be a number one rusher in

the NFL. So I have a couple of Hunter related questions for you. One is about draft capital that would be coming back for Daniel Hunter. They're in a bit of a tough position because of his neck injury and because he missed last season. And it doesn't seem to me likely that they'll get two first round picks for him if they try to swing a trade. And I also think this year is going to be hard to get draft picks from other teams. So tell me what you think of that. And the thing that I'm thinking about with Hunter is the formula of money versus production for that position. Eventually the cap hit just outweighs what a single player can do for you. And looking at the defensive end salaries and what Hunter reportedly might want,

I'm looking at that and saying, even though he's a dominant player and he's truly elite and he's still young, is quarterback money really making sense here? Or does it make more sense with good edge rushers coming out in this draft to say, look, we should draft several defensive ends and try and replace him instead and get back what we can well two-part answer here i think if you're the vikings you have to kind of look at yourself and say are we a team that maybe even in by 2022 is going to

be competing for a super bowl and if you don't think that and I think they're pretty far away from that at this point, then paying Danelle Hunter $25 million a year or whatever it would be, you know, close to quarterback money at this point, given where the franchise is, that really wouldn't make sense. And it's weird. It's, you know, got to be tough to say for fans, like, hey, like, you don't want Danelle Hunter to not be on this team, but where this team is, I don't know if that makes sense at this point. It kind of reminds me of wide receivers and that class every single season, that there's always a bunch of really good ones because of just what we've seen at the collegiate level. It's kind of the same for edge rushers. Like I don't think the edge rusher class is ever as deep as wide receiver, but there are going to be good edge rushers that class in general, deep second, third, fourth round, because there are just so many college teams that understand how important that position is. So it's easy to get tied to Danell Hunter because he's this homegrown product that was

raw that the Vikings took a chance on that became an elite pass rusher. He's still super young. I just don't know if the money, his neck injury and somewhat his age really aligns with the direction or where the Vikings are at this point. Had they been going into 2021 thinking that they or 2022 thinking that they're a Danell Hunter away from winning a Super Bowl, then that's different. I just don't know if it aligns. I don't think they should be shopping Danelle Hunter, but picking Jalen Phillips and then listening to offers and saying, hey, if someone wants to offer us two first rounders and we give them back a third, we'll gladly do that because we know that we need to build this team with young, cheaper talent that will be good by 2023, 2024 when it's not Kirk Cousins running the show and we have a younger quarterback and things are a lot different with this organization.

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You will love it. That is SodaStick, S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com. Original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. Code Purple Insider for free shipping. The tough part with the Hunter situation is that you might not have a resolution by draft night. We have seen these things pretty often play out into training camp and sometimes right to the season starts like it did with Khalil Mack or Ezekiel Elliott. And it's funny because there's always hype for player trades on draft night, but I can't remember too many

trades involving players that happened during the draft or right up until the draft. I remember Anthony Harris was getting talked about a ton and he ultimately ends up playing for the Vikings on the franchise tag. So it seems more likely than not that Daniil Hunter still stays because that's the history of the Vikings trying to keep their own players. But this is another one where I'm sure that they would love to have an answer before draft night. And if you're moving on from Hunter, that does change your plans for how aggressive you have to be in drafting a defensive end. And I like your point on the situation overall is that, you know, they're talking like you get them back and all of a sudden the defense is fixed, but you know, one player, how much impact can you have? How much does that change versus multiple players in cap space and all those things that go into the formula. So let's move on.

Let's go to Mel Kuyper's pick. He loves himself. Some Elijah Vera Tucker Tucker the guard slash tackle out of USC he has mocked him to the Vikings two times in his 1.0 and 2.0 Chris this feels like a pick to me Elijah Vera Tucker that you could make if you move down out of 14 yeah 14 would be a little bit high and I think that would be if we want to use the dreaded draft term reach that would be more of a reach than Jalen Phillips at 14. Elijah Vera Tucker, I have him graded in one of the last few picks, I believe, in my first round. I think he's number 31 overall. He was very good as a guard in 2019, a pass protection guard. He wasn't really moving people in the run game, but his balance and his footwork, you loved in pass protection. Kicked out to left tackle, which you've said on my podcast, The Prospect, that that's a pretty

good indication that his coaching staff knows how good of an athlete he is and just how good of a blocker he is. And I think that's true. Played very well at left tackle. I think maybe the thought from Mel Kuyper is that Dakota Dozier is not the answer at left guard. Riley Reif, you know, we talked about it earlier, like what's the future hold for him. And it wouldn't hurt to, if you're still trying to let Kirk Cousins be the guy to lead you to the promised land, to get him as good of an offensive line as possible, would help out Delvin Cook.

Elijah Vera Tucker is an athletic player. I think he'll go in the first round. I don't know if he's that dominant to be a top 15 selection, but I would understand it from the Vikings perspective and just the need on the interior and then the future say, Hey, we're going to play him at left guard as a rookie 2022. He's going to be our starting left tackle. Or if we move Brian O'Neill to left tackle, he's going to be our right tackle. I would be okay with that. Would it move the needle a ton? I don't think so. Not as much as the other two picks, especially Jalen Phillips for a lot of the reasons that

you pointed out, but I would like it would be a little bit of a reach. Wouldn't absolutely love it on draft night for the Vikings. Yeah. If they were to trade down into the twenties and get a second round pick, then you could see a good plan where Veraa tucker plays guard they keep riley reef and a year or two from now that's when they slide tucker out to tackle uh where by the way he was graded higher by pff as a tackle than he was as a guard and he was graded pretty highly as a guard at usc so normally we talk about guys moving outside from tackle to in it guard

we don't see them moving from guard to tackle very often. And that says to me that he has the athletic profile to do it and that he's improving and getting better and get better, better opportunities that might get him drafted higher. And worst case, you can have him as a guard and he still brings you value. One thing that's hard to figure out though, with this type of pick on the offensive line is just where they have Ezra Cleveland. It was really surprising last year that he played guard from the outset. Do you see Ezra Cleveland as a tackle? Cause I'm not really sure last year in the draft, I did not see guard. I thought that he was going to be someone that they groomed

to be their long-term left tackle. I don't know why they see guard either. that he was going to be someone that they groomed to be their long-term left tackle I don't know why they see guard either and in saying that answer about Elijah Tucker I don't know how because I completely forgot about Elijah or about Ezra Cleveland which I don't know how because I was a big fan of his had him like graded I think in the early second round last year coming out of Boise State he's a tackle all the way. He is very close to being Brian O'Neill 2.0, that he just needed to get a little stronger. That was obvious, but he crushed his combine workout just like Brian O'Neill did a few years ago. And he's got the length, he's got the nastiness, the footwork to be a really good left tackle in the NFL. I don't know why they're trying to push him into guard. I think the lack of power,

some of the short area quickness that might not be there. That's really accentuated when you're a defensive lineman and you know that you can just bull rush your way through Ezra Cleveland, you're going to do that. Maybe they want him to add some weight and have him be this highly athletic guard. I think that was a smart pick. And I remember applauding that pick, giving it a high grade on draft night because I was looking to 2021 and 2022 for the future

that does not include Riley Reif. So I think if they love Ezra Cleveland at guard, I think that's not putting him in the right position. If they let him play his natural spot left tackle, then certainly the need for that premier spot on the offensive line certainly lessons for this draft season for the Vikings that goes under the category of you should be looking at guards in the third round where there's a good amount of interior offensive line prospects and if you're feeling that Ezra Cleveland is a left tackle then you

should be moving on from Riley Reif and upgrading through free agency at the guard spots. But the fact that they seem to want reef back says to me that they are not confident in Ezra Cleveland as a tackle. And I guess we'll wait on and see on that. But something I wonder about is just whether playing him last year, even helped in his development or how much it helped the positions are so much different that maybe he got an idea of the speed of the game, but I still think it's questionable. I mean, I might've rather had him practice at left tackle every day than play at a different position. That's completely foreign to anything he's done before. I mean, this seems just like a trend with the offensive line and the way that the Vikings have developed players there that they just seem to move around

guys a lot and I wonder if there's some frustration from Ezra Cleveland about not getting a chance to show them what he could even do at left tackle yeah there's not really anything about his game that screams guard I mean he's tall he's got long arms he's athletic and you're right the position playing guard and playing tackle could not really be any more different. The type of defensive lineman that you're seeing at those two spots, they're completely different. You're seeing small, stocky penetrators at right guard and at left tackle. You're obviously seeing longer, more athletic players. And that's the type of player that Ezra Cleveland's skill set is perfect to

stop. And I certainly think guard is important. And I'm sure a lot of Vikings fans and a lot of your listeners understand now how important the guard position is. It's not that you can just throw out Pat Elfline or Tom Compton or Dakota Dozier and be fine. I think they can, you know, if there's any bad piece on your offensive line, like it's a weak link system, like that will stand out. Ezra Cleveland is a tackle. I guess I'll just say that. Like there was no question to me. Like if you're a lighter weight tackle, you don't go into guard. You're going to deal with more power there.

And I think they should look no further. And I'm surprised they haven't yet to Brian O'Neill, that Brian O'Neill was just athletic, right? Tackle. I don't know if there was ever any inkling or speculation that he was going to play guard but he played tackle and he is now a really good tackle he's been in the program now for three years I think that should be and that's kind of what I thought they were doing when they picked Ezra Cleveland the second round last year third round yeah second round yeah second round say hey Riley

Reeves not going to be here in 2021. He's going to be our left tackle and his film was really good. And the combine was like, literally looked like a franchise left tackle in terms of what he can do. And with that athleticism, he's great on the backside or leading on those own place. I think in general, philosophically speaking, I have trouble believing in teams ruining players. Kirk Cousins told me last year for a story that players are responsible for their own development.

There's no drill that a coach can show you that's suddenly going to make you better or that's going to ruin you. But I do think teams can make the path harder from being a prospect to being a legit player. And that's possibly what the Vikings have done here with Cleveland. I guess what we'll do is find out in the long run, whether it's slowed him down or if this difficult experience of changing positions somehow helped him to learn how to fight through things or something like that. That'll take years to know. So let's just get to the next mock. It's Chad Reuter from NFL.com. This one's exciting, Chris, because it has the Vikings doing the thing that they should probably do, which is trade down.

In this one, the Vikings move from 14th to 28th. So the Saints can pick Mac Jones. And this one has the Vikings taking Ronnie Perkins, who is a pass rusher from Oklahoma. Now, I like the concept of them moving back so much that I'm willing to overlook that. I'm not sure the player is really a best fit. He did have very good production though, Chris.

Yeah. I don't know if I would love Ronnie Perkins there at 28, but I am totally with you. The Vikings kind of depending on how the draft board falls, obviously are in prime trade-down spot. Like I think if they moved 14 spots from 14 to 28 and picked an edge rusher, I think that would be the best-case scenario. They currently don't have a second-round pick.

If they could recoup that and maybe more, for such a big trade-down, they would probably get more than just a second-round pick. That would be huge for the organization moving forward. Yeah, Ronnie Perkins does not really fit the Vikings mold of being like a six, four and up 270 pound edge rusher. He's kind of like your old school, like three, four outside linebacker stand up in a two point stance. Watching him at Oklahoma, he was super productive in the big 12 has good pass rushing moves. And what I like about his game, I think he probably will be picked in the second 12, has good pass rushing moves. And what I like about his game, I think he probably will be picked in the second round.

And I guess Chad Ryder thinks he's going to go in the first that he converts speed to power. He's one of those burst players that wins with his first step. But then when he comes in contact with the offensive tackle, it doesn't just die. Like all that energy gets converted. He can for being smaller and having a lower center of gravity, which I think helps him, he can push back offensive tackles. And he has some counter moves off it.

He's not a crazy athlete. He's not the fastest, but typically the Vikings do like some of those guys that do have a good pass rush move arsenal and are okay to above average athletes. I think that's where ronnie perkins would kind of land he would be one of the smaller defensive ends that the vikings um would bring on to their roster but i really like it more so for the trade down you almost have to grade the pick of whoever it is and then add on the second round pick as well because that's what they'd be getting

is kind of a bonus yeah i don't ever want to be the person who says your mock is wrong because we don't know and it's always possible that anything can happen when it comes to the draft but this one would be a pretty big surprise because exactly what you laid out a 3-4 edge rusher who stands up the outside linebacker type is just not how the vikings want to play with that position mike zimmer puts a huge priority on his defensive ends wanting to stop the run. We saw six games of Yannick Ngakwe and they were like, nope, nope, nope. That's not going to work. We can't have a guy that doesn't stop the run. Mike Zimmer wants to play two deep safeties. He wants to rely on his front seven to stop the run. And if you've

got a weakness up there, then opponents are going to attack it over and over. And we saw that within Gawkway and that points them to probably not looking at guys like Perkins, even Aziz Ojulare from Georgia, who is probably the best pure pass rusher in terms of his moves and how far along he is. I'm not sure that they would pick him. I had him in the draft sim the other day. And one reason I kind of questioned myself a little is he's just not that big and i think he's a better prospect than perkins and i'm not sure they would take him because he has that same sort of profile they've always done a good job i think of finding guys who fit their scheme so the trade down is great from this mock but the player probably not a fit everything that you just pointed out is why i love coming on to talk about team specific

draft plans. I love Aziz Ojolari because I'm looking at it just from a grand view, not, you know, any team specific when I'm like evaluating an entire draft class. Aziz Ojolari is a great situational pass rusher. I think he could truly be like a 15 sack guy in the NFL, but a lot of teams are going to say, we'll take that in the top 15. A lot of teams like the Vikings want size, want three down ability. And I'm, there's no real right or wrong answer as to how you should draft your edge

rusher. So that's, what's good is that we shouldn't spend any time on Ronnie Perkins or on Aziz Ojulari, because that's not the, the prototype or, you know, what we've seen the history.

And it's nice with the Vikings to have Rick Spielman there as long as he's been that you can look back and kind of see his history his trends but I think that's a great point that scheme fit size length weight certainly matters so those smaller kind of old school three four outside linebackers that are only going to rush the passer probably not going to play much on first down will not most likely be on the vikings radar it definitely feels like someone like quitty pay for michigan would be more on their radar because of that size and freakish athleticism that he has and maybe there's an everson griffin comparison that they're looking more for players like that than they are those three four guys uh let me go back to our final mock that we have i need your opinion on this one because it

came out a while back and we talked about it quite a bit on the show daniel jeremiah of nfl network had the vikings in his mock 2.0 taking wide receiver davante smith out of alabama i'm the conductor of the wide receiver three train here chris and i look at smith as a potential game changer for them a player that could take them up another level and someone who could make this draft really exciting for the vikings would they be crazy to take davante smith if he's there i think that would be under the radar home run selection that it's all been about the defensive line we watched on christmas day they needed defensive line help certainly

offensive line minus a few positions has been kind of what's somewhat been holding Kirk Cousins back I don't know how much better he can be but the way that the league is trending we just saw the Bucs win the Super Bowl with a read like a Madden level amount of pass catchers and and options for Tom Brady and taking nothing away from Tom Brady. But the skill position group was pretty darn good. We know what the Chiefs have done. We know what the Bills have done. The Cowboys didn't have a good season, a lot of injuries, but they drafted CeeDee Lamb when no one expected them to.

It is becoming a three wide receiver league and three good wide receivers. And why I would like that even more is that I think in this draft class, and it's another deep wide receiver group, there is a pretty distinct fall or drop off after the top three elite wide receivers, Jamar chase, Jalen Waddle, who's my number one wide receiver and Devante Smith. After that, like Rondell Moore is good. Rashad Bateman's good. Terrace Marshall is good. There are other good wide receivers and a few of those might go in the first round.

But if Devontae Smith is sitting there and you're at 14 and you're like, ah, man, the edge rusher class is kind of deep. We can always draft a guard in the second or third round. But to add someone to Justin Jefferson with Adam Thielen getting up there in age, Devontae Smith could do a lot for this offense right away and long-term that after you move on from Adam Thielen, he retires, he goes to another team, whatever it is to be still set at that valuable position. That's going to boost up whoever your quarterback is, whether it is Kirk Cousins or you draft someone, I would really like that pick.

I think people that think that the draft is only one round, if you're only doing a one round mock draft, will get mad like, hey, they need to address defensive line. The Vikings have shown that they can do that later in the draft and the drop off at the receiver spot. I think it's pretty big after Devontae. I mean, that's a good point about Adam Thielen. It does not get brought up a whole lot. I mean, you're talking about a guy who feels like he should still be fairly young, but he took a few years to climb the ladder. So now he's more toward the end of his peak already. And within the next two or three years, you might be talking about his game, not being at the same level and him transitioning into a Larry Fitzgerald type role in Arizona in his older years. So my main point has been that this type of player can end up catching X number of balls and maybe doesn't have the highest

production ever, but is the guy that is a go-to in big situations when opponents are trying to take away Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. And I think Chris Smith is the real deal. I mean, he's got hands, the route running ability, the production in college, and was one of the main reasons that we're talking about Mack Jones as a potential first round pick. I think he could be in a very favorable spot in Minnesota if they decided to do that. And I think your point though, is a key one that you're going to want someone next to Jefferson to maintain how great this supporting cast is for a long time, not just the next year or two. And I wonder how much, Justin Jefferson's rookie season, breakout rookie year, one of the best receivers in the league immediately, top five, top seven receiver,

looking at him stylistically, I wonder if the Vikings would kind of lean toward Devontae Smith. Justin Jefferson is a spindly guy. He's like six, two and a half, 200 pounds. Doesn't look like he's going to run great routes, but then he shakes everyone, has a much bigger catch radius than you would think, plays like he's 6'5". That's Devontae Smith. He's going to get dinged, and he might actually be the third wide receiver off the board because he's going to be 6'1", 175, and 180,

but just always open and near the sideline or in the red zone. Looks like he's Calvin Johnson, like gigantic catch radius, sneaky good after the catch too. So I think if the Vikings are like, wow, like look at everything that we got from Justin Jefferson, this skinny spindly wide receiver that a lot of people, including Chris Trapasso overlooked, let's pick Devante Smith. Who's a similar type of guy that we know, you know, we're not going to be concerned about

the fact that he's not this stocky player or he's not super strong right away, but we know he's going to create separation, win down the field. And then in those contested catch situations, play like he's much bigger. Hey, everyone, I want to tell you about our friends at Scout Logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends. They are fans of Purple Insider over at Scout Logistics, and since they reached out wanting to support this show, I want to tell you about what they do. Scout Logistics is just-in-time transportation for full tractor-trailer loads, and if you're wondering what that means exactly, well, if you own or work for a company that needs shipping solutions, they are the preferred carrier of Fortune 500 companies across North America. And we have quite a few of those in Minnesota, right?

They can ship perishable, non-perishable, FTL or LTL, and they have on-time delivery rate of over 99%. So if you're like them and you enjoy the show and you have shipping needs, check out scoutlogistics.com or call 855-217-2688 extension 232 to connect with them directly to find out how Scout Logistics can minimize risk and overperform and go the extra mile for your company. Yeah, watching Smith, my favorite part of his game is just his ability to track the ball in the air after being lucky enough to see up close stefan diggs adam thielen justin jefferson these last

couple years i mean it is way up there in terms of importance for skills there's just the ability to track the ball if you're throwing it downfield these guys are putting themselves in great positions to make the catch and then they have super strong hands to be able to bring it in and I see a lot of that with Smith it's not just the high difficulty catches or even really the contested catches so much is just putting yourself in the right spot down the field having the hands to be able to pull the ball in I see that a lot with Smith but here's my big hold up And I would love to know what Daniel Jeremiah was thinking when he made this mock, because it's really hard to see Mike Zimmer letting them go in the direction of the wide receiver three train. The one thing I'll say is this, and this is kind

of going back to my point about the top three wide receivers in this draft class. And me thinking that there's such a big gap between that tier and tier two, which is still good. I think Devante Smith would move the needle more than any other Vikings draft pick in 2021, 2022, 2023. You could draft Elijah Vera Tucker. You got a good guard. All right. The offense is a little more efficient. Delvin Cook's happy Devante Smith. And maybe this is a little bias coming from me being in Buffalo, but seeing what Cole Beasley and John Brown and then Stefan Diggs were able to do to help Josh Allen develop and seeing around the

league what Patrick Mahomes has, a lot of the good offenses have a litany of weapons. I think Devontae Smith, you could say, hey, let's wait third, fourth round for a wide receiver. No. First round, Devontae Smith would do more and would be more impactful on a week to week basis and a yearly basis for the Vikings and any edge rusher and any interior blocker or offensive tackle. Well, you're going to get no pushback for me on that statement, because if you want to win in 2021, making your passing game more dangerous is definitely one way to get there. Of course, that's contingent on them filling defensive holes through free agency,

getting some other good players in the draft, having some guys develop all those things so you can afford the luxury pick. But we've seen teams do this before with three or four wide receivers like the Bucks this year or the Rams a couple years ago were able to do. It just seems like the answer that results in the more points added for next year is another playmaker. I mean, even Tom Brady had a bad year statistically in New England in 2019 when he did not have that supporting cast. So anyway, I'll stop. I know that I belabor this point and drive everybody nuts. So we need to get to your mock, Chris. Give me who you have the Vikings taking in your most recent mock.

It's actually Quidipe. And a lot of that is coming from just hosting the Prospect podcast, talking to you. And you are almost every podcast bringing up in some way, and I love injecting the Vikings into the podcast, how important the defensive line is and how much rebuilding that unit needs. And I think Quiddy Paye, we kind of talked about it earlier, fits the size and athleticism profile that the Vikings like. He's like 6'4", 6'5", like

275 already. Number one on Bruce Feldman's freak list. I say that every episode. I write in every article. Crazy athlete. And in the four games that every episode I write in every article, crazy athlete. And in the four games that he played in for Michigan this season, you saw more pass rushing moves in 2019. He was just winning like with speed and power and didn't really know what to do with his hands early on in the season for the Wolverines. You saw him like with a swim move with a swipe move, like he had a plan. So I think he's a high floor guy,

pretty good potential as well, and just fits the mold of the Vikings need that position. And I like the fact, too, I don't know how much the Vikings do this, but if he's already 270, almost 280, you can play him inside. And I think with his athleticism, his burst, how flexible he is, even if you have Danell Hunter back and Stephen Weatherly out there as your situational pass rusher, Quiddy Pegg can be that three technique on third and eight how flexible he is. Even if you have Danell Hunter back and Steven Weatherly out there as your situational pass rusher, Quiddie Paye can be that three technique on third and eight and

create some pressure early in his career. So he could give them some versatility as well because he's so bulky and already has an NFL body. That's one thing that I could see Mike Zimmer really wanting to do is move guys around the defensive line. They, uh, they did that quite a bit in the playoff game against new Orleans where they wanted to pressure drew breeze up the middle because that was tougher for him to handle with his size and with their tackles, new Orleans is being really good. So we saw the Vikings move Everson Griffin and even Daniel Hunter over the guards a few times in that game and have success through the years. Uh, Brian Robison used to line up over the guard on third downs. We've seen Steven Weatherly, Ifadi Adenabo do that. So it's pretty common. And I just

like Quidi Pei as one of the top players on their entire boards because of his freakish athletic ability and the fact that they could view him as somebody to develop into a star, into an all pro, into a pro bowler, because he starts with that athletic profile. If you allow me a draft cliche, you cannot teach that type of size and quickness, but you can teach pass rush moves. So Chris, you're welcome that I helped you decide who to mock to the Vikings. You definitely have. And I think that one, like you said, he might be number one on their board, you know, minus some quarterbacks. When I sent Quidipe to the Vikings, I feel like that's like the most likely scenario in terms of like,

he's probably going to be there. If they try to trade back, I don't know if they would feel great about being able to get him like in the early twenties or mid twenties. So just say, Hey, we need a defensive end. We don't know about Hunter's future. He fits our profile. I think that's like right today,

unless we see some craziness with a trader and free agency, Quidipe seems like the most likely Vikings pick. And I think it would just be a very safe, good selection for them on draft night. Okay, one more question before we wrap up. Christian Barmore, the defensive tackle from Alabama, does not show up in any of these mocks. I know that you don't have him quite as high on your board as some other people do. Explain to me the Christian Barmore technique and that he's listed at like six five three ten so like I think some teams and I don't know how much the Vikings uses I don't think they do it too much he's kind of more of a five technique in his frame and I think some of

the appeal with him is that on film you see this six five three ten Alabama defensive lineman that is playing three technique or playing on the nose and creating pressure. So I think at times when there is that inconsistency in his game, and if you see any scouting reports, it'll say that Christian Barmore, some games he looks like a top 10 pick and others, he looks like a third rounder. I think his inconsistency comes from the fact that he rushes kind of high because he's pretty tall and it's hard for a six foot five interior rusher to get low enough to sink there to have that knee bend and sink their hips to drive back a six foot two center or a six foot three guard that's 330 pounds. His pass rushing moves are good. His first step quickness is good. You know, from Alabama, he's going to be sound against the run. So I think Mike Zimmer will like him. I think Quiddie Paye though, would just make a little bit more sense, more of a boom player. But Christian Barmore, I wouldn't hate that pick on draft night. I think though, there's just a little bit too much

inconsistency for him to go at 14. If they trade back, they're sitting there at 22. They got a second rounder and a fifth or a fourth pick Christian Barmore. I would like that a lot more. I just think there's a little bit of a concern, like a little bit of the red flag that he's a little taller and there's some inconsistency to his game. And are you ever going to see him be a dominant defensive tackle that can rush their quarterback being six foot five? All right. Make sure you're checking out Chris's work, CBS sports.com

at Chris Trapasso on Twitter. And Chris and I do the prospect podcast a couple of times a week and make sure you go to wherever you get your podcasts and listen to it. I enjoy it being able to spread my wings and give some more draft takes about the entire league and the entire draft. So I enjoy it. Um, so people can look for that. We put out a few episodes each week and it's great. It's fun time. Thanks for coming on Chris. Yeah. Every Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks Matt. Thank you.