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Kevin O'Connell gets a scathing review of the Vikings draft.
The Minnesota Vikings selected nine players in the 2026 NFL Draft, but not everyone was impressed with the picks.
The Vikings nabbed Florida’s Caleb Banks with their first polarizing selection, and continued to make a few other questionable reaches as the draft went on.
After the conclusion of the draft, ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. assigned grades to every team in the league. The Vikings found themselves at the very bottom of the stack, receiving a league-worst ‘C’ from the draft guru.
“Caleb Banks is a good player,” wrote Kiper. “He can wreak havoc on opposing linemen and has legit burst to affect the quarterback in the pocket as an interior pass rusher (4.5 sacks in 2024). He’s at his best as a run stuffer, closing gaps with his 6-foot-6, 327-pound frame, and he brings scheme versatility to the table. But his foot has been a major problem.”
“He broke it early last season and was limited to three games. Then he re-broke it at the combine, requiring surgery and putting him on the sideline until at least June. That was enough to push him down the Big Board a little bit. I had him ranked 62nd overall, so taking him at No. 18 was too rich. I was mostly surprised Minnesota passed on safety Dillon Thieneman, but even among the defensive tackles, I had four guys ranked higher, starting with Peter Woods and Kayden McDonald.”
He liked the picks of offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan and cornerback Charles Demmings, but ultimately felt like the Vikings came up short compared to the rest of the NFL.
“Overall, Minnesota just didn’t do enough to move the needle,” Kiper concluded.
The Vikings spent their first three picks on the defensive side of the ball, giving coordinator Brian Flores some serious reinforcements. After jettisoning Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, Minnesota quickly moved to replace them with Banks and Domonique Orange. They also added linebacker Jake Golday in the second round to add to their linebacker depth.
While Minnesota attacked rebuilding the defense, they waited until the end of the third-round to address the offensive side of things, taking Tiernan as a potential swing tackle. Minnesota also took speedster running back Demond Claiborne, a player who had been on their radar for quite some time, bolstering the backfield. Still, Kiper thinks the Vikings left a lot on the table in terms of addressing needs.
During the draft, the Vikings finally parted ways with edge rusher Jonathan Greenard after a long contract dispute. Ultimately, Minnesota and Greenard couldn’t come to an agreement, and he was shipped off to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“He’s an impact player,” interim general manager Rob Brzezinski said after the trade. “It’s something we understand is not making the Minnesota Vikings a better team today. But there’s a lot of factors involved, and particularly with the economics, we were able to reach a resolution that made sense for the Vikings.”
The Vikings 2024 first-round pick Dallas Turner will now step up into a starting role after a breakout season in 2025 where he notched a team-high eight sacks.
Trevor Ripley Trevor Ripley is a Heavy writer covering the Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals. More about Trevor Ripley
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