One Vikings Mock Draft Is Fairly Spicy

Ohio State Buckeye followers celebrates a Quinshon Judkins (1) landing catch in opposition to Notre Dame Combating Irish within the second quarter in the course of the Faculty Soccer Playoff championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20, 2025. © Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Photographs.

The Minnesota Vikings will choose twenty fourth on draft evening in 10 weeks and have a handful of roster wants after a productive 14-3 season, starting from cornerback, inside offensive line, inside defensive position, to working again.

One Vikings Mock Draft Is Fairly Spicy

And due to Fox Sports activities, the purple workforce would possibly simply get the working again part out of the best way early within the draft. Rob Rang printed a mock draft this week, and for Minnesota, Quinshon Judkins, a tailback from Ohio State, discovered his approach to the purple workforce at choose No. 24.

Brett Davis-Imagn Photographs.

Rang wrote, “The Vikings’ decision to either retain veteran Sam Darnold or go all-in on last year’s top pick JJ McCarthy will obviously help determine which direction they go with this pick. While a running back isn’t necessarily the biggest position of concern, adding juice to the backfield would make a lot of sense if Minnesota opts to keep Darnold and load up for a title ‘run.’”

For now, the Vikings have simply two working backs underneath contract for 2025 — Ty Chandler and Zavier Scott. The workforce can re-sign Aaron Jones, Cam Akers, or draft a runner this offseason. Normal supervisor Kwesi Adofo-Mensah may even have it each methods by re-upping with Jones, for instance, and drafting Judkins, the Rang principle.

“And, if building around McCarthy is the plan, providing him with a young, versatile back like Judkins could also ease the young quarterback’s transition to NFL starter,” Rang added.

Ohio State Buckeyes working again Quinshon Judkins (1) will get away from the Notre Dame Combating Irish protection for a long term within the third quarter in the course of the Faculty Soccer Playoff championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20, 2025. © Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Photographs.

As of mid-February, Judkins is taken into account the 58th finest participant on the Consensus Large Board, so deciding on him with choose No. 24 could be categorised as a “reach” by onlookers. Nonetheless, the identical crowd mentioned comparable issues concerning the Detroit Lions’ number of Jahmyr Gibbs in Spherical 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft. That choose labored out after which some.

Final weekend, VikingsTerritory’s Kyle Joudry predicted Minnesota’s 2025 backfield, and Jones + Judkins bought the nod. Joudry wrote, “RB1 — Aaron Jones, who functions as the starter but who carries a smaller workload than in 2024. RB2 — Quinshon Judkins, who gets sprinkled into the mix as MIN works toward developing their RB of the future.”

Tennessee Titans basic supervisor Ran Carthon chats with Minnesota Vikings basic supervisor Kwesi Adofo-Mensah throughout follow in Eagan, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. © Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK.

If the Vikings don’t draft Judkins however nonetheless need a working again, different candidates like Kaleb Johnson (Iowa), TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State), Cam Skattebo (Arizona State), and Devin Neal (Kansas) could possibly be accessible.

The Vikings’ floor sport ranked twentieth per DVOA in 2024, up seven spots from 2023.

Ohio State Buckeyes working again Quinshon Judkins (1) celebrates his landing run in opposition to Texas Longhorns within the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl Traditional in the course of the Faculty Soccer Playoff semifinal sport at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on January, 10, 2025. © Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Photographs.

Judkins is 6’0″ 210 kilos and will likely be marked as an RB1-caliber commodity immediately. His burst is phenomenal, his measurement excellent for a powerhouse runner, which the Vikings want. He has the quickness and stability to thrive within the NFL and might catch the rock as a receiver. His primary weaknesses, a minimum of early within the draft cycle, embody fumbling points and the actual fact he isn’t the quickest halfback on this 12 months’s deep crop.

The Athletic additionally mock-drafted Judkins to the Vikings final week — however that was in Spherical 3.

The NFL Draft is 70 days away.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the College of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his each day YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The present options visitors, evaluation, and opinion on all issues associated to the purple workforce, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates again to 1996. Listed responsible pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doorways (the band). He follows the NBA as intently because the NFL. 

All statistics offered by Professional Soccer Reference / Stathead; all contractual data offered by OverTheCap.com.