I have a few draft “Don’ts” and one draft “Do” to suggest to Executive Vice President of Football Operations Rob Brzezinski and his staff.
1) Don’t trade with the Packers, Lions or Bears!
2) Don’t trade J.J. McCarthy! If you do, please DON’T trade him to an NFC team!
3) Don’t expect to receive an A as a post-draft grade! Even if you select the same player that an analyst had you selecting in their mock draft, a player that they have spent the last few months pushing as the best possible pick for the Vikings, the curve has already been established, and we’ll be receiving an average at-best post-draft grade.
1) If Spencer Fano gets past the Ravens at 14, I hope Rob’s group will consider contacting the Buccaneers and Jets about trading in front of the Lions. He would be a great addition or at the very least our interest would force the Lions to have to ante up an additional pick.
Last year’s coverage was GREAT, especially the post-selection calls with the players.
— Bill Dunn in Fairfield, Connecticut
The Vikings have established their philosophy for this year’s draft and will apply it with Brzezinski leading the personnel department and coaching staff. I get the sentiment of not trading within the division since doing so with Detroit and Green Bay in 2022 didn’t pan out the best for Minnesota.
I anticipate the Vikings status at quarterback will be among the topics handled today by O’Connell.
Report cards issued so quickly after a class has been assembled can be a little premature and result in grades that can change, but we’ve assembled a report card for several draft years and will do so again after the draft.
The mid-to-late teens are an interesting location to enter a draft. There are likely to be some outcomes that are predicted by many, and there could be some that are unexpected.
Although I’m not involved in the content capture of the calls, I enjoy them greatly. I know colleagues appreciate your compliment. We are all ready for the draft and look forward to covering this year’s action.