Minnesota Vikings NFL Draft big board: 40 prospects to watch with the team’s 9 picks

The Minnesota Vikings will spend the next few weeks putting the finishing touches on their internal NFL Draft board.

Their goal? To be objective. They are committed to not pushing players up the board because of the position they play or the school they attended. Because the Vikings have plenty of positional needs, they should be able to take a “best available” approach.

Which players are good fits? How could they approach each of the three days of the draft? Here is our second big board of the draft season (here was the first), featuring 40 prospects:

(Note: The Day 1 prospects are ranked in order of Dane Brugler’s top 100.)

Day 1 prospects

Player

  

Team

  

Position

  

Jeremiyah Love

RB

Caleb Downs

S

Keldric Faulk

DT

Jermod McCoy

CB

Avieon Terrell

CB

Kenyon Sadiq

TE

Monroe Freeling

T

Dillon Thieneman

S

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren

S

Christen Miller

DT

This is a fun place to start. At the NFL league meetings in Arizona, both Vikings owner Mark Wilf and interim general manager Rob Brzezinski discussed drafting the best available player. This keeps most positions in play.

Is Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love likely to fall out of the top 10? No. Ohio State safety Caleb Downs might be more likely to slide. Still, it’s difficult to think that teams with sharp defensive coordinators like the Dallas Cowboys (led by newly-hired Christian Parker) would pass on such an intelligent prospect.

If Love and Downs are both off the board for the Vikings at No. 18, all options are on the table, including trying to trade back. However, it’s fair to wonder how many teams picking in the 20s or later would part with multiple picks to move up. If they opt to stick and pick, the Vikings will be sifting through a bevy of intriguing possibilities, most of whom have flaws.

Auburn defensive tackle Keldric Faulk? His 6-foot-6, 276-pound frame is unique. His college production wavered. Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy? He missed the 2025 season with a torn ACL. Some NFL scouts think Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell is promising, but going after him at No. 18 is a tad too early. The same goes for Georgia defensive tackle Christen Miller, one of the few bigger-bodied defenders with untapped pass-rush potential.

Maybe the most fascinating selections here would be Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq, Georgia tackle Monroe Freeling or the often-mocked safeties, Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman and Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. Sadiq seems like a bit of a luxury. That said, Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson is entering the final year of his contract, and Sadiq’s versatile skill set presents enticing offensive ideas. Minnesota doesn’t necessarily need a tackle, but Freeling is a developmental player with a sky-high ceiling. Will he be available at No. 18?

Thieneman and McNeil-Warren are completely different. Thieneman is smaller. McNeil-Warren might be more of a fluid mover, but Thieneman’s consistency in the Big Ten is more impressive on the surface than McNeil-Warren’s time at Toledo. Neither is a no-brainer, and the Vikings aren’t guaranteed to take a safety simply because it’s an obvious need, which only adds to the complexity of their first-round decisions.

Day 2 prospects

Player

  

Team

  

Position

  

Chris Johnson

CB

D’Angelo Ponds

CB

Blake Miller

T

Germie Bernard

WR

Max Klare

TE

A.J. Haulcy

S

Keith Abney II

CB

Jadarian Price

RB

Antonio Williams

WR

Treydan Stukes

S

Jake Slaughter

C

Chandler Rivers

CB

Trey Zuhn III

OL

Logan Jones

C

Sam Hecht

C

Ted Hurst

WR

Gracen Halton

DT

Oscar Delp

TE

Kaleb Proctor

DT

Sam Roush

TE

Why such a long list? The Vikings will be as active as they’ve been in years on Day 2 of this draft.

They are picking at Nos. 49, 82 and 97. A trade or two could shuffle those spots, and this makes sense because this period of the 2026 draft is where teams can find the most bang for their buck.

One position feels like a guarantee: center. Florida’s Jake Slaughter, Texas A&M’s Trey Zuhn III, Iowa’s Logan Jones and Kansas State’s Sam Hecht are all potential starters with various traits. Slaughter is known for his smarts. Jones’ exposure to a zone-based run scheme comes with relevant crossover. Hecht starred at the Senior Bowl, and Zuhn was mostly a college tackle but has the movement ability and mental makeup to transition to center.

Auburn center Connor Lew is another possibility. He’s on the Day 3 list (below) because he’s recovering from a torn ACL. These five names (and others like Kentucky’s Jager Burton) speak to the Vikings’ flexibility in finding center depth.

Minnesota shouldn’t be pigeonholed in how it can use its Day 2 picks. Receivers like Germie Bernard and Antonio Williams have the route-running talent and zone awareness to add depth behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. A.J. Haulcy, Keith Abney II, Treydan Stukes and Chandler Rivers are all defensive backs of varying sizes and strengths, most of whom fit defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ system. Max Klare, Oscar Delp and Sam Roush are tight ends with receiving upside.

And then there are small-school gems like Georgia State receiver Ted Hurst and Southeastern Louisiana defensive tackle Kaleb Proctor. The former is an explosive downfield weapon. The latter might have as much quickness at the snap as any interior defender in the later rounds besides Oklahoma’s Gracen Halton.

Day 3 prospects

Player

  

Team

  

Position

  

Jaishawn Barham

Edge/LB

Connor Lew

C

Hezekiah Masses

CB

VJ Payne

S

Demond Claiborne

RB

Jager Burton

C

Tyler Onyedim

DL

Adam Randall

RB

Caden Curry

Edge

Riley Nowakowski

FB/TE

Lew and Michigan edge rusher Jaishawn Barham might be long gone by the fourth round. Adding them to this table was a way to slide them onto the big board. The Vikings have five picks in the final four rounds — the same number of picks they had in total last year. This presents another avenue to add further depth.

Most of the players on this table have a trait or two that the Vikings tend to covet. Cal cornerback Hezekiah Masses comes with ball skills, while Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne has home run-hitting potential.

Texas A&M defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim is one of the more underrated defenders in the 2026 class. Indiana’s Riley Nowakowski is not a sexy prospect but a glue guy. The Vikings have picks No. 163, 196, 234, 235 and 244. The only late-round starters they’ve drafted in the last five years are kicker Will Reichard and receiver Jalen Nailor.

Wilf, Brzezinski and coach Kevin O’Connell know that has to change.