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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – DECEMBER 25: Head coach Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings speaks with field judge Dyrol Prioleau #109 during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 25, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Minnesota Vikings<\/a>\u2018 first round draft pick in the 2026 NFL<\/a> Draft later this month has been the subject of substantial speculation in and around the NFL.<\/p>\n Many believe that the Vikings will opt to add to the secondary; the team does not have a long-term position fit for the outside corner role opposite Isaiah Rodgers<\/a> and long-time stalwart safety Harrison Smith<\/a> just retired from football after 14 years in the league; but that may not be the biggest area of need on the team.<\/p>\n Minnesota\u2019s interior defensive line saw two starters, Jonathan Allen<\/a> and Javon Hargrave<\/a> be released earlier this year and find new homes, after neither lived up to the expectations set by their hefty contracts signed back in spring 2025.<\/p>\n Consequently, both the strength and depth of the unit is evidently the biggest hole in the roster, even if some of the current starters have shown promise over the past season \u2013 in particular 3-4 defensive end Jalen Redmond<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yet, despite the need to add to the unit, it appears unlikely that the team will address the much-needed three-technique position with their first pick in the draft at #18 overall. ESPN\u2019s Jordan Reid, writing on Friday detailed how he believes there is a distinct possibility that no defensive tackles are selected in the first round come April 23.<\/p>\n No Defensive Tackles May Be Taken in Round 1 \u2013 Reid<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time since 2021, it is possible that no defensive tackles could be selected in Round 1. I haven\u2019t found a team that has a true first-round grade on any defensive tackle.\u201d Reid wrote<\/a> on April 10.<\/p>\n Although there are three prospects who would seem to have at least some chance of being Day 1 selections, Reid believes that there is a good chance that none of them are selected within the first 32 picks.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Caleb Banks (Florida) recently having foot surgery, he\u2019s likely to be a Day 2 pick. The inconsistencies of Peter Woods (Clemson) throughout the season and during the predraft process have caused most teams I have spoken with to put an early-to-mid second-round mark on him. Kayden McDonald (Ohio State) has mixed reviews because of his lack of pass-rushing ability; many teams wouldn\u2019t use a first-round pick on a two-down interior defender.\u201d<\/p>\n Vikings Could End Up With a First Round Defensive Lineman<\/p>\n And even if Banks, Woods or McDonald do end up being first round picks, they would most likely do so at the back end of round 1. The Vikings, conversely, select right in the middle of the first round \u2013 so barring any movement down, it is appears highly improbable that defensive tackle will be the direction the team goes in on Thursday night in a couple of weeks time.<\/p>\n One potential caveat to that declaration is if the team selects defensive lineman, Keldric Faulk, who was listed by BTMS\u2019 Will Ragatz as one of the six most \u201crealistic\u201d picks<\/a> in the first round of the draft.<\/p>\n Although Faulk is listed as an edge rusher and weighed in at 276 lbs at the combine, he was listed during last year\u2019s college football season as being closer to 285 lbs, which gives him a build more closely aligned with a 3-4 defensive end. Plus, at age 21, there is still ample time for him to put on more muscle and continue to fill out his massive 6\u20196 frame.<\/p>\n But in terms of pure 1 or 3-techniques, Minnesota will either need to trade down in round 1 or wait until Day 2.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDaniel Arwas<\/a> Daniel Arwas is a sports writer who covers the NFL for Heavy.com.\u00a0Daniel began his career in sports writing in 2022 and has covered the NFL and college football for Gridiron Heroics\u00a0and\u00a0The Hammer. More about Daniel Arwas<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Vikings\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – DECEMBER 25: Head coach Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings speaks with field judge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-863494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116382972414276539","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}