{"id":872368,"date":"2026-04-23T02:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/872368\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T02:33:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:33:24","slug":"minnesota-vikings-2026-nfl-draft-picks-by-round-biggest-needs-best-fits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/872368\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Vikings 2026 NFL Draft: Picks by round, biggest needs, best fits"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> kicks off live from Pittsburgh<\/a> on Thursday, April 23 and the latest crop of rookies will be hearing their names called all weekend long. For the Minnesota Vikings<\/a>, the biggest need is obvious: Center.<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray<\/a>‘s addition fills Minnesota’s quarterback need. Murray is the clear frontrunner to start at QB. The player who will snap the football to the Vikings’ starting QB is undecided. Center Ryan Kelly announced his retirement this offseason.<\/p>\n

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MORE: Biggest need for every team entering 2026 NFL Draft<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s everything you need to know about the Minnesota Vikings for this year’s draft, including a round-by-round look at picks and a potential trade candidate already on the roster.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings NFL Draft best prospect fit: CB Mansoor Delane, LSU<\/p>\n

Per USA TODAY’s Ayrton Ostly:<\/p>\n

It was between Downs and Delane for the Vikings here as Brian Flores would get a much-needed boost in the secondary. Delane is as ready-made to contribute from Day 1 as any cornerback in this class. He’s a long, technically sound cornerback who ran well at his Pro Day to dispel any concerns about athleticism. <\/p>\n

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NFL DRAFT: Finding the perfect prospect for every team<\/a><\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings NFL Draft trade candidate: QB J.J. McCarthy<\/a><\/p>\n

Per USA TODAY’s Jack McKessy: <\/p>\n

The more moves the Vikings make, the more apparent it is that McCarthy’s 2025 season was his one shot at winning the starting job. Minnesota signed two veteran quarterbacks with starting experience this offseason: Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz. Murray will “compete” with McCarthy for the starting job, and Wentz should be expected to battle for the QB2 spot. Or Minnesota can just rip off the Band-Aid and ship McCarthy elsewhere for more draft picks. <\/p>\n

MORE: One player for all 32 teams who could be traded during the NFL draft<\/a><\/p>\n

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Minnesota Vikings NFL Draft Picks by round<\/p>\n

Round 1 <\/p>\n

Round 2 <\/p>\n

Round 3 <\/p>\n

No. 97 (3.33) Compensatory pick<\/p>\n

Round 4 <\/p>\n

Round 5 <\/p>\n

No. 163 (5.23) from Eagles<\/p>\n

Round 6 <\/p>\n

No. 196 (6.15) from Colts<\/a><\/p>\n

Round 7 <\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Minnesota Vikings 2026 NFL Draft: Picks, team needs, trade candidates<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off live from Pittsburgh on Thursday, April 23 and the latest crop of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2073],"tags":[4955,2005,7,1519,4827,233,259,2529,6,236,520,8316,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-872368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-colts","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-j-j-mccarthy","12":"tag-kyler-murray","13":"tag-minnesota","14":"tag-minnesota-vikings","15":"tag-minnesotavikings","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-panthers","18":"tag-pittsburgh","19":"tag-ryan-kelly","20":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116451685426705594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872368","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=872368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}