polled NFL executives on the top 10 picks<\/a>, they all projected the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs to select him at either No. 8 or 9. Yet both of those teams recently paid premiums for free-agent running backs.<\/p>\nLove\u2019s fit in Minnesota is tantalizing. He has home-run hitting ability, which is currently lacking from the Vikings\u2019 running backs room (made up of Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason). He is also an exceptional pass catcher. You can imagine how productive he\u2019d be in a system that requires defenses to play vertically. The Vikings have eyed Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs in past years. Love can reach those levels.<\/p>\n
The Dolphins are in full rebuild mode. Scooping a couple of extra picks for the highly-regarded 2027 draft feels like a palatable enough return.<\/p>\n
Round 2, No. 49: Lee Hunter, DT, Texas Tech<\/p>\n
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores loves big guys who move like little guys. Hunter is a match. He has a 6-foot-9 wingspan, but his first step features more lateral agility than you\u2019d expect from a 318-pounder.<\/p>\n
Because the Vikings already have versatile players on the front (such as Jalen Redmond and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins), using a premium pick on a man in the middle makes sense.<\/p>\n
Hunter, 23, performed for the Red Raiders in the team\u2019s biggest games at the end of the 2025 season. There\u2019s still room for development, though, with his technique and how he leverages his pads.<\/p>\n
Hunter might be gone before No. 49. But if he\u2019s there, and if the Vikings are committed to adding youth on the spine the way they\u2019ve discussed, Hunter would be hard to pass up.<\/p>\n
Round 3, No. 82: Sam Hecht, C, Kansas State<\/p>\n
Center remains one of the Vikings\u2019 most important needs.<\/p>\n
Why did the team not add a veteran option in free agency after Ryan Kelly retired? Because the team brass didn\u2019t view the free-agent crop as leaps and bounds better (and worth millions more) than a depth player like Blake Brandel.<\/p>\n
Still, the team has studied the draftable center prospects. Hecht might have the highest floor. He dominated at the Senior Bowl. He is a fluid mover and wins with technique in pass protection.<\/p>\n
Is he a future star? That\u2019s probably lofty for the 22-year-old, but he\u2019s sturdier than former Minnesota center Garrett Bradbury, and he would round out an offensive line that must improve for the offense to progress in 2026.<\/p>\n
Round 4, No. 127: Jaishawn Barham (via 49ers), Edge\/LB, Michigan<\/p>\n
Mock trade: Minnesota sends Nos. 97 and 235 to San Francisco for Nos. 127 and 139<\/p>\n
Why trade down 30 spots? To be able to secure both Barham and cornerback Hezekiah Masses, two prospects who fit Flores\u2019 prototypes.<\/p>\n
Barham is a versatile former off-ball linebacker who transitioned to the edge. He\u2019s athletic and violent. Michigan\u2019s defensive coordinator in 2025, Wink Martindale, has ample NFL experience. Martindale leaned into Barham\u2019s strengths. Flores could do the same.<\/p>\n
Barham, 22, who began his college career at Maryland, might need a developmental runway. That should be more doable than it was for current Vikings edge rusher Dallas Turner if Barham goes in the fourth round.<\/p>\n
Round 4, No. 139: Hezekiah Masses (via 49ers), CB, California<\/p>\n
There\u2019s almost too much to like about Masses.<\/p>\n
In 2025, he led all of college football with 18 passes defensed and snatched five interceptions. He provides run support and plays with swagger. And the Vikings have loved Cal defensive backs in past years, including Nohl Williams, whom the Chiefs nabbed last year.<\/p>\n
This would be Minnesota\u2019s chance at stocking the cornerback cupboard with more youth. Masses would pair nicely with free-agent addition James Pierre. They both attended Deerfield Beach High School in South Florida.<\/p>\n
Round 5, No. 163: VJ Payne, S, Kansas State<\/p>\n
Should the Vikings be targeting a safety earlier than this? Maybe. The team thinks Jay Ward is due for a breakout, and Pierre\u2019s presence allows for more three-cornerback looks, if that\u2019s how they want to use their personnel.<\/p>\n
Regardless of where they draft, getting a safety seems paramount.<\/p>\n
Payne, 6 foot 3 and 203 pounds, is smooth and long. He anticipates and coverage is where he does his best work.<\/p>\n
Harrison Smith hasn\u2019t decided whether or not to play another season, and the Vikings value his impact enough not to push him for an immediate answer.<\/p>\n
Payne would offer short-term depth and special teams ability at a minimum.<\/p>\n
Round 6, No. 196: Riley Nowakowski, TE\/FB, Indiana<\/p>\n
As defenses have gone lighter to defend a more pass-heavy league, bigger-bodied blockers are en vogue. This is where Nowakowski does his best work. He\u2019s 6 foot 2, 250 pounds and half tight end and half fullback.<\/p>\n
Vikings legend C.J. Ham is retiring, so finding another backfield type to set up running lanes would suit a revamped offense with the help of assistant head coach Frank Smith.<\/p>\n
Round 7, No. 234: Skyler Gill-Howard, DT, Texas Tech<\/p>\n
Texas Tech\u2019s spending splurge wasn\u2019t confined to Hunter or likely first-round pick David Bailey. The Red Raiders also added Gill-Howard, who is smaller but has enough burst at the line of scrimmage to cause problems.<\/p>\n
The Vikings already have Ingram-Dawkins. Undrafted free-agent signing Elijah Williams made hay last fall, too. Taking a shot on one of Hunter\u2019s college teammates, who might have impressed in the College Football Playoff had it not been for an ankle injury, could be interesting.<\/p>\n
Round 7, No. 244: Tyren Montgomery, WR, John Carroll<\/p>\n
Could the Vikings take a receiver much earlier? Yes.<\/p>\n
Do they need to? If they acquire Love, who would become a focal point of the passing game, then no.<\/p>\n
Montgomery suits the style that Vikings receivers coach Keenan McCardell seeks. He\u2019s shifty, tracks the ball in the air and wowed evaluators at the Senior Bowl. And he can get better, especially under McCardell. When you\u2019re drafting players in the seventh round, you\u2019re throwing darts from long range. Montgomery is worth a heave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Free agency usually clarifies a team\u2019s plan for the NFL Draft. In the Minnesota Vikings\u2019 case, here is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[462],"tags":[5,5046,4,465,466],"class_list":{"0":"post-511961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl-draft","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-minnesota-vikings","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-nhl-draft","12":"tag-nhl-entry-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116257660855714817","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}