Vikings fans are often salivating about the upcoming draft already by mid-January, but this year there are are perhaps other things keeping them occupied. You know, the NFC title game on Sunday, with the chance to advance to the Super Bowl in Minneapolis on the line. No big deal.
But if you are a multi-tasker who is able to keep most of your attention on the game Sunday in Philadelphia while also taking a peek at the future, this might interest you: Mel Kiper Jr. just released the first version of his 2018 first-round mock draft. (Insider required).
Kiper throws out several caveats before he gets started, noting that teams haven't begun true evaluations yet, free agency will determine a lot of needs, the combine will reset things …
Geez, Mel, are you telling me this is all useless? (Yes).
Be that as it may, I'm going to tell you who he has the Vikings taking and what his projected draft slot is for them because both are at least somewhat interesting.
Draft position for the 28 teams already eliminated — those who either didn't make the playoffs or lost in the first two rounds — has already been established. The final four slots will be determined by winners and losers in the conference title games and Super Bowl.
Whether it was random or not, Kiper has the Jaguars picking 29th, Eagles picking 30th, Vikings picking 31st and the Patriots picking 32nd. If that was some sort of prediction, it seems Kiper has the Vikings and Patriots winning this weekend, with New England defeating the Vikings in the Super Bowl in Minneapolis. (That would fall in line with Vegas odds, by the way. The Vikings are favored by three points at Philadelphia, and the Patriots are eight-point favorites against Jacksonville. Early prop bets I've seen say the Patriots would be two-point favorites over the Vikings in the U.S. Bank Stadium Super Bowl).
Kiper has the Vikings taking Connor Williams, an offensive tackle, with that No. 31 pick. That would be a departure for the Vikings, who have only used one first-round pick on an offensive lineman — tackle Matt Kalil in 2012 — in the last 15 drafts.
But Kiper reasons that "the Vikings spent a lot of money last offseason on free-agent tackles Mike Remmers and Riley Reiff, and the duo had a solid season, but Remmers moved to guard late in the year because of injuries. Could he stay there in 2018 and beyond?"
For as much as we've talked about the improvement of the Vikings' offensive line this season, QB Case Keenum was pressured on 39.3 percent of his dropbacks — the third-highest rate in the NFL. That Keenum thrived in those situations (78.5 passer rating under pressure, eighth-best in the league) was a large reason the Vikings' offense was still so efficient.
It also is worth noting that Keenum, per Pro Football Focus, was pressured 14 times Sunday against the Saints and had a passer rating of just 5.1 (no, really) on those attempts, including an interception. Joe Berger was the only Vikings offensive lineman to have a PFF grade higher than 50 in that game. The fact that the Vikings survived and won despite those numbers is the untold miracle from the win over the Saints.
Williams — who had injury problems last season but could be a value pick late in the first round, per Kiper — or any other offensive lineman drafted obviously wouldn't be able to help until 2018. But the idea of adding more quality players to the line is a good one.