9 HRS AGO - Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Some trades, but nothing like last week! Welcome back to my Mock Draft series for 2020. I hope you’re all doing well and staying in the game, as it were, mentally and physically. It feels like maybe we’re getting to an inflection point with this thing in the next week or so, but we’ll see. As Winston Churchill once said after the British beat back the Germans at El Alamein in WWII, “Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Or, more simply put by my Dad when he could tell I had hit a rough spot. “Son, if you’re walking through Hell, don’t turn around. Keep going. You’ll come out on the other side soon enough.” Hang in there, we’re going to make it through this. Oh, the Coronavirus? No, no no...I was talking about my mock draft series. Last week’s mock went off the rails early, and although some of you liked the two first round trade downs, many more of you were not happy. If you’d Collapse

14 HRS AGO - Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group/Tribune News Service via Getty Images General managers will, literally, be drafting from home Last week, the National Football League declared that the 2020 NFL Draft would take place on time, meaning that we’re a little more than two weeks away from the start of the selection meeting. At that time, the “War Room” for each team was to be limited to ten people, all observing proper social distancing guidelines. Now, with the uncertain times that we’re going through, everyone involved with the Minnesota Vikings’ draft, and the drafts of the 31 teams that don’t matter as much, will be even more isolated. Now official: NFL now has informed teams it will do a virtual draft this year. GMs and HCs now will be drafting from their homes. pic.twitter.com/t2mbdjWvVZ— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 6, 2020 According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, all of the team facilities will be closed during this year’s NFL Draft, meaning that GMs, coaches, and scouts will Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images Somebody’s been hitting the weights For the past couple of seasons, Minnesota Vikings fans have been intrigued by the potential of Hercules Mata’afa. Though he had a strong college career at Washington State, one of the knocks on him has been his lack of size, as he’s been working as a defensive tackle for most of his time in Minnesota. Lack of size does not appear to be an issue for Mata’afa anymore. pic.twitter.com/Z8zwbVKTmi— Hercules Mata'afa (@herculesuluao50) April 5, 2020 On Sunday, Mata’afa posted a picture of himself weighing in at 289 pounds. As a point of reference, the Vikings’ team website has him listed at 254. Based on a picture he put on Twitter about a month ago, it doesn’t appear to be “sitting on the couch” weight, either. 20 rounds with my guy joe vargas out here in downtown san diego! pic.twitter.com/6LeMgEXDDa— Hercules Mata'afa (@herculesuluao50) March 10, 2020 Despite having been named a Consensus Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Watts had a surprisingly good rookie year - can he continue to improve? The Vikings drafted defensive tackle Armon Watts last year in the 6th round, #190 overall, as a developmental project. He had only one year as a starter at Arkansas, but he made the most of it and showed both good traits and progress in his technique. At 6’ 5”, and a little over 300 pounds, Watt could play either nose tackle or 3 technique for the Vikings if called upon, but it looks like he’s being groomed as a more of a rotational nose tackle on passing downs. #96 - DT Armon Watts During the pre-season, Watts performed pretty well against opposing 2nd and 3rd stringers, showing good pass rush efficiency (8 pressures on 58 pass rush snaps), along with good tackling grades and decent run defense. As a 6th round pick with a bunch of competitors along the defensive line for a roster spot, Watts was on the bubble at the end of training camp. But after Collapse

3 DAYS AGO - Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images With Everson Griffen gone, is it Odenigbo’s time to shine ? Defensive lineman Ifeadi Odenigbo was another of Rick Spielman’s coveted 7th draft picks back in 2017. He was the 220th pick overall, had some good athletic traits to work with, but short arms (32 5/8” same as Everson Griffen) for an edge rusher, and not a lot of tools in his pass rushing tool box. He also needed to develop as a run defender. He spent his rookie season on the practice squad for the Vikings, and the following year had added some weight for work inside at the defensive tackle spot, but ultimately was waived by the Vikings at the end of training camp. He was picked up by the Browns, and later the Cardinals, before finding his way back on the Vikings practice squad a couple months later. But even though he bounced around, I suspect the Vikings had always hoped to get him to their practice squad after he was waived at the end of training camp. And toward the end of the Collapse

4 DAYS AGO - Photo: NFL GamepassThe nose tackle position is extremely valuable in Mike Zimmer's defense. Daniel House explored last season's trends and discussed why nose tackle Michael Pierce fits the scheme.by: Daniel House (@DanielHouseNFL)While evaluating Mike Zimmer’s defense, it is easy to see how much he values the nose tackle position. This was especially apparent after he quickly addressed the position in 2020 free agency.In the Vikings' system, it is necessary to have an interior player who can take on blocks and double teams. After Zimmer was hired, he quickly signed Linval Joseph to solidify the middle of his defense. Joseph was entering the prime of his career and became a cornerstone of the defensive unit. In 2017, Joseph led the way as Minnesota allowed the second-fewest rushing yards in football. His size, strength and above average athleticism made him a disruptive presence against the run. Not only that, but defensive line coach Andre Patterson unlocked his potential as a pass Collapse

5 DAYS AGO - Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Free agency is done dried up. May as well mock. Free agency is seemingly all but finished although I believe the Vikings have some moves they will make prior to the draft. There could be a minor signing or two of veterans at certain positions like cornerback and safety. There could be extensions for Cook and Harris (apparently). There could be a trade or two (of Harris and for Trent Williams). In this mock/plan, I am going to continue to include things I would do if I was running the show. Therefore, it may be wise for some of you to stop reading and don’t bother to comment about when you stopped reading because I will respond. Right now overthecap has the Vikings with $12,256,302. 2020 - $185,471,365 - $197,727,667 - $12,256,302 2021 - $172,561,689 - $215,000,000 - $42,438,311 2022 - $152,250,134 - $227,500,000 - $75,249,866 2023 - $73,680,000 - $241,000,000 - $167,320,000 2024 - $16,000,000 - $256,000,000 - Collapse