If the final NFL mock draft from one insider comes true, the first round is going to be an insanely wild ride for the Minnesota Vikings.
There have been a lot of wild rumors about what the Minnesota Vikings could do in the 2023 NFL Draft. But one NFL insider has taken that to the next level with his final NFL mock draft of the year on draft day.
NFL Network’s Peter Schrager filed his final mock draft of the year on Thursday and, amid other rumors that running back Dalvin Cook could be traded, he had the Vikings selecting Texas running back Bijan Robinson with the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
But that wasn’t the only pick he had Minnesota making in the first round.
Trading with the Bengals for the 28th pick, Schrager has the Vikings moving back into the first round to take Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, effectively drafting the eventual replacement for Kirk Cousins as the veteran enters the final year of his contract.
Vikings rumors: Insider mock draft lands Bijan Robinson and Hendon Hooker in Minnesota
Robinson is actually the more surprising of the two picks for Minnesota, trading up back into the first round aside. Even with the rumors of Cook’s eventual departure, the Texas running back and the Vikings haven’t often been matched in the buildup to the 2023 NFL Draft.
Having said that, though it’s aggressive, this would make a lot of sense for the Vikings. The front office was aggressive in beginning to reshape the defense this offseason and now they have a looming massive contract to sign superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson to. So getting a running back and a new hopeful franchise quarterback under five years of team control — four of them extremely cheap — would be a great way to make that work with relative ease.
At the same time, though, the Vikings roster is not yet complete, so being that aggressive to move from the end of the second round back into the first round of the NFL Draft would deprive them of more draft capital to fill out the rest of the roster, which could be somewhat problematic — especially for a team already a bit short on picks. Then again, if they send Cook to Cincinnati in that trade, perhaps it’s not as pricey, which would make more sense.
All told, this is shaping up as one of the most chaotic NFL Draft experiences we’ve seen in quite a while. And if things play out the way Schrager is projecting in his mock draft, then the Vikings will be the embodiment of that at the end of the first round.
