{"id":222254,"date":"2025-03-12T12:32:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T16:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=222254"},"modified":"2025-03-12T12:32:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T16:32:51","slug":"minnesota-vikings-seven-round-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/12\/minnesota-vikings-seven-round-mock-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Vikings Seven-Round Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Vikings<\/a> are ushering in a new era. After letting Sam Darnold walk in free agency, the Vikings appear to be fully committed to J.J. McCarthy as their starting quarterback. Minnesota has been aggressive in supporting their new signal caller, signing two of the top interior offensive linemen on the market in Ryan Kelly and Will Fries. The Vikings have addressed the trenches on defense as well, adding Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave to their ranks. In this mock draft, the Minnesota Vikings address their remaining weaknesses in hopes of picking up where they left off in 2024.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft<\/h2>\n

Round 1, Pick 24: Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas OT<\/h3>\n

Even after the signings of Will Fries and Ryan Kelly, the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive-line reconstruction is incomplete. Blake Brandel is currently set to start at left guard for the Vikings. Brandel, a former sixth-round draft pick, allowed nine sacks and 30 quarterback hurries in 2024. To support J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings may look to replace Brandel with a more refined pass protector.<\/p>\n

Kelvin Banks Jr. played left tackle at Texas, but his arm length and power indicate that a transition to guard may be coming at the next level. Banks would complete the Vikings’ starting offensive line, a unit that could become one of the league\u2019s best. Behind this group, J.J. McCarthy would be set up for success.<\/p>\n

Round 3, Pick 97: Dorian Strong, Virginia Tech CB<\/h3>\n

Due to last year\u2019s trade for Dallas Turner, the Vikings don\u2019t have a second-round pick. In this mock draft, the Minnesota Vikings use their third-round compensatory pick to target the defensive secondary. Minnesota was able to bring back Byron Murphy Jr. and sign Isaiah Rodgers in free agency, but their cornerback room still lacks depth.<\/p>\n

Virginia Tech cornerback Dorian Strong may fall in the draft after a disappointing NFL Combine showing<\/a>, but he would be a quality addition to Minnesota\u2019s secondary. With five interceptions and 13 pass deflections over the last two years, Strong is highly productive. He is able to play in man or zone schemes, giving Brian Flores flexibility in his usage.<\/p>\n

Round 5, Pick 140: Kyle Monangai, Rutgers RB<\/h3>\n

Aaron Jones is returning for another season in Minnesota, but he\u2019s not the Vikings’ long-term answer at running back. At age 30, Jones is likely nearing the end of his career. The Vikings could look to the 2025 NFL Draft to find his eventual replacement.<\/p>\n

Kyle Monangai has been the focal point of the Rutgers offense in each of the last two seasons. In both 2023 and 2024, Monangai rushed for over 1,200 yards. Monangai uses his patience and quick burst to consistently find extra yardage in the running game. He would provide solid depth immediately, with the potential to take over as the eventual starter.<\/p>\n

Round 5, Pick 161: Upton Stout, Western Kentucky S<\/h3>\n

With the final pick of this mock draft, the Minnesota Vikings opt to address their depth at safety. Harrison Smith has held down the safety position for years in Minnesota, but it\u2019s time the Vikings sought out a potential successor. While this isn\u2019t a particularly deep safety class, Western Kentucky\u2019s Upton Stout could be worth a swing.<\/p>\n

Stout is severely undersized for the position at just 5\u20198\u201d and 181 pounds. To succeed at the NFL level, he will need to put on significant weight. However, if the Vikings can look past his size, they\u2019ll find a player with the traits to be productive in the league. Stout has great instincts and the athleticism to cover large areas of the field.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Vikings have been aggressive in free agency, and they continue their push in this mock draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5459,"featured_media":222276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,26],"tags":[32605,7750],"class_list":["post-222254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-vikings","tag-2025-nfl-draft","tag-minnesota-vikings-draft"],"modified_by":"Drew Crabtree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222254"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222279,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222254\/revisions\/222279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}