Kwesi Adofo-Mensah: There are multiple QBs we're in love with in this draft
It’s no secret that the Vikings are in the market for a quarterback.
After losing Kirk Cousins in free agency, Minnesota acquired the No. 23 overall pick from Houston. That gave the Vikings two first-founders this year, as the team also has its original selection at No. 11.
While Minnesota has shown plenty of interest in some of the top quarterbacks, there’s no guarantee the franchise will be able to package those picks to trade up for one of them. But in his Thursday press conference, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said he feels like the process is worth it.
“I think just because something’s risky doesn’t mean you have to stay away from it,” Adofo-Mensah said. “It is something that is hard to grasp, but if you grasp it, you know what the rewards are. And that’s something you have to weigh and measure. You can't look at these decisions in a vacuum. You look at the whole portfolio of decisions that go around it, all the things you have to do.”
To that end, Adofo-Mensah said the Vikings feel like they have options when it comes to selecting a QB in this year's draft.
“[W]hen you go back to the team element and value, I think there’s multiple guys that we are in love with just on an outright basis. But there’s other guys we’re in love with given what, if we get them at a certain value, what they’d also be able to come with,” Adofo-Mensah said. “So, as I talked about earlier, skill-set-wise, if you're talking about the ability to overcome context — well, if the guy has less ability but we have assets to go get somebody who is not going to put him in that situation, those things add up, too.
“So, it’s really those things. And, again, I want to say that I think that's a great question and I love how Kevin [O’Connell] and a lot of people involved in this decision — a lot of times, evaluators can be a little one-track mind [in saying], ‘This is the guy and nobody else.’ That’s not how it’s been. We’ve really come to appreciate how guys get to their answer in a different way and I think that's going to serve us well.”
Adofo-Mensah also noted that he feels like the Vikings can put a young quarterback in a good position to be successful — and they can do it in a way that gives them an advantage over other teams.
"I think the last couple of years, obviously it’s out there, the results of quarterbacks who were drafted and different things like that — I think we look at those things and we obviously honor and respect them,” Adofo-Mensah said. “But we also look at environment — are we setting the person up to succeed? So when we talk about these decisions, it’s not just how good are they? It's how do we get the best version of themselves if they come to the Minnesota Vikings. And we set up plans before they walk into the building.
“I think our odds will be better than the margins.”
Currently, the Vikings have Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Hall on their roster at quarterback. It’s almost certain that they'll come out of the draft with another later this month.