Pro Football Network once again projects Vikings’ trade up in latest mock draft
It has become very clear over the past week that most NFL draft outlets believe that the Minnesota Vikings‘ biggest need in the 2024 NFL draft is at quarterback. And they’re right. The Vikings only have two quarterbacks under contract for 2024 — Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall — and neither impressed during their time in 2023.
It’s also become clear that those same draft analysts believe the Vikings are going to have to be aggressive if they want to get their next quarterback. After projecting a move up in the draft last week for Drake Maye, Pro Football Network is once again projecting an aggressive move by the Vikings.
This time writer Wil Helms has the Vikings trading up to the second pick, giving the Washington Commanders the 11th pick, along with picks 42, 155, and first and third-round picks next year. What do the Vikings do with that pick? Take the highly-talented quarterback from LSU, Jayden Daniels. Here’s what Helms had to say about the selection:
With Williams off the board, we’ll throw another change into the order of the top three quarterbacks. Rather than having the Commanders take Maye to replace fellow Tar Heel Sam Howell, we’ll have them trade down and ride with the incumbent starter for one more year — depending on how the board falls later.
Again, mock drafts are a game of information. Sources expect the Vikings to be aggressive in the draft in their search for a franchise quarterback on a rookie deal.
Jayden Daniels can make every throw and has elite athleticism. If the Vikings put a guy with his upside in an offense with Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, they’ll have the chance to contend for a Super Bowl if the LSU quarterback reaches his potential.
Daniels would be quite the departure in play style from Kirk Cousins, and would inject some athleticism into the position that the Vikings haven’t seen regularly in quite some time. Fans got brief glimpses of what a skill-set like that could do in Kevin O’Connell’s offense with Josh Dobbs, but Daniels’ athleticism is on another level from Dobbs.
Daniels would be fun to watch in the Vikings offense with weapons like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson at his disposal. But a move like that doesn’t come without risks. If the Vikings were to pull off a trade like that and Daniels doesn’t pan out, it would likely spell the end for both O’Connell and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
