Zulgad: Vikings’ 2022 draft class will get an opportunity to prove critics wrong
Vikings rookies will report to training camp on Sunday, July 23rd bringing with them the anticipation that the six-player class will make contributions as rookies.
It’s more likely that coach Kevin O’Connell’s focus will be on the 2022 class, which was criticized by many who said general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s first draft fell flat.
In a one-year sample size that assessment is correct.
Safety Lewis Cine only played in three games, and was on the field for two defensive snaps, before suffering a gruesome season-ending leg injury against the Saints. Second-round right guard Ed Ingram was the only of the Vikings’ 10 picks to play and start all 17 games. Ingram’s struggles were well documented but at least he saw significant time.
Second-round cornerback Andrew Booth Jr., and fourth-round corner Akayleb Evans were limited to six and 10 games, respectively, in large part because of injuries, and third-round linebacker Brian Asamoah II made no starts in 16 games and played only 119 defensive snaps.
The rest of the class included defensive tackle Esezi Otomewo and running back Ty Chandler (fifth round); offensive lineman Vederian Lowe and wide receiver Jalen Nailor (sixth round); and tight end Nick Muse (seventh round). Otomewo got 89 defensive snaps, while Nailor led the final four picks on offense with 57.
The lack of playing time and production caused many to question Adofo-Mensah, but all 10 picks remain on the roster and all will have an opportunity to change the opinion about the 2022 draft in the coming weeks.
Ingram will be expected to have taken a significant step, while Booth and Evans are both going to get a chance to see significant playing time in a secondary that has only one sure starting cornerback (free agent addition Byron Murphy Jr.). Evans suffered multiple concussions last season and Booth has battled injury issues since college — the reason he dropped in the draft.
Asamoah spent last season behind veterans Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks, and didn’t see anything close to significant playing time on defense until near the end of the season. That also could have had to do with the presence of former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, but he has been replaced by Brian Flores and Kendricks’ departure opens a starting job for Asamoah.
Chandler suffered a broken thumb in Week 5 and finished the season with 20 yards on six rushing attempts in only three games. But Dalvin Cook’s departure should open up playing time behind veteran Alexander Mattison.
Nailor, who played college football at Michigan State, showed flashes last season, catching nine passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. The assumption has been that Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and K.J. Osborn will be the Vikings’ top three receivers, but injuries and other issues could open the door for Nailor.
Addison, the Vikings’ first-round pick in April, missed almost all of the offseason workouts because of an undisclosed injury and didn’t do himself any favors last week by being pulled over by police for driving 140 miles per hour on I-94 in St. Paul, MN.
Would the Vikings have liked to have gotten more first-year production from the 2022 draft? Certainly, and it’s easy to point to the production the Super Bowl champion Chiefs received from seventh-round running back Isiah Pacheco (830 yards rushing, 130 receiving).
Adofo-Mensah made a draft-night trade with Detroit that included the Vikings moving back from 12th to 32nd and decided to go with Cine. Cine arrived at training camp behind Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum on the depth chart at safety last summer and it won’t be surprising if he’s there again when practice opens.
That will result in a discussion about whether Adofo-Mensah’s first-ever pick simply isn’t starting material. But we still don’t know the answer to that question, just as we don’t know how much a draft class that did little last season can do in its second year.
One thing we do know is that the Vikings have plenty of incentive to give this group a long look and hope for better results this time.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
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Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at http://www.skornorth.com
