The Minnesota Vikings had a top-10 offense but a bottom-two defense in 2022 and they crashed out of the playoffs in a disappointing Wild Card loss to the New York Giants.
The defense has a plethora of issues that need fixing, which is why a cornerback has been the presumed position the Vikings will pick in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. But is there a case to be made for the Vikings to forego their defensive needs and draft another receiver in the first round?
According to Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller, it’s not a very hard case to make.
Coller points out the questionable future of Adam Thielen, who will be 33 at the start of next season, and the lack of any real dynamic second threat as a reason to consider drafting a receiver with the 23rd pick.
TJ Hockenson is a dangerous weapon as a tight end, but who on the roster has the speed and skill to force defenses to pay less attention to all-world wide receiver Justin Jefferson?
“You don’t have to look very far, if you say, look at the Cincinnati Bengals or the Philadelphia Eagles, just how important those other receivers can be,” says Coller.
The Bengals had both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins go over 1,000 yards receiving despite Chase missing six games due to injury. The Eagles came up three points short in the Super Bowl while having A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith both go over 1,100 yards.
“The fact that A.J. Brown has DeVonta Smith with him, how are you supposed to stop that as an opposing defense? And honestly Kansas City in the Super Bowl did not stop it,” continued Coller. “They just got one more drive than the Philadelphia Eagles did.”
“If you watched the Super Bowl you don’t have to think too hard about it. What’s going to win in this league going forward? It’s going to be not just a good offense, not just an OK offense, not the eighth-best offense. It’s usually the No. 1 offense.”
The Vikings have a lot of options with their first-round selection, but Coller argues that WR2 should be considered “as important as any position on the field.”
“It is a passing league. It’s only going to become more of a passing league in the future,” said Coller. “Finding a dynamic partner for Justin Jefferson is big.”
So who could the Vikings take if they go WR in the first round? According to Pro Football Focus, TCU’s Quentin Johnston is the clear No. 1 and he could very well be a top-10 pick. Other possible first-rounders include Boston College’s Zay Flowers, USC’s Jordan Addison and North Carolina’s Josh Downs.
Another player with plenty of pre-draft hype is Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
With limited cap space and a weak free-agent group of receivers, Thielen quickly aging and no sure things behind Jefferson on the roster, there’s definitely a case to be made for Minnesota going wide receiver in the first round.
