With the 2022 NFL Draft in the books, experts have begun to flood the internet with their draft grades. After the Minnesota Vikings traded their way through this year’s class, those experts are divided, giving the Vikings everything from As to Fs.
One of the fans of the Vikings’ class was NFL.com’s Chad Reuter. Reuter gave the Vikings an overall grade of A- but particularly liked what the Vikings did on the first day of the draft.
“The Vikings did a nice job grabbing draft picks in trades with desperate division rivals Detroit and Green Bay,” Reuter said. “The secondary needed help and it got two immediate contributors in Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth, who would have been a first-rounder if not for injuries.”
Reuter went on to give the Vikings an A for the first day of the draft, an A- on Day 2 and a B on Day 3. He also questioned the decision to give up a 2023 fourth-round pick to select Missouri cornerback Akayleb Evans.
While Reuter was a fan of the class, others weren’t as forgiving. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. liked the Vikings’ decision to trade down in the first round with the Detroit Lions, but questioned their trade with the Green Bay Packers on the second day of the draft. Overall, Kiper gave the Vikings a B- after reaching for LSU guard Ed Ingram and an underwhelming Day 3 performance.
“The trades helped Adofo-Mensah avoid a C here,” Kiper explained. “If Booth becomes an above-average rookie starter, it should move even higher.”
The rest of the experts were mostly neutral on the Vikings’ class with Pro Football Focus and USA Today’s Nate Davis giving it a B. There was another section of experts, however, that thought the Vikings bombed the draft.
That includes Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr, who gave the Vikings a D- after their first-round trade with the Lions.
“We spent a lot of time rightfully hearing about Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who comes to Minnesota with great promise as the kind of executive who can finally bridge the gap between analytics and personnel,” Orr wrote. “But for a team with a few pronounced needs, it’s hard to stomach dropping from pick No. 12 to pick No. 32 and not netting more of a return.”
Orr also called Booth “a gem” but wondered if the Vikings could have taken a better player if they stayed at pick No. 12.
“There were a handful of premium players remaining in the first round at the time of Minnesota’s first selection,” Orr explained. “Instead they dropped back and replenished the secondary with a handful of players who may be slightly less talented than the ones they could have gotten if they remained at 12.”
It got worse for the Vikings, as they were the only team to receive an F from SB Nation’s James Dator.
“I don’t know what to say, except I’m sorry Vikings fans. I’ve never seen a team work this much and achieve so little in a draft,” Dator wrote. “…The Vikings got fleeced in their trade with the Lions. They threw the Packers a lifeline and let them trade up to get a wide receiver. This team made their division rivals better while not getting top-tier talent.”
The grades match the general feeling around this year’s class. While the class could help the Vikings return to the playoffs, we won’t know until the rookies hit the field.
