The 2025 Draft Thread

[tomwvr]

I perfectly content with OL but only if the talent matches the pick spot.

For OT, in the first round I'd say only Campbell, Simmons, Banks Jr., Membou, and Conerly.
I don't really think there are any guards worth a 1st.

For 2nd round OT Cameron Williams, Savaiinaea, Emory Jones
2nd round OG I'd say Zabel, Booker, Milum, Ratledge, Jackson
I'd put Ersery in here too but unsure where he fits. Arm length is fine for tackle, but overall wingspan and hand size is a little small. Same with MBow, his hands are fine, but arms and wingspan kinda iffy, and he's a bit lighter

So that's 5 guys worth a 1st, and another 10 worth 61. So odds are good one some them will be there at those spots.

BUT with, for example, Conerly, I'm unsure he's gonna be BPA. I fully expect Cambell, Simmons, and Banks Jr. to be long gone by 29. Membou too probably, BUT there's at least a small chance he falls to us. "Worth the pick" and BPA could diverge pretty significantly. I'd pick Egbuka (aka Terry Jr.) or one of about 3 or 4 edge guys over Conerly.

Membou tho, I'm running that card to the podium (barring someone like Mike Green making things interesting).


I do think my ideal setup would be:
1st: OT or Edge
2nd: OL or Edge
3rd: RB
With us signing a decent WR like Godwin.

But that only assume the draft goes how we need it too. If all 5 OTs are gone round 1, we probably gotta look to edge (or something like Egbuka/Loveland if both all the OTs and Edges are gone). I have a hard time seeing all the OT/OG guys gone by 61, but at the same time, I'm absolutely taking Hampton over probably 7 or 8 of those OT/OGs.

You summed up my thoughts 100%

 

[method man]

I perfectly content with OL but only if the talent matches the pick spot.

For OT, in the first round I'd say only Campbell, Simmons, Banks Jr., Membou, and Conerly.
I don't really think there are any guards worth a 1st.

For 2nd round OT Cameron Williams, Savaiinaea, Emory Jones
2nd round OG I'd say Zabel, Booker, Milum, Ratledge, Jackson
I'd put Ersery in here too but unsure where he fits. Arm length is fine for tackle, but overall wingspan and hand size is a little small. Same with MBow, his hands are fine, but arms and wingspan kinda iffy, and he's a bit lighter

So that's 5 guys worth a 1st, and another 10 worth 61. So odds are good one some them will be there at those spots.

BUT with, for example, Conerly, I'm unsure he's gonna be BPA. I fully expect Cambell, Simmons, and Banks Jr. to be long gone by 29. Membou too probably, BUT there's at least a small chance he falls to us. "Worth the pick" and BPA could diverge pretty significantly. I'd pick Egbuka (aka Terry Jr.) or one of about 3 or 4 edge guys over Conerly.

Membou tho, I'm running that card to the podium (barring someone like Mike Green making things interesting).


I do think my ideal setup would be:
1st: OT or Edge
2nd: OL or Edge
3rd: RB
With us signing a decent WR like Godwin.

But that only assume the draft goes how we need it too. If all 5 OTs are gone round 1, we probably gotta look to edge (or something like Egbuka/Loveland if both all the OTs and Edges are gone). I have a hard time seeing all the OT/OG guys gone by 61, but at the same time, I'm absolutely taking Hampton over probably 7 or 8 of those OT/OGs.

Yep it’s going to be a tough call if Conerly is there. I think we are ultimately looking at a plus caliber LT but it is going to take him a season or two to get there and I worry that, because play strength is an issue, we might not be able to plug him in at guard Day 1 either

 

[bowhunter]

somehow the 29 turned into a 2 when I copied and pasted

I was just picking. Can you imagine the explosion of the internet if someone suggested trading JD?

 

[burgold]

I was just picking. Can you imagine the explosion of the internet if someone suggested trading JD?

I think the bigger shock was you traded up to two and didn't pick Travis Hunter. So, not only did you trade away Daniels, but it was for a reach you could have gotten at the bottom of the round!!!

 

[Gooseneck]

I was just picking. Can you imagine the explosion of the internet if someone suggested trading JD?

I would trade him for the whole Kansas team and their 1st round draft picks for the next 3 years

 

[RWJ]

Be nice AP goes all in and signs Alaric Jackson, OT from the Rams in free agency.

 

[DogofWar1]

I gotta imagine Rams prioritize re-signing him. If he hits free agency, then yeah he ought to be a priority.

 

[DWinzit]

I gotta imagine Rams prioritize re-signing him. If he hits free agency, then yeah he ought to be a priority.

Agree. With a 37 year old Stafford who has always battled injuries at the helm, they get a deal done. They are going to need to invest draft capital into their OL too.

Signing a starting caliber OT prior to the draft would be a big coup for AP.

 

[DogofWar1]

It might be too clever by half, but if the Stafford trade rumors have any truth to them, they could move him for capital and then try and sign Darnold.

 

[SkinsFTW]

It might be too clever by half, but if the Stafford trade rumors have any truth to them, they could move him for capital and then try and sign Darnold.

Dumping Stafford for Darnold would be a huge mistake.

 

[DogofWar1]

Dumping Stafford for Darnold would be a huge mistake.

I mean, Stafford is getting old, having some sort of succession plan in place would be good. Unless you think you're truly a contender this year, and they very well may think that, might be time to at least consider a soft reset.

And to clarify, Darnold is not a long term solution. He'd be brought in to ensure you got value for Stafford while he still had it, while being capable enough to still lead the team reasonably well, and give you breathing room to find true successor QB.

 

[Anselmheifer]

I'm surprised there isn't much mention here of Aireontae Ersery. 6'5 and 6/8", 339 pounds, 81" wingspan, 34" arms. He looks like he could be a significant long term upgrade at RT.

 

[burgold]

For whatever reason, I think the Vikes will make a big mistake if they let Darnold walk. There are some QBs that just somehow fit. I remember the Ravens dumping Trent Dilfer because they thought he was holding them back even though they just won a Super Bowl with him and signing Elvis Grrbak. The team fell apart and it took them years to find a QB that worked well enough to get them to go deep in the playoffs even with that defense. Likewise, the JAG who captained the Vikes to the Championship game before Kirk Cousins signed did so much better with them than Kirk ever did. Sometimes, it's not about talent, but fit.

 

[burgold]

I'm surprised there isn't much mention here of Aireontae Ersery. 6'5 and 6/8", 339 pounds, 81" wingspan, 34" arms. He looks like he could be a significant long term upgrade at RT.

I don't know him, but those measurables sound great. How good is he?

 

[philibusters]

I don't watch tape so this is just be summing up takes I have heard... Aireontae Ersery is a really good, but not great college player. 77.5 overall PFF Grade. 77.3 Pass block grade and gave up 10 pressures (including one sack) on 201 true pass set snaps. 73.6 run block grade including a 77.3 zone run block grade and a 62.9 gap scheme run block grade. From reading reports he could improve his hands, leverage, and balance in pass blocking. In run blocking could play with better leverage. He is 39th overall and 6th amongst Tackles on the consensus board At 29 he probably isn't great value, but wouldn't be a reach either. At 61 he would probably be good value. If we had gone 6-11 and were picking like 9th and 41st he would be the type of player we would really be hoping fell to 41 (though he is a tackle and they tend to go slightly before their spot on consensus boards from my past observations).

 

[philibusters]

For whatever reason, I think the Vikes will make a big mistake if they let Darnold walk. There are some QBs that just somehow fit. I remember the Ravens dumping Trent Dilfer because they thought he was holding them back even though they just won a Super Bowl with him and signing Elvis Grrbak. The team fell apart and it took them years to find a QB that worked well enough to get them to go deep in the playoffs even with that defense. Likewise, the JAG who captained the Vikes to the Championship game before Kirk Cousins signed did so much better with them than Kirk ever did. Sometimes, it's not about talent, but fit.

I half agree with you. Minnesota's defense finished second in DVOA. They had a lot of talent on offense with a really good WR duo and a top 5 TE plus a better than average O-Line and a solid play caller in KOC. And they had a good offense 9th in ppg, 12th in ypg, 15th in Offensive DVOA.

Its tough. That Ravens defense was the best defense in the NFL. The next year they dipped to 8th in yards allowed and 4th in points allowed, so they were still great, but they were not dominant. Case Keenum was great in 2017, but I don't think they would have continued to have the same success with him in subsequent years. He was our starter in 2019 and it was a struggle.

 

[burgold]

I half agree with you. Minnesota's defense finished second in DVOA. They had a lot of talent on offense with a really good WR duo and a top 5 TE plus a better than average O-Line and a solid play caller in KOC. And they had a good offense 9th in ppg, 12th in ypg, 15th in Offensive DVOA.

Its tough. That Ravens defense was the best defense in the NFL. The next year they dipped to 8th in yards allowed and 4th in points allowed, so they were still great, but they were not dominant. Case Keenum was great in 2017, but I don't think they would have continued to have the same success with him in subsequent years. He was our starter in 2019 and it was a struggle.

It's so hard to know. I do know that if they kept Keenum they'd have been able to keep a number of other players they lost because of the QB salary cap hit, but I also do believe what I wrote earlier. There are some players who just fit certain teams well. They perform better. On a non QB level, I remember when we signed Jeremiah Trotter off of the Eagles. Before we signed him, he was an All Pro. With us, he was barely better than a first year UDFA playing out of position. When we cut him, he re-signed with the Eagles and was back to his All Pro performance level.

I think the same can be true of QBs. What are the chief traits your system wants out of a QB. Is it vision? Is it processing? Is it deep ball accuracy? Is it mobility? Something else? For all that he was a screw up everywhere else, Darnold got what the Vikes needed and produced. He was a big reason for their wins. He played great (in the regular season.) So, I think that shouldn't be ignored. I do get that they drafted a QB high in the first round and may feel obligated to pay him and Darnold probably isn't going to want a one year transition contract where he grooms the first rounder with the understanding that he's there to be replaced. So maybe the Vikes can't re-sign him. OTOH, they have something good and they may regret not going with it until it runs dry.

 

[SkinsFTW]

Darnold got wins and was pretty good at times but I remember watching some Vikings games saying that Jefferson wide open down the field on just about every single play and Darnold was standing back there looking like he didn't know what to do with the ball, then he'd dump it off for a 3 yard gain to RB. Then they'd find a way to win in the 2nd half because their defense was killing teams.

It was kind of obvious that he was going to fall apart once teams started pressuring him. Put a good QB with all that talent on the Vikings and they'd lead the league in points. Stafford would have had a Brady 2007 season in that offense.

 

[mistertim]

Darnold is trash and anyone who pays big bucks for him is dumber than hell. He found his way onto a team with an extremely good play caller who could mostly mask his glaring weaknesses, and a great supporting cast. As soon as the bright lights came on and he got flustered he turned into the exact same scrub he always was before.

 

[DWinzit]

I don't watch tape so this is just be summing up takes I have heard... Aireontae Ersery is a really good, but not great college player. 77.5 overall PFF Grade. 77.3 Pass block grade and gave up 10 pressures (including one sack) on 201 true pass set snaps. 73.6 run block grade including a 77.3 zone run block grade and a 62.9 gap scheme run block grade. From reading reports he could improve his hands, leverage, and balance in pass blocking. In run blocking could play with better leverage. He is 39th overall and 6th amongst Tackles on the consensus board At 29 he probably isn't great value, but wouldn't be a reach either. At 61 he would probably be good value. If we had gone 6-11 and were picking like 9th and 41st he would be the type of player we would really be hoping fell to 41 (though he is a tackle and they tend to go slightly before their spot on consensus boards from my past observations).

That's pretty consistent with what I've read about him. It sounds like he could start out on the right side and be fairly good in the run game while learning more in the pass protection. He will need to improve footwork and hand work. If he could start right away and they still wanted to keep Wylie, they could move him to G.

Ersery becoming a long term RT solution which would be nice. I agree top to mid second round is where he belongs at this point but that's without seeing him. It would be reminiscent to our Jon Jansen selection at the top of the 2nd at 37 in 1999 after the Champ Bailey pick in the first. What a one two punch that was!