The 2026 Draft Thread - 1st Round - 7th overall

[DogofWar1]

I don't know where Iowa T/G Gennings Dunker is supposed to go but I know a future pro-bowl RT/LG when I see one.

 

[KDawg]

I’m big time on Rodriguez and Louis at ILB at the moment. Trotter as well, but he’s not in Mobile.

 

[Riggo44]

I don't know where Iowa T/G Gennings Dunker is supposed to go but I know a future pro-bowl RT/LG when I see one.

There is a little known fact in this world, it's a spiritual axiom, really...

You do not want to piss off a ginger with a sick, sick mullet.

 

[Dlts20]

I saw someone post Kipers mock but I watched the video yesterday. He has us picking Bain but he really wanted to give us Love. He really thinks that him and Jayden together would be dynamic but he had to argue with himself because his philosophy is that you can find backs anywhere so he let Love go to KC.

Ngl, I'm content with our backs but Love does look dynamic and I would love for once to have a back with some truly special receiving skills and homerun capabilities. Some people think that Bain will be a stud and I am the last person to care about being a huge 40 guy or combine warrior but he does seem a little slow, non explosive, and has short arms. Looks almost like a 3-4 DE than a true edge rusher to me.

I'd take him but I would be worried. Kiper thinks that Love is the 2nd best player in the whole draft.

 

[Riggo44]

I'm hoping Bain is one of those guys a dumb team falls in love with and trades up for, similar to the James Pearce deal last year. History is against him--maybe he's a unicorn, but I'd bet against it. No offense to you U guys...

 

[skinsinparadise]

This is common sentiment

 

[philibusters]

The draft, especially the early rounds, is essentially a variant of discounted cash flow analysis.

In baseball, there is a stat called Wins Above Replacement (WAR) that is used to value players. This stat adjusts based off position where, as an example, poor hitting who are great fielders tend to put up a lot more WAR than you would otherwise think

So you are optimizing for the football version of this while also considering the savings on a rookie contract vs paying market rate for the same performance, hence why premium positions tend to get picked higher

Thus, if a 26 year old guy is going to be an All Pro during his rookie contract, sure take him. If he’s merely going to be a very good player who you think falls off after 31, meh (relative to other options)

I think that makes sense. And if we drafting at the bottom of the first round or had our second round draft pick I would be fine drafting a player like Mesidor who will be 25 for his rookie year. He will be good, he already has a lot of polish. He is big and has nice pass rush moves. He has weaknesses to his game, for his size, his power pass rushing moves are underwhelming, but he is athletic for his size, technically refined, and should translate immediately. I am not picking that at 7, but if we had our second rounder (the 6th pick of second round, pick 38), I would be fine taking Mesidor at 38.

 

[philibusters]

Some people think that Bain will be a stud and I am the last person to care about being a huge 40 guy or combine warrior but he does seem a little slow and non explosive to me.

Bain is extremely explosive for his size. He is 272 pounds and his in game data puts him in the 90% of Edges in terms of acceleration and 44% in terms of top speed. So he is not fast, but his first step is almost elite for all edges at the 90 percentile and is elite for an edge his size.

 

[philibusters]

This is common sentiment

Corry Kinnan from DaftonDraft said the same thing (he has looked excellent so far and impressed), but he cautioned in regards to Linebackers these events favor the smaller faster guys. The drills are more coverage and pass rush oriented. So Louis has been the consensus top LB, but he is still a 220 pound LB'er and an event like this is not really going to expose an inability to get off a block and be a stack LB and things like that.

 

[KDawg]

I think that makes sense. And if we drafting at the bottom of the first round or had our second round draft pick I would be fine drafting a player like Mesidor who will be 25 for his rookie year. He will be good, he already has a lot of polish. He is big and has nice pass rush moves. He has weaknesses to his game, for his size, his power pass rushing moves are underwhelming, but he is athletic for his size, technically refined, and should translate immediately. I am not picking that at 7, but if we had our second rounder (the 6th pick of second round, pick 38), I would be fine taking Mesidor at 38.

To be clear: I am not making my argument strictly in regards to Mesidor. I am speaking in general.

I wouldn’t take Mesidor at 7 and I think he’s fantastic.

But I think in general we get (all draftniks) too caught up in the bullshit of this process and don’t focus enough on what we’re actually looking at: football.

 

[KDawg]

I'm hoping Bain is one of those guys a dumb team falls in love with and trades up for, similar to the James Pearce deal last year. History is against him--maybe he's a unicorn, but I'd bet against it. No offense to you U guys...

I cannot wait for him to prove people wrong. He’s going to.

 

[0rder 0f 0ut]

Does Bain fit now? The scheme is designed for true OLB's on the edge with the versatility to drop.

 

[Dlts20]

Bain is extremely explosive for his size. He is 272 pounds and his in game data puts him in the 90% of Edges in terms of acceleration and 44% in terms of top speed. So he is not fast, but his first step is almost elite for all edges at the 90 percentile and is elite for an edge his size.

Thanks for that data. I don't know but I'm not not 100 percent sure I see the explosion but have mostly just watched highlights. I edited my post to say that his short arms and speed makes him look like more of a 3-4 DE to me than a true edge rusher.

 

[burgold]

I guess the real question with Bain (other than the obvious Batman one that everyone seems to be skirting) is how does he fit in a positionless scheme? If Jones really does try to implement a lot of Flores' concepts then D Line positional flex will be important as sometimes they will need to rush, drop into coverage, and do a little bit of everything.

 

[Dlts20]

Bain looks physically dominant but more slightly inside or a truly special run stopper. That's why I say he's a 3-4 DE to me. I don't see much burst off the edge that the top guys are able to implement but I'm rooting for him. I think he kills it in the 3-4 at DE, with possible Jalen Carter type of push. We need something special off the edge though.

 

[philibusters]

In Jones' system I would guess Bain lines up with his hand in the dirt and Bailey is probably a guy playing from a two point stance

 

[Anselmheifer]

Bain looks physically dominant but more slightly inside or a truly special run stopper. That's why I say he's a 3-4 DE to me. I don't see much burst off the edge that the top guys are able to implement but I'm rooting for him. I think he kills it in the 3-4 at DE, with possible Jalen Carter type of push. We need something special off the edge though.

I don’t know. I guess he has the weight and power to be a 3-4 DE. That’s one of the spots where I especially value length though. It probably is his best spot.

I still think Bailey is the best fit for us, by a mile.

We need to sign an impact edge, LB, safety and corner in free agency. Just on the defensive side. We don’t have enough picks to go into the draft with absolute holes

 

[method man]

I don’t know. I guess he has the weight and power to be a 3-4 DE. That’s one of the spots where I especially value length though. It probably is his best spot.

I still think Bailey is the best fit for us, by a mile.

We need to sign an impact edge, LB, safety and corner in free agency. Just on the defensive side. We don’t have enough picks to go into the draft with absolute holes

In theory, given all AVG is able to do for the Vikings as a guy who can rush the passer, cover well and defend the run, you would think an off ball LB / EDGE hybrid like Reese is the strongest fit. However, Bailey has a reputation for actually being solid in coverage, something that doesn't really get mentioned with him.

With Bailey, someone posted in this thread an analysis where he is good as a run defender when he gets to get downhill and attack and is poor at it when he has to read and react. The question is what he will get to do in DJ's scheme

 

[Anselmheifer]

In theory, given all AVG is able to do for the Vikings as a guy who can rush the passer, cover well and defend the run, you would think an off ball LB / EDGE hybrid like Reese is the strongest fit. However, Bailey has a reputation for actually being solid in coverage, something that doesn't really get mentioned with him.

With Bailey, someone posted in this thread an analysis where he is good as a run defender when he gets to get downhill and attack and is poor at it when he has to read and react. The question is what he will get to do in DJ's scheme

I agree that Reese would be a good fit for the scheme.

In theory, given all AVG is able to do for the Vikings as a guy who can rush the passer, cover well and defend the run, you would think an off ball LB / EDGE hybrid like Reese is the strongest fit. However, Bailey has a reputation for actually being solid in coverage, something that doesn't really get mentioned with him.

With Bailey, someone posted in this thread an analysis where he is good as a run defender when he gets to get downhill and attack and is poor at it when he has to read and react. The question is what he will get to do in DJ's scheme

In theory, given all AVG is able to do for the Vikings as a guy who can rush the passer, cover well and defend the run, you would think an off ball LB / EDGE hybrid like Reese is the strongest fit. However, Bailey has a reputation for actually being solid in coverage, something that doesn't really get mentioned with him.

With Bailey, someone posted in this thread an analysis where he is good as a run defender when he gets to get downhill and attack and is poor at it when he has to read and react. The question is what he will get to do in DJ's scheme

I agree that Reese would be a good fit for the scheme. I honestly just don’t think he’s as good a player as Bailey. We’ve had no pass rush for forever, and Bailey has all pro upside as a pass rusher

If Bailey is taken, and Reese is available, I would be perfectly happy with him.

I also think Bailey is a better fit for multiple different schemes. If the entire cooking staff could turn over in the next off-season, do we really want to be drafting that much for scheme?

 

[method man]

I agree that Reese would be a good fit for the scheme.




I agree that Reese would be a good fit for the scheme. I honestly just don’t think he’s as good a player as Bailey. We’ve had no pass rush for forever, and Bailey has all pro upside as a pass rusher

If Bailey is taken, and Reese is available, I would be perfectly happy with him.

I also think Bailey is a better fit for multiple different schemes. If the entire cooking staff could turn over in the next off-season, do we really want to be drafting that much for scheme?

I prefer Bailey to Reese but Reese is definitely more scheme versatile than Bailey. Bailey’s fit in a 4-2-5 for example is questionable while Reese could just play the Luvu role in such a scheme