After making headlines in the 2024 NFL Draft by selecting Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 pick, then trading up to select Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner with the No. 17 pick, the Vikings figure to be much quieter next week in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The annual spectacle will be hosted on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday just a few hours away in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, the Vikings will be hunkered down inside their war room at TCO Performance Center in Eagan.
Here’s a guide to following the Vikings’ draft:
When do the Vikings pick?
That remains to be seen.
If the Vikings don’t make a move, they are working with very limited draft capital. They currently have a pick the first round (No. 24), third round (No. 97 pick), fifth round (No. 139), and sixth round (No. 187).
Many are expecting the Vikings to trade back in some capacity to acquire more draft capital. That would assume they are able to find another team interested in trading up. Sometimes, that can be easier said than done.
Why don’t they have more picks?
That can be traced back to general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah being extremely aggressive last year. He put the Vikings in position to select Turner by moving up in a trade with the Houston Texans, then moving up again in a trade with Jacksonville Jaguars.
Effectively, the Vikings ended up with Turner because they were willing to part with a massive haul of draft capital, which included picks in the second round, third round, and fourth round this year.
That only reason the Vikings don’t have even less draft capital this year is because they were awarded a compensatory pick for former franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins signing with the Atlanta Falcons last offseason.
What is the strategy when they’re on the clock?
It will be interesting to see what the Vikings do with their pick in the first round. That could dictate how everything else plays out for them.
Though the general consensus seems to suggest that the Vikings should trade back, there’s also an argument to be made for simply taking the best player available.
Asked earlier this month about that school of thought, head coach Kevin O’Connell hinted that it could depend on position, replying, “You don’t want the best player available to have such a tremendous roadblock to getting on the field in front of them.”
If a talented player falls into their lap in the first round, however, the Vikings should think long and hard about taking him regardless of position.
What are some positions of need?
There aren’t any pressing needs for the Vikings at the moment. They addressed their major weaknesses in free agency via a $300 million spending spree.
That said, the Vikings could still use some added depth on the interior of the offensive line, the interior of the defensive line, and across the board in the secondary. They should have options at all of those positions whenever they’re on the clock.
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Many are expecting the Vikings to trade back in some capacity to acquire more draft capital.
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