Vikings’ historic draft quantified in PFF redraft
It’s no secret for Minnesota Vikings’ fans that the 2015 draft turned out pretty well for the Purple. It was easily Rick Spielman’s best draft and one of the best drafts in franchise history.
The Picks
The Vikings didn’t hit on every pick, but where they hit, they hit it big. The Vikings’ 2015 draft class:
- CB Trae Waynes (#11)
- LB Eric Kendricks (#45)
- DE Danielle Hunter (#88)
- OT T.J. Clemmings (#110)
- TE Mycole Pruitt (#143)
- WR Stefon Diggs (#146)
- OT Tyrus Thompson (#185)
- DE B.J. DuBose (#193)
- OT Austin Shepard (#228)
- OLB Edmund Robinson (#232)
Trae Waynes proved to be a serviceable starting cornerback but never lived up to his draft status. He ultimately made more money not playing for the Bengals for two seasons ($30 million) than he made playing five seasons for the Vikings ($22 million).
Eric Kendricks proved to be a solid core defender, prolific tackler, defensive playcaller, team captain, Pro Bowler and First-Team All-Pro. He was signed to a lucrative second contract before ultimately being let go after the 2022 season as his production no longer matched his salary cap.
Danielle Hunter proved to be one of the best pass rushers in the league since being drafted and ten years and 109 sacks later is still producing at a high level. Rick Spielman actually traded down twice from the #76 pick to #80 and then to #88 before selecting Hunter. He’s been a five-time Pro Bowler, Second-Team All-Pro, and team captain. The Vikings signed him to what turned out to be a bargain second contract (5-year, $72MM, $14.4MM AAV). That proved to be an issue in the last years of that contract, and the Vikings did renegotiate it for the 2023 season. But ultimately the Vikings got a premier edge rusher for nine seasons for just over $10 million/year, which was quite a bargain. The Vikings opted to sign Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel rather than spend about the same amount to extend Hunter in 2024.
T.J. Clemmings was the ultimate RAS pick that never panned out. He had all the measurables to be an elite tackle but was raw in his skillset and never really developed. He was forced into a starting position well before he was ready due to injury, which didn’t help either.
Mycole Pruitt only lasted a little over the year with the Vikings but has managed to carve out a nice little NFL career for himself and is still playing ten years and ten million dollars later. That’s way above average for a fifth-round pick.
One fifth-round pick that’s done better than Pruitt is Stefon Diggs, one of the best fifth-round picks in NFL history. He has been one of the most productive receivers since entering the league and the best offensive player of the 2015 draft class. He’s averaged over 1,000 receiving yards/season since he was drafted and was a four-time Pro Bowler, First-Team and Second-Team All-Pro, and led the league in receptions and receiving yards in 2020.
Diggs has proven to be discontented at times with every team he’s been with, and that led to the Vikings trading him to Buffalo in 2019. But that #146 pick in 2015 has proven to be a gift that keeps on giving for the Vikings as Rick Spielman traded Diggs for what turned out to be Justin Jefferson and a couple other players.
Tyrus Thompson, B.J. DuBose, and Austin Shepard didn’t pan out but Edmond Robinson stayed in the league for seven seasons until 2021, bouncing around several teams mainly as a special teamer with some stints on practice squads.
The Vikings also acquired safety Anthony Harris as an undrafted free agent in 2015, who later became the highest graded starting safety in the league by PFF over the 2018-2019 seasons and led the league in interceptions in 2019.
The PFF Redraft
In the PFF 2015 Redraft, they chose four Vikings as first round picks. They include:
- #1 overall Stefon Diggs
- #3 overall Danielle Hunter
- #12 overall Eric Kendricks
- #27 overall Anthony Harris
To provide some context about how much draft value the Vikings realized in this redraft compared to the actual draft, the four players PFF selected in their redraft cost the Vikings 623 points in the Jimmy Johnson Draft Value Chart.
Their value in the PFF redraft was 7,080.
That’s an extra 6,457 points of value in Jimmy Johnson’s chart.
For context, that’s more extra value than the entirety of the last four Vikings’ draft classes combined- 5,983.2 points.
So, yeah, 2015 was a pretty good draft for the Vikings.