Let’s talk about a different scenario
As they’re heading into the 2025 NFL Draft armed with just four selections, the common wisdom surrounding the Minnesota Vikings is that they’ll be doing what they an to trade down and acquire more draft capital over the course of that weekend. All things being equal, that’s what I would like for them to do as well.
However, as we say every year, in order to trade down, you need to have someone willing to trade up. What if that doesn’t happen? Or, alternatively, what if there’s a player who falls to #24 that would be such a shock that the Vikings’ best move would be to stay right where they are?
That’s the question I want to pose to everyone on this Sunday morning: Who is a player that you would absolutely stay at #24 and select if they managed to drop to that spot?
For me, the answer is Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. Mason Graham got a lot of the ink for the front line for the Wolverines, but for what the Vikings need, Grant would be an absolutely outstanding selection if he somehow fell to Minnesota’s spot.
The Vikings have already done quite a bit to address the lack of an interior pass rush, and it’s true that Grant might not offer that much as a pass rusher, at least not at the moment. However, he’s probably the best run-stopping defensive lineman in this class. He tips the scales at about a cheeseburger short of 340 pounds, and it’s been a long time since the Vikings have had that sort of size on the interior. You might even have to go all the way back to when Pat Williams was crushing opposing running backs in the Twin Cities to find such a thing.
Grant’s run-stopping abilities would fit in quite nicely with this Minnesota defense, and it would allow players like Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen to stay fresher for obvious passing situations if Grant could find his way into the rotation early. In the long-term, Grant has all of the attributes to be a very good defensive tackle for a very long time in this league and a guy the Vikings could build around for the future.
A lot of drafts have Grant coming off of the board well before Minnesota gets on the clock at #24. But, as we see seemingly every year during the NFL Draft, there will be someone who drops who has no business falling that far, and it could be to the Vikings’ benefit. As much as we’d all probably like to see Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and company acquire more ammo for this year’s Draft, grabbing a great value like Grant would almost certainly work out better in the long run.
So. . .who is your guy that you would forget about trading out of #24 for and grabbing for the Vikings in Round 1?