Minnesota Vikings nailed the first round of 2020 NFL Draft

With selections at wide receiver and cornerback in the first round, the Minnesota Vikings nailed their first two picks of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Going into the 2020 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings had high hopes in the first round of the draft on Thursday night. With the Vikings holding two picks later on in the opening round — coming in slated at Nos. 22 and 25 overall — Minnesota was able to address arguably its biggest needs with those two selections while also being able to acquire some assets to be used this year, in the future or for a player on the trade market.

The first-round performance by Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer was a home run and the entire Minnesota staff nailed the opening round of the draft on Thursday night, with day two taking place on Friday and day three following on Saturday.

During the first round of the NFL Draft and especially as wide receivers started to slide down the draft order, many thought the Vikings would attempt to move up in the order of selections to snag one of the top wideout targets in this year’s class.

Minnesota, however, didn’t make a move up and stood pat at the latter half of the first round, and ended up still getting a few targets that could have been on its radar to begin with coming into the draft.

At No. 22, the Vikings got a stud prospect when they picked wide receiver Justin Jefferson out of LSU.

Wide receiver was a position Minnesota needed to look at early on in this year’s draft, especially in trying to fill the void left behind by Stefon Diggs after the team traded him away to the Buffalo Bills this offseason.

Jefferson is a player that will come in and immediately make an impact alongside Vikings wideout Adam Thielen and company in the passing game led by Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins. This pick was a no-brainer and the Vikings filled a big hole on offense.

As the No. 25 pick approached, rumors began to swirl about Minnesota exploring the idea of trading back in the first round while bringing in a few additional assets to add to the mix in 2020.

The Vikings ended up doing just that, completing a trade with the San Francisco 49ers to send them the No. 25 pick in exchange for the No. 31 overall pick and a 2020 fourth- and fifth-round selection.

While obtaining more assets to use this year, either in the draft or as trade bait — Minnesota has been rumored to be interested in trading for Washington Redskins offensive lineman Trent Williams — the Vikings used the second-to-last pick in the first round to address the defensive side of the ball with the selection of TCU cornerback Jeff Gladney.

https://twitter.com/Vikings/status/1253556624163299333

The selection of Gladney, much like the Jefferson pick, fills a large need for the Vikings in an area where they lost a decent amount of players within already this offseason. Gladney will also have the potential to come in and get some playing time right away for the purple and gold, especially after Minnesota cut Pro Bowl cornerback Xavier Rhodes earlier this offseason.

What the Vikings end up doing on day two and for a remainder of the draft is yet to be seen as we head into the second day of action on Friday night. But Minnesota’s performance on Thursday night in round one went perhaps better than it could have hoped and the Vikings have nailed the draft thus far.