Minnesota Vikings praised for one of best 2020 NFL Draft classes

With the 2020 NFL Draft now in the past, many media outlets and draft experts say the Minnesota Vikings had one of the best performances on April 23-25.

Going into the 2020 NFL Draft on April 23-25, the Minnesota Vikings knew they had their work cut out for them in trying to address multiple needs on the depth chart prior to the start of the 2020 regular season.

With the important task of filling holes on offense, defense and special teams following the departure of a few different key players already this offseason, this year’s draft would be viewed by many as an important draft for Minnesota to try and retool its roster and ultimately grab talent to make another run at the playoffs this season.

While holding the goal of adding some solid young and cheap talent via the draft, the Vikings went into the three-day draft last weekend with 12 selections, which ranked near the top of the NFL in terms of total selections.

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

By drafts end, Minnesota would end up making a few trades during the draft and exited the seven-round selection process with a league-high 15 picks, which is a new NFL record.

The Vikings landed players like LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson, TCU cornerback Jeff Gladney, Boise State offensive lineman Ezra Cleveland and Mississippi State cornerback Cameron Dantzler, among 11 others. Minnesota not only filled various positions of need, but those players should also have the ability to help Mike Zimmer and company right away this season.

After knocking the first round of the draft last Thursday out of the park with a pair of prospects and a few additional assets, the Vikings put together a really solid performance in the draft overall. And those efforts were viewed similarly among many media outlets and NFL Draft experts nation-wide.

According to a compilation of draft grades put together by Rotoworld and NBC Sports’ Thor Nystrom following the draft, Minnesota was seen as having the best draft out of the 32 teams in the league during the draft.

As seen in the tweet from Nystrom, the Vikings compiled an overall GPA or grade of 3.92 out of 4.00, leading the way for the rest of the NFL. Those grades consisted of input from outlets such as NFL.com, ESPN, Pro Football Focus, SB Nation, USA Today and more.

According to ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., he handed out a pretty impressive grade to the Vikings. Here is what Kiper wrote in his post-draft analysis:

"“Minnesota came into Thursday night with 12 picks and ended Saturday night with 15 picks, plus an extra fourth-rounder and two extra fifth-round picks in the 2021 draft. With that much capital, it takes a lot not to get an A from me,” Kiper wrote on ESPN following the draft. “And really, I like the value the Vikings got throughout, starting with extracting a first-round pick for wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was disgruntled in Minnesota.”"

Of course, you can always grade a draft performance and players that teams select, but they ultimately will have to step up and perform on the field once the season actually begins and as their careers unfold.

But while adding some nice pieces to various holes on the depth chart and getting intriguing prospects who will have an impact right away in their rookie seasons, it has been widely viewed that Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and the Minnesota coaching staff did a great job during the 2020 NFL Draft this year.