Justin Fields 2021 NFL Draft fits: 5 Best landing spots
By Tadhg Flynn
3. Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings will approach this draft with varying concerns. The 2020 season was not overly kind to the roster, finishing with a 7-9 record. Injuries played a large part in their ability to be effective. The Vikings often played from behind this year, an unfortunate habit to pick up. Trying to get better when consistently playing from behind can be demoralising to a group.
Their defensive unit suffered season ending injuries to multiple starters, including Danielle Hunter and Mike Hughes, and the team’s inability to replace their minutes led to their mediocre year.
The Vikings made one of the biggest hits of the 2020 NFL Draft. Rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson was an absolute diamond all year, with explosive pace and a knack for holding onto difficult passes. With Adam Thielen on the opposite side recovering from a 2019 season injury, the dynamic duo was a terror for defensive coverage.
The Vikings made huge strides offensively this past season. The team was fourth in total yards per game. If the team could have a better balance between their run game and their passing game, they would be very difficult opponents.
The defensive and offensive lines are the Vikings’ most pressing problems. Less quarterback pressure is a priority to give the offense time, while their defensive line absolutely has to improve pressure on opponents’ offensive units. Trying to resolve or improve any of these issues are tied back to one, big, central issue.
The Vikings have dedicated too much of their cap space to Kirk Cousins. He has a cap hit for the 2021 season of $33 million. The Vikings need too many extra pieces to fully address their issues in the Draft in the short term. They will need clever free agency spending over the coming years. If Cousins stays with the team and does not restructure his contract, he limits their ability to grow.
Justin Fields solves two problems for the Vikings. He is as talented as Cousins, with a lot less experience and games to prove that statement, but talented nonetheless. First, he brings the dual threat as a powerful rushing option that Cousins does not have. Fields is a big and powerful physical presence, and he would help expand and improve the Vikings’ running game, which is needed.
Secondly, the rookie contract that Fields would enter on is exponentially better for cap contributions than the massive money Cousins will continue to make. If the Vikings could take Fields as their long-term successor to Cousins and address their linemen issues in later rounds, they could have their cake and eat it too.