Vikings' Draft Moves: Hidden Gems and Bold Surprises That Could Change the Game

Flores clashed with assistant head coach Mike Pettine last year, who was subsequently moved to the offensive side and has since retired. Flores also is rumored to have expressed some dissatisfaction with the direction of the front office (presumably meaning Adofo-Mensah) in January before he was extended, which may have been influential in the timing of Adofo-Mensah’s dismissal later that month.

In any case, Flores’ influence appears to have grown within the Vikings front office. By all accounts Flores and O’Connell have a good relationship and O’Connell has a high degree of trust in Flores to run the defense. All that suggests Flores has solidified his control over the defense and personnel decisions on that side of the ball.

It’s interesting therefore that the two early releases this offseason were Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen- the two big defensive additions last season in free agency. Were those both Adofo-Mensah-led signings? Hargrave was reportedly in Flores’ doghouse at one point during the season and had his snap count reduced for a game. Hargrave also complained that Flores’ scheme wasn’t good for defensive tackle sack numbers after his release was announced. Allen didn’t criticize Flores’ scheme but he did seem a lot more enthusiastic about a Bengals’ scheme that provides an opportunity “to showcase my talent.” While there certainly were salary cap reasons to cut Hargrave and to a lesser extent Allen, the two older players may not have been as good a fit as originally thought.

The Upcoming Draft

The Vikings have four picks in the first hundred- a first-round, second-round, and two third-round picks. They don’t have a fourth-round pick, but they do have a fifth, sixth, and three seventh-round picks. The Vikings have been meeting with prospects the last couple months in the lead up to the draft. Sometimes these meetings reflect genuine interest in a player they are likely or want to draft, sometimes its due diligence that causes them to move away from that prospect, and sometimes they are smokescreens used to obfuscate their drafting intentions/priorities to the rest of the league. So take these with these prospect meetings, arranged by which of the Vikings draft pick slots they might be drafted, according to PFF’s Big Board. That’s not always accurate of course, but one of the few Big Boards that go past the top 100 prospects.