Vikings 2025 NFL Mock Draft Roundup: Safety continue dominance with surprise position continuing to make an appearance

Minnesota Vikings NFL Mock Draft Roundup

Grey Zabel, OL, NDSU

Scouting Report

• The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner
• Fantasy Life's Thor Nystrom

Zabel was a true five-tool offensive lineman in college. He’s not long enough to be an every-day tackle in the NFL, but his ability to make things happen inside is undeniable. Zabel is a powerful, explosive, flexible athlete with elite football IQ.-Baumgardner

Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss

Scouting Report

• Eagles Wire's Glenn Erby
• Underdog Fantasy's Hayden Winks
• Ravens Wire's Glenn Erby

The Vikings want to get stronger up the middle, and the All-American from Ole Miss fits the bill. The 6-foot-3, 305-pound dynamo led the Ole Miss defense in 2024, logging 48 tackles (career-high), two pass deflections (career-high), one fumble recovery, and 6.5 sacks (career-high).-Erby

Azareye'h Thomas, CB, Florida State

Scouting Report

• The 33rd Team's Ian Valentino
• Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame

By adding a handful of veteran defenders in free agency, the Minnesota Vikings will hit the clock with only a few outstanding positions lacking talent.

A guard is justified, but I have a higher grade on Azareye'h Thomas. The elite press-man corner will give Brian Flores someone to stick on physical receivers and unleash more varied coverages.-Valentino

Malaki Starks, S, Georgia

Scouting Report

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Ayrton Ostly
• Fantasy Pros' Andrew Erickson
• College Football Network's Logan Lazarczyk
• Pro Football Network's Staff
• CBS Sports' Pete Prisco
• The 33rd Team's Marcus Mosher
• Fantasy Pros' Pat Fitzmaurice
• CBS Sports' Josh Edwards
• Fantasy Life's Matthew Freedman
• New York Post's Steve Serby

Minnesota addressed its needs in the trenches via free agency with a slew of signings. The secondary still needs some investment, though, especially after losing Cam Bynum in free agency. Starks is one of the best players in the draft regardless of position and could be a versatile piece for the Vikings on the back end.-Ostly

Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina

Scouting Report

• NFL.com's Rhett Lewis
• CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso
• Pro Football Network's Reese Decker
• USA Today's Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
• Pro Football Network's Brentley Weissman
• A to Z Sports' Tyler Forness and AJ Schulte
• A to Z Sports' Adam Holt and Rob Gregson
• A to Z Sports' Travis May
• Pro Football Network's Joe DeLeone
• Newsweek's Seth Quinn
• Pro Football Network's Jacob Infante
• Athlon Sports' Luke Easterling
• Establish The Run's John Daigle
• Sports Illustrated's Matt Brandon

With franchise fixture Harrison Smith seemingly heading into a swan-song season at age 36, this almost feels too perfect. Emmanwori is an elite athlete with the explosive skills, versatility and size to become a valuable chess piece in Brian Flores' diverse defensive scheme.-Lewis

Shavon Revel Jr., CB, East Carolina

Scouting Report

• CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson
• Yahoo! Sports' Nate Tice and Charles McDonald
• Draft Wire's Jeff Risdon
• NBC Sports' Connor Rogers
• Sports Illustrated's Carter Landis

Revel tore his ACL in October and missed the rest of the season. But his tape is a lot of fun; his track background shows up when you watch him, as does his length. He'll play with physicality at the line in man coverage and is a fluid mover in space. He's not the shutdown corner of, say, Sauce Gardner when he came out, or as physical as Joey Porter Jr. (and maybe that's a good thing), but he's a nice mix of both in terms of size and play style.-Wilson

Donovan Jackson, OL, Ohio State

• ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.
• Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs

Minnesota signed guard Will Fries and center Ryan Kelly away from the Colts. It's a big improvement on the interior offensive line. Let's take it a step further. Jackson would replace Blake Brandel at the other guard spot, and he has the versatility to kick outside if needed. He did so this past season when Josh Simmons got hurt for Ohio State. That seems relevant given left tackle Christian Darrisaw is recovering from a left knee injury. Jackson is a plug-and-play interior blocker with great agility and technique; he allowed four sacks over 40 career starts.

The Vikings do not have a second-round pick, but they could find a solid cornerback at the end of Round 3.-Kiper Jr.

Jalon Walker, EDGE, Georgia

Scouting Report

• Fox Sports' Nick Wright

Odds to be first linebacker drafted: -800-Wright

Jihaad Campbell, ILB, Alabama

Scouting Report

• Fox Sports' Rob Rang

GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was awfully active in free agency, taking advantage of the cap flexibility a young, cheap quarterback provides by signing at least one veteran player from literally every other offensive and defensive position. The club is well-positioned to take the best player available or trade down to acquire more picks, as Minnesota currently has an NFL-low four selections. Campbell is far from a finished product, but he offers rare agility and speed at linebacker, projecting well in coverage and as a QB spy.-Rang 

Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas

Scouting Report

• Bears Wire's Vincent Parise
• Fox News' Staff

The Minnesota Vikings take Jahdae Barron, which makes it two straight picks where an NFC North team improves their secondary.-Parise

Will Johnson, CB, Michigan

Scouting Report

• NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco

Injuries cut into his final college season and pre-draft workouts. If he can stay healthy, the Vikings will be rewarded.-Maiocco

Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri

Scouting Report

• Boston Globe's Ben Volin

They could go pass rusher here but don’t have much at receiver behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, and Burden is one of the best in the draft at yards after catch.-Volin

Tyleik Williams, DT, Ohio State

Scouting Report

• USA Today's Nick Brinkerhoff

Despite adding Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave this offseason, the Vikings are still on the hunt for defensive line help. As the Eagles proved last season, you can never have too much of a good thing and Grok is all-in on adding to that position group here. Williams is a reach at this spot, but perhaps the all-knowing AI knows something we don't.-Brinkerhoff

Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama

Scouting Report

• CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin
• CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr
• Arizona Republic's Theo Mackie

Minnesota poured big money into both fronts during free agency. That doesn't mean the Vikings won't do more to make life easy for young quarterback J.J. McCarthy. And Booker projects as a Day 1 starter on the interior coming out of Alabama.-Benjamin

Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame

Scouting Report

• The Draft Network's Ryan Fowler

An elite technician at the position, Benjamin Morrison is a high-level man corner whose name you rarely hear on the broadcast... a good thing for corners. While the hip surgery and medicals remain a talking point in his game, Morrison has the potential to shut down his side of the field as a pure man-cover corner—a lost art in today’s game. He’s right up there with Travis Hunter and Will Johnson as far as the elites at the position in the class.-Fowler

Overview

Since January 1st, I have collected 501 industry mock drafts with 47 different prospects. It's been an interesting path forward to see how things grow and develop over the course of the year. Safety has been far and away the number one position the last few weeks with nearly 1/3 of all prospects being at the safety position, and almost 40% if you include Jahdae Barron.