Jim Souhan: Vikings know risk is unavoidable when seeking high-end talent

Jim Souhan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Apr 28, 2026

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MINNEAPOLIS — This was bound to be a strange NFL draft for the Minnesota Vikings.

They assigned oversight of the draft to a longtime executive who might or might not be a candidate for their vacant general manager job.

They were desperate to make up for bad drafts conducted by the previous general manager.

They might be on the cusp of winning big … but they have an older, expensive roster that could collapse if not for an infusion of young, affordable talent.

Under these circumstances, you might have expected interim GM Rob Brzezinski, known for his intelligence and reliability, to play it safe.

Instead, he acted like the boss who spikes the punch at the office party, then sings karaoke even though there isn’t a karaoke machine.

The first pick he approved? Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks, a massive human with a foot injury who was sporadically productive in college.

The second pick? Cincinnati’s Jake Golday, an interior linebacker — a position considered by draft “experts” to be of poor value in early rounds.

The safest pick? Maybe their last one, in the seventh round, when they took a very good college center in Cincinnati’s Gavin Gerhardt.

Their biggest move? Trading one of their best players and team leaders, edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, to Philadelphia for two third-round picks.

If you spent the last four months scouring every possible mock draft … well, maybe consider getting outside once in a while?

Also, if you want to hate the selection of Banks, please do so for a better reason than that he wasn’t predicted to be selected by the Vikings by many, if any, mock drafters.

No matter how much expertise a mock drafter has, no matter how hard they work, they are not reflecting the reality of actual NFL draft boards. NFL teams are happy to float a lot of rumors about their opinions on prospects. They rarely, if ever, share proprietary information about their most important evaluations.

Many mock drafters thought the Vikings would take Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman with the 18th pick, and he might turn out to have been the right choice. He was a safe pick at a position of need, and he should have a nice career with Chicago.

I can’t tell you whether Banks will stay healthy or become a star. What I can tell you is that if he turns out to be a star-caliber player, then the Vikings were right to take the massive, athletic defensive lineman over the safety.

NFL teams are known to value quarterbacks and edge rushers, for obvious reasons. But an interior defensive lineman who can destroy double teams, stuff running games and collapse the pocket from the inside might be even more important than edge rushers.

Vikings fans should know this. Think about watching Jerry Ball, John Randle, Pat Williams and Kevin Williams. They could destroy offensive plays before they even got started.

You can game-plan to pay extra attention to an edge rusher. You can’t do much to control an interior lineman who can split your guard and center and spend more time in the backfield than the opponent’s starting halfback.

The Banks selection carries risk. My guess is that two years from now, Vikings fans will be saying one of two things:

— “I can’t believe they got this guy with the 18th pick. What were the other teams thinking?”

— “Took a huge guy with foot problems. Of course he didn’t pan out.”

If you hated the pick, consider this:

On Thursday afternoon, former Alabama coach Nick Saban joined the ESPN draft panel to discuss prospects. Saban raved about Banks, noting that he has powerful hands that allow him to fight off blocks; that he is remarkably explosive for a man of his size; and that he’s nearly impossible to block when healthy.

Most prominent mock drafters work very hard to glean information. No mock drafters know as much about football as Saban.

The idea of “risk” in drafts is fascinating. Take a clear-eyed view of the history of the NFL draft and what you’ll find is that every decision carries risk and every player is one major injury away from being considered a bust (or a symbol of bad luck).

I have no idea how this draft is going to play out. I will say that two years ago, when the Vikings defense was rolling under coordinator Brian Flores, one of their keys to success was the health of inside linebacker Blake Cashman. Being strong up the middle is a hallmark of great teams.

The Vikings’ first three picks went to two defensive lineman and an inside linebacker. That might not make for fun draft viewing, but it’s also difficult to argue with philosophically.

____