Four players the Vikings could pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft
By Rhys Knott
Minnesota has the 24th pick in the draft and is $17.2 million below the salary cap. It should cost them $6.1 million to sign their draft class, so there could be an influx of undrafted free agents in Minnesota, too. Or they could be waiting to re-sign a veteran like Stephon Gilmore.
Making JJ McCarthy’s transition to the NFL should be Kevin O’Connell’s priority. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has already added Rondale Moore and Tim Jones to the receiving corps.
The Vikings have also signed three new offensive linemen and traded for Jordan Mason. However, they only have two tight ends, and you can never have too many talented offensive linemen.
Adofo-Mensah also signed nine defensive players in free agency. Only three of them are starters, though. They will need some extra depth on the defensive line or a star defensive back in the first round. Finding that late in the first round will be tricky, but this is a generational defensive tackle class, and there are a few underrated gems who will be available.
Josh Conerly Jr. OT, Oregon
Improving the run game will make McCarthy’s transition to the big league easier. His Michigan team rode their dominant run game all the way to a national championship. Conerly’s run blocking will certainly improve the Vikes rushing offense.
While Kevin O’Connell and Sam Darnold took the passing attack to sixth in the league, Minnesota’s rushing attack was only 19th in 2024. The addition of Jordan Mason to give Aaron Jones some extra rest demonstrates they know they have to run the ball more in 2025.
Conerly’s run blocking earned a 91.3 PFF grade against Washington in December, and one of his worst performances still earned a 79.1 against Wisconsin. He’s a fine pass blocker, too. The 21-year-old only allowed two sacks on 1,093 passing snaps as a Duck.
The Seattle native isn’t the biggest tackle in the class. At 6 feet 5 inches, he’s in the 35th percentile, and at 311 pounds, he’s only in the 37th percentile for weight. But he is one of the most athletic in the tackle class.
His 5.05-second 40-yard time is in the 87th percentile, his 1.71-second 10-yard split ranks him in the 86th percentile, and his 34.5-inch vertical jump puts him in the 98th percentile!
The former high school basketballer (hence the hops) is projected to be the fifth tackle off the board, but don’t be surprised if he is the second or third in this muddled tackle class. Most mock drafts have him going to the Chiefs at 31, but some believe he will land in Houston with the 25th pick. But Mason and Jones would love to see Conerly Jr. blocking linebackers as they hit a hole.
Josh Conerly (LT #76) startled me with his jump set
— Nate Tice (@natetice.bsky.social) April 8, 2025 at 5:52 PM
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Gunnar Helm. TE, Texas
Texas TE Gunnar Helm rules
— Cory Kinnan (@daftondraft.football) December 14, 2024 at 3:57 AM
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Nobody expects Helm to be a first-round pick, but that’s one reason the Vikings should take him. His size and agility are the other main reasons.
He is 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds, and he can dance down a sideline like Bijan Robinson. Despite Helm’s size, he isn’t the biggest in a monstrous tight end class. He ranks in the 63rd percentile for height but just the 15th for weight!
The 22-year-old displays impressive athleticism when he’s catching passes. There are numerous videos of him hurdling tackles and dragging potential tacklers downfield on social media. But he’s still primarily known as a block-first tight end or an in-line blocker.
That’s why most experts rank him as the seventh-best tight end in this class. But the Vikings already have T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver as pass-catching tight ends. Adding a block-first guy would allow Kevin O’Connell to line his offense up in 13 personnel. That will mean McCarthy can easily identify mismatches in coverage or allow him to run the ball. Defences usually line up against multiple tight end sets with extra linebackers, and while McCarthy isn’t Jayden Daniels, he can outrun linebackers.
Helm’s 4.84-second 40-yard dash (the same time Marcedes Lewis ran in 2006) ranks in the 34th percentile of a class with a plethora of pass-catching tight ends. His 3-cone drill ranks in the 55th percentile.
In a draft where Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland will be top 15 picks and the Vikings only have four picks, they might have to make an odd reach. According to most experts, Helm is a day 2 pick, but some believe the Chiefs could have an eye on him. The Colorado native would add an extra dimension to the Vikings offense though.
Xavier Watts. Safety, Notre Dame
Xavier Watts to the house
— Matt (@coachminich.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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The defense can help McCarthy’s transition too. The Vikings led the league in takeaways in 2024 with 33, but Cam Bynum left in free agency. Only Byron Murphy Jr. defended more passes and made more interceptions than Bynum did last year. Watts is ideally suited to fill the Bynum-shaped hole.
In a world consumed by paralysis by analysis, the only thing you need to know about Watts is that he’s always in the right place to get his hands on the ball. The 23-year-old is a turnover machine.
Watts is the same height as Bynum and just four pounds heavier. At 6 feet tall, he ranks in the 40th percentile of this safety class, and at 204 pounds, he’s in the 42nd percentile for weight.
If there’s ever an example of a player who struggles to engage when it comes to testing, it’s Watts. He ran a 4.56 40-yard time at the Notre Dame pro day, which only ranks in the 52nd percentile in the class! The 23-year-old was even worse in the jumps. His 35-inch vertical jump is only in the 42nd percentile, and his 118-inch broad jump lands in the 32nd percentile!
When he’s on the field competing against others, he’s a different animal. In his last two seasons in college, the Nebraska native recorded 13 interceptions in 29 games! The former high school receiver racked up 273 interception yards and returned one for a touchdown in that time, too.
That’s not all. Watts defended 18 passes in three seasons, forced two fumbles, recovered two fumbles, and made 1.5 sacks. He also made nine tackles for a loss and 188 total tackles during his five-year career as a Golden Domer.
Watts projects as a mid- to late-first-round pick, with some experts expecting the Colts to grab him with the 14th pick. He would certainly add some razzle-dazzle to a very gritty Vikings defensive backfield.
Jared Ivey. EDGE, Ole Miss
Ivey is violent, aggressive, big and smart, and he moves much faster than a 274-pound man should. The 23-year-old is so big that some scouts have suggested he could play as a defensive tackle. But his explosive movement causes offensive tackles real problems.
Ivey began his college career at Georgia State, but after two years in the ACC, he transferred to Ole Miss. Throughout his career, the Georgia native recorded 17.5 sacks, with seven of them coming in 2024.
Unsurprisingly Ivey is in the 89th percentile of the EDGE class for height at 6-foot-6 and the 70th percentile for weight. But he didn’t do himself justice at his pro day, his 5.09-second 40-yard dash only ranks in the 4th percentile of the class. Not many pass rushers have to run 40 yards to make a sack though.
Ivey projects as a late first-round pick or a day 2 pick. Several mock drafts predict the 2023 Peach Bowl defensive MVP will be the Lions pick at 28. But adding Ivey to Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave would cause some sleepless nights in Chicago, Detroit and Green Bay.
Play of the Day No. 55: Ole Miss' Jared Ivey detonates Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold and forces and recovers the fumble (Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma, 2024). #POTD #NFLDraft2025
— Sam Teets (@samteets33.bsky.social) April 15, 2025 at 11:48 AM
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RHYS KNOTT
NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST
Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes