The 2023 NFL Draft is exactly two weeks away.
The three-day event will kick off the evening of Thursday, April 27, and conclude on Saturday.
Analytics site Pro Football Focus knows all eyes will first and foremost be on Round 1. But which players in Rounds 2 and 3 will be good targets for teams? PFF's Michael Renner recently listed a “Day 2 fit” for each of the NFL's 32 clubs.
Worth noting is that Minnesota currently is not slated to have a pick in the second round. Renner opined, however, that Texas defensive tackle Moro Ojomo could be a great third-round selection for the Vikings. Renner wrote:
Maybe this is an off-the-radar name here, but Ojomo is an ascending defensive tackle who could sneak into the top 100. He broke out with a 90.6 overall grade this past fall in his fifth year with the Longhorns. Even after five seasons, however, Ojomo is still 21 years old. He has the length to be a versatile run defender the Vikings need on the interior.
It's interesting to see names Renner sees as possibilities for the Vikings NFC North rivals, as well.
He also looked at a defensive tackle for Chicago, highlighting Wisconsin's Deeanu Benton.
The Bears need talent anywhere they can find it along the defensive line. Benton is a versatile interior defender who can get after opposing quarterbacks with quicks and power. He earned an 83.5 pass-rushing grade last season.
For Detroit, Renner said Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell would be a good fit.
The Lions need a plug-and-play linebacker, and there's none in this class better than Campbell. He's experienced between the tackles and earned a 91.9 overall grade last season.
Interestingly, he also pointed looked to Iowa for a Packers option: Hawkeyes tight end Sam Laporta.
The Packers get the ball to tight ends in space often with the play-action game, and LaPorta led the draft class with 20 broken tackles on 58 receptions last season. That's something Green Bay hasn't had at tight end in a long time.
Click here to see Renner's full list.
Alan Page named best draft pick in Vikings history
The Vikings have been adding players through the draft since 1961.
They've had plenty of superstars on the roster over the past six decades, but which is the BEST player ever drafted?
Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame took a stab at answering that question for every NFL team. He wrote:
Let's be clear from the top: This is about the best player ever drafted by a team, not the best value ever found by the club.
If that were the case, we'd have a list of really good players in the fifth round instead of Hall of Fame ones in the first and second rounds. That's madness.
For some franchises, the pick was obvious. Nobody is besting Lawrence Taylor for the Giants (sorry, spoiler alert). For others, it was extremely difficult, and value had to be the tiebreaker.
View photos of Vikings legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Alan Page.
For the Vikings, Verderame selected Alan Page, whom Minnesota drafted 15th overall in 1967.
The Vikings have had a slew of great defensive players over the years. Offensively, there's quarterback Fran Tarkenton, guard Randall McDaniel and receiver Randy Moss. Yet nobody was more dominant than Page.
A star out of Notre Dame, Page destroyed NFL offensive lines throughout his 16 seasons in the league, unofficially credited with 148.5 sacks. Page won the 1971 NFL MVP and earned '70s All-Decade honors, while also helping Minnesota reach four Super Bowls. Page was a five-time first-team All-Pro and became a Hall of Famer in '88.
It's difficult to argue with Verderame's conclusion here, to be sure.
Another familiar name to Minnesota fans showed up in Verderame's list: Larry Fitzgerald, who starred at Holy Angels Academy in Minnesota and was drafted in 2004 by Arizona.
This was essentially a choice between safety Larry Wilson and Fitzgerald. While Wilson went in the seventh round of the 1960 draft, Fitzgerald is the most iconic Cardinals player. He also helped bring Arizona back to relevance after the franchise had won a single playoff game from [1948] to 2007.
Fitzgerald, picked No. 3 out of Pittsburgh, made 12 Pro Bowls and caught 1,432 passes for 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns. Those marks rank second, second and sixth all time, respectively.
