The Minnesota Vikings’ sights are on landing a blue-chip first-round quarterback — and according to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson, the team’s interest in LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels has been slept on.
After securing the No. 23 overall pick in a trade with the Houston Texans, the Vikings can pair their new first-rounder with the No. 11 overall pick in a trade package to move up inside the top five of April’s draft.
The well-tread talkers for trade-up targets a month ahead of the draft are either UNC quarterback Drake Maye or Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
But contrary to the consensus, Daniels is still in play for the Vikings, according to Wolfson.
“There’s one that’s clear cut: Let’s take Caleb [Williams] out of the equation. But of the three, among Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and J.J. McCarthy, my sense is the Vikings have pretty strong, good opinions on all,” Wolfson said on a March 21 episode of SKOR North’s “Mackey and Judd” podcast.
“Now, I understand it if Maye is clear-cut No. 1 of those three, but I’m telling you there’s been very, very little Jayden Daniels chatter and I guess I don’t get it. I’m not sitting here dismissing the possibility of Daniels ultimately being the guy here,” Wolfson added. “There’s Vikings interest there. I understand it, talk all you want about Maye because of the Josh McCown connection (he coached him in high school). We talked about J.J. McCarthy going back to the fall, all the work the Vikings have been doing… but I’m just saying, don’t sleep on Jayden Daniels.”
Jayden Daniels’ Deep-Passing Prowess
The Vikings maintaining interest in Daniels makes sense. While Daniels is touted for his running ability, he was also a dominant deep-ball thrower.
“In his last season at LSU, Daniels earned a 99.2 passing grade and recorded a 69.1% adjusted completion percentage on 20-plus-yard throws. Those were both the highest marks in the FBS, and they didn’t come on a small sample size, either,” Pro Football Focus (PFF) analyst Nick Ackridge wrote. “He completed the fifth-most deep throws in the FBS.”
Relying on his legs early in his career, Daniels exploded in his fifth season by leading the country with 4,946 total yards and 50 touchdowns while also being incredibly efficient.
From PFF: Daniels paced all quarterbacks in overall grade (94.7) and rushing grade (92.4) while coming in second for passing grade (91.9). He also led all FBS signal-callers in passing touchdowns (40), yards per attempt (11.5), passer rating (143.7) and rushing yards (1,250) while commanding the nation’s most efficient offense in EPA per play.
Daniels is a true playmaker at the position who can elevate an offense around him.
However, for all the talent in his legs, he struggles with pocket awareness and posted a sack rate of over 20% last season. His slender frame warrants some concerns about whether he can handle the physicality of the NFL, especially with the onus Kevin O’Connell put on Kirk Cousins to stick to his reads and take a hit.
Vikings Are at the Whims of Commanders, Patriots
The steam on the top-four quarterback prospects in this year’s draft won’t sequester as April 27 draws nearer.
It’s also peak smokescreen season as well and every team will try to throw the rest of the league off their scent.
An example of the games that come at this stage of the NFL offseason: The Vikings made no contact with Harrison Smith after the Senior Bowl in 2012 before trading up to land him 29th overall.
“When I called Harrison Smith and actually talked to him, I don’t think he expected us,” former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told CBS Sports. “I think he was under the impression that we didn’t like him at all after the Senior Bowl because we never said another word to him until we ended up trading up and going to get him.”
The Vikings are doing their diligence with the amount of work they’ve done on this year’s quarterback class.
But their true intentions may not be as clear as the accepted narrative ahead of the draft.
What is clear is that the Vikings can have their choice by trading up to the No. 2 or No. 3 picks, held by the Washington Commanders and New England Patriots, respectively.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that the Chicago Bears, Commanders and Patriots have not shown an appetite to trade down and appear locked on drafting a quarterback — but that could be a ploy to drive up the price on their picks.
The Vikings are prepared to pay a premium for those spots and there are still weeks of evaluation ahead before teams make their final decisions.
