Insider calls Bo Nix the Vikings’ ‘preferred option’ at quarterback
Alec Lewis of The Athletic has released his first mock draft for the Vikings – the team he covers religiously alongside the likes of Minnesota beat reporters Matthew Coller, Ben Goessling, Dane Mizutani, Will Ragatz and others – and he has Minnesota holding onto the 11th overall pick and then trading back into the first round to get snag a quarterback.
First off, Lewis says his predictions are based on information he “gleaned from the Senior Bowl,” and that led him to connecting the Vikings and the 11th overall pick to Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II.
“Murphy’s name surfaced frequently during conversations about potential draftees of interest for the Vikings at the Senior Bowl,” Lewis wrote, noting that Murphy makes sense at 11 “unless a feasible trade-up scenario emerges for one of the three highly regarded quarterbacks.”
Those quarterbacks are Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels.
There may be even more desire from NFL teams to secure high-end interior lineman after the Chiefs used Chris Jones and Mike Pennel to disrupt the 49ers’ offensive line in the Super Bowl. Edge rushers have been the rage for years, but in the Super Bowl it was two interior linemen who stole the spotlight from San Francisco’s superior edge rushers Nick Bosa and Chase Young.
