Vikings Predicted to Select All-SEC Edge Rusher for Brian Flores

With the final mock drafts coming in hours before the 2025 NFL Draft, there are still questions regarding what the Minnesota Vikings will do with the 24th overall pick.

The Vikings enter the draft with just four picks and need to make some moves to add more draft picks. They surrendered most of their picks this year as part of deals to land quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner in the first round of last year’s draft.

Most mock drafts have the Vikings looking at defense with their first-round pick or trading down for more selections. The secondary has seen the most attention with safety being a position of interest.

There is a significant sports website that can see the Vikings going in a different direction on defense in round one.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio released the website’s only mock draft on Wednesday with no trades. The site has the Vikings taking Texas A&M edge rusher Nic Scourton in the first round.

Scourton posted 10 sacks with Purdue in 2023 and was a second-team All-Big Ten selection before transferring to Texas A&M. As an Aggie last year, he was named as a first-team All-SEC selection after racking up 14 tackles for loss and five sacks in 12 starts.

During the NFL Combine, Scourton did well in some of the drills, showing off his quick feet and change in direction. NFL Next Gen stats gave him the ninth-best total score of any defensive end/edge rusher at the Combine, with a 77.

Turner was selected last year to be that outside linebacker/edge rusher the Vikings can develop, but didn’t get as much playing time with Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel getting the reps and performing well, with over 11 sacks by each player. With 22.5 combined sacks between Greenard and Ginkel, the rest of the team got 24.5 sacks between them 10 players.

Another edge rusher to develop would be a move that would benefit the Vikings for the long haul and give defensive coordinator Brian Flores another athletic defender to use. There might be other, more pressing needs that would help Minnesota now over getting another edge rusher.

The secondary took a hit when Cam Bynum and Stephon Gilmore departed. Harrison Smith and Byron Murphy Jr. did re-sign with the team, but Smith is at the end of his career, and the Vikings need to find his successor.

If the opportunity presents itself, Minnesota might consider examining the secondary. If not, acquiring more draft picks is the most critical objective for the Vikings on night one.