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EAGAN, Minn. — The persistent need for cornerbacks has only ramped up for the Minnesota Vikings, with the departure of their best player in pass coverage, Patrick Peterson, after another rough season for the defense.
There’s an opening for a wide receiver, too, after jettisoning veteran Adam Thielen. The Vikings have the 23rd overall pick, an area in the first round of the NFL draft that has served them quite well from Randy Moss (No. 21 in 1998) to Percy Harvin (No. 22 in 2009) to Justin Jefferson (No. 22 in 2020).
But wait. Kirk Cousins is only signed for one more season, the first time in six years with the Vikings he’ll play on an expiring contract. Could this be the draft for the Vikings to find his successor?
“We’ve had these conversations. They are ongoing,” general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. “There are a lot of different avenues in terms of addressing that position. I wouldn’t necessarily box us into just one. We do know that it’s the most important position in this sport, and we’ll treat it with that kind of importance.”
Hendon Hooker has entered the chat.
The 2022 SEC Offensive Player of the Year award winner spent three years at Virginia Tech and the past two at Tennessee, his college career ended early when he tore the ACL in his left knee in the second-to-last regular-season game.
Hooker, who will turn 26 by the end of his rookie season, will almost certainly land with a team that’s not planning to hand him the job in his first year. His injury status, coupled with some concerns about the simplicity of the offense he ran with the Volunteers, has him widely projected as the fifth quarterback on the board behind Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson. The mock draft brigade has added plenty of steam over the past month to the Hooker-to-Minnesota possibility.
“You have to have ultra belief and connection on making that decision because it is such an important decision,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “But I will say I’m very excited about Kirk in year two in this system. It’s been a while since Kirk has been able to say that he gets to come back in the same system he ran previously with the same play caller. I’ve had a lot of great dialogue with him about ways we’re going to look to find ways to grow and improve.”
The Vikings will start the draft with only five picks. Their biggest hole is in the second round, the No. 55 overall selection that went to Detroit in the trade last year for tight end T.J. Hockenson. They’re also currently without a seventh-rounder, a pick that was packaged with defensive end Stephen Weatherly in a more minor deal with Denver.
Cornerback tops the list again, with Peterson, Duke Shelley, Chandon Sullivan, Cameron Dantzler and Kris Boyd all gone. Andrew Booth and Akayleb Evans, the 2022 draft picks whose rookie seasons were largely limited by injuries, are the only returners. Byron Murphy was one of Minnesota’s most prominent free agent signing, and Joejuan Williams was a recent addition.
Wide receiver is almost a must-draft position at some point next weekend, with Thielen’s departure creating a void between Jefferson and K.J. Osborn.
Interior defensive linemen will certainly get a long look, following the exit of Dalvin Tomlinson. Edge rushers are always welcome, too, with the status of Za’Darius Smith still uncertain.
The Vikings are more settled on the offensive line than they’ve been in a decade, thanks to recent draft priorities and successes. Hockenson’s acquisition last year and the signing of Josh Oliver last month have set them up well at tight end for awhile. The return of Harrison Smith for a 12th season and the ahead-of-schedule rehabilitation by 2022 first-round draft pick Lewis Cine, with 24-year-old starter Camryn Bynum also back, takes safety off the list.
Big Ten cornerbacks Deonte Banks (Maryland) and Joey Porter (Penn State) might entice the Vikings at No. 23 should one or both of them fall that far. The Vikings have picked a cornerback in the first round in four of the previous 10 drafts: Jeff Gladney (2020), Mike Hughes (2018), Trae Waynes (2015) and Xavier Rhodes (2013).
Jordan Addison (USC) and Quentin Johnston (TCU) are two wide receivers who could be a fit with the Vikings and their first-round slot. Jefferson is the only wide receiver the Vikings have taken in the first three rounds in any of their past six drafts.
