For more than a month, the Minnesota Vikings have been threatening to move up in the NFL Draft to choose a quarterback.
The Vikings want to choose one of the best quarterback prospects in this year’s draft class by moving up higher on the board after gaining the No. 23 overall choice in a trade with the Houston Texans.
Los Angeles might be tempted to add at least two first-round picks in this year’s class to bolster the talent on the roster, especially on offense, as the Chargers attempt to rebuild the roster on the fly around head coach Jim Harbaugh and franchise quarterback Justin Herbert.
In Pete Prisco’s latest NFL Mock Draft Projection, the Vikings climb the board all the way to pick No. 5, jumping the quarterback-needy New York Giants and outbid the Las Vegas Raiders, for the right to select Drake Maye out of North Carolina.
“They make the move to go up and get their guy in Drake Maye,” Prisco writes for CBS Sports. “While the Chargers, who are re-tooling with Jim Harbaugh, get multiple first-round picks.”
Drake Maye Scouting Report
In Prisco’s projection, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and J.J. McCarthy fly off the board with the first four picks, leaving Maye for the taking by the Vikings.
Maye enters this year’s draft after completing 64.9 percent of his passes across three seasons in Chapel Hill, for 8,018 yards with 63 touchdowns to 16 interceptions.
“He can make every throw,” NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein writes of the former Tarheels quarterback. “But, he will try to make throws that he shouldn’t have attempted. The gunslinger mentality creates a fearlessness that can turn into interceptions, but it will also allow him to win in tight windows and make splash throws that get crowds (and evaluators) on their feet.
“He leaves too many throws on the back shoulder or hip and needs to learn when to take some sauce off the throw to make it more catchable.”
The Vikings need to do something at quarterback, to keep pace in a division that already includes Jordan Love and Jared Goff and is about to welcome Caleb Williams to the Windy City. Maye gives head coach Kevin O’Connell a young quarterback to mold in hopes of climbing the ranks in one of the most competitive divisions in football.
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