The 2019 NFL Draft is underway in Nashville, and FTW’s lead NFL writer Steven Ruiz is grading picks and offering analysis on how each player will fit with his new team. Let’s get to the Minnesota Vikings.
No. 18: Garrett Bradbury, C, North Carolina State
Analysis: If you’re going to take a center with a top-20 pick, I suppose Garrett Bradbury is the kind of center you take. He has the movement skills and power to develop into a top center. But Minnesota needed a tackle and Andre Dillard, the best pass protector in the class, was on the board, and the Vikings passed.
GRADE: C-
No. 50: Irv Smith Jr., TE Alabama
Analysis: I don’t know how you’re going to cover the Vikings. Irv Smith Jr., a slick route-runner with ball tracking skills, joins Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen in a loaded receiving corps. On top of that, drafting Smith allows Minnesota to move on from free-agent-to-be Kyle Rudolph.
