In the latest mock -- feel free to substitute "fake" or "pretend" -- draft by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., the Vikings are slated to choose ... NOT MANTI TE'O.
We are convinced anyway that they will take him, because that's what happens here. But Kiper has him going 20th to the Bears, which would be delightful. Instead, he has Minnesota taking, with the 23rd and 25th picks (Insider):
Cordarrelle Patterson, a 6-2 WR from Tennessee: The Vikings badly need a wide receiver after the Percy Harvin trade, and in Patterson they get maybe the highest-upside projection on the board at the position. Patterson needs work as a route-runner, but he's not just a straight-line deep threat on the edge.
AND
Kevin Minter, LB, LSU: Either Ogletree or Te'o could be available here, but if you poll people around the league, you'll hear Minter's name as someone evaluators have right with those two, and even ahead of them in some cases.
It's not crazy at all to think a WR and linebacker will be the two positions Minnesota drafts. Do you prefer something else?
Thoughts, please, in the comments.
