Vikings welcoming draft prospects for top-30 event on Tuesday

April 3, 2018 at 1:14PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Arkansas offensive lineman Frank Ragnow defends against Toledo in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Little Rock, Ark., Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston) ORG XMIT: OTKDJ127
(AP/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Vikings will spend Tuesday and Wednesday hosting potential draft targets at their new practice facility in Eagan as part of their top-30 event, where the team consolidates many of its 30 allotted pre-draft visits.

The Vikings have long operated this way to see how players interact with one another, in addition to giving coaches time to meet with them individually. They bring players to town for a number of different reasons — to the point where news of a player's trip to Minnesota shouldn't necessarily be seen as an indicator the team plans to draft him — but many of the Vikings' top picks in the Mike Zimmer era have been vetted by a pre-draft visit to the Twin Cities (Laquon Treadwell, Trae Waynes and Anthony Barr among them).

This year's list of players is expected to include Arkansas center Frank Ragnow, who met with the Vikings at the combine, as well. The Chanhassen product doesn't technically count as one of the Vikings' 30 allotted visits, since he grew up in the Twin Cities, but his name certainly is one worth keeping in mind as the Vikings consider ways to continue investing in their offensive line. Maple Grove product Jake Wieneke, who built plenty of buzz for himself at South Dakota State, is also expected to attend.

Here is a partial list of players expected to attend the Vikings' top 30 event, reported by us or various outlets:

Jeff Badet, WR, Oklahoma

Alex Cappa, T, Humboldt State

Jack Cichy, LB, Wisconsin

Matt Gono, T, Wesley

P.J. Hall, DT, Sam Houston State

Davontae Harris, CB, Illinois State

Nyheim Hines, RB, North Carolina State

Mike Hughes, CB, Central Florida

Dante Pettis, WR, Washington

Frank Ragnow, C, Arkansas

Justin Reid, S, Stanford

Nathan Shepherd, T, Fort Hays State

Kemoko Turay, LB, Rutgers

Jake Wieneke, WR, South Dakota State

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about the writer

Ben Goessling

Sports reporter

Ben Goessling has covered the Vikings since 2012, first at the Pioneer Press and ESPN before becoming the Minnesota Star Tribune's lead Vikings reporter in 2017. He was named one of the top NFL beat writers by the Pro Football Writers of America in 2024, after honors in the AP Sports Editors and National Headliner Awards contests in 2023.

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