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Vikings Draft Just Produced These Obvious Winners

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Vikings wide receiver Tai Felton returning the ball against the Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Tai Felton (13) fields the ball and turns upfield during first-quarter action against the Green Bay Packers, Jan. 4, 2026, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Felton accelerates into space as Minnesota looks to generate early momentum in a key division matchup at home. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images.

On Sunday, we posted the “losers” from the Minnesota Vikings’ draft, a list of 10 players and coaches deep because Minnesota had so many selections this go-round. Now, it’s time for the winners.

Minnesota’s latest draft class reshaped the depth chart and opened new doors for several returning players.

These players and coaches clearly had to be all smiles during and after the event.

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Turner Gets the Biggest Post-Draft Green Light

Ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = main winner), here’s who won the draft for the Vikings.

Jordan Mason running the ball during Vikings vs Texans preseason game. Vikings draft
Jordan Mason bursts through the line with the football secured, pushing into open space as the Minnesota Vikings face the Houston Texans during first-quarter action on Aug 9, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The running back, wearing No. 27, shows power and vision while gaining yardage early in preseason play. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images.

5. Jordan Mason (RB)

In theory, the Vikings could’ve found a way to draft Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price (Seahawks), Arkansas’s Mike Washington Jr. (Raiders), or Washington’s Jonah Coleman (Broncos) at running back, which would’ve put Mason’s trajectory as the long-term RB1 in jeopardy.

Instead, interim general manager Rob Brzezinski waited until Round 6 to pick Wake Forest’s Demond Claiborne. When a player is chosen that late, he is truly a lottery ticket. A scratch-off.

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While Claiborne could become “the next De’Von Achane” with the tutelage of Frank Smith and Kevin O’Connell, Mason remains the somewhat youthful main option at tailback for the Vikings in 2026, with a splash of Aaron Jones, who could split the RB1 workload if he stays healthy.

4. Blake Brandel (C)

One month ago, O’Connell essentially nominated Brandel as his starting center in 2026 — and he wasn’t kidding.

He said to media members who asked about the center spot, “It is great that we feel that good about Blake’s versatility, but ultimately we want to do what’s best for Blake to ascend and reach his highest potential at one position or have the flexibility still to play multiple. What his offseason looks like, what his training camp looks like and what his work flow looks like leading into the season, we want to have him more than likely at that center spot and build on some things that he did last year.”

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“It’s a position that’s got some really unique names in the draft, depending on where you may be looking to take one. There’s some guys with experience, there’s some guys with tremendous upside and then some guys that have that flex above the neck of really the smarts and the command that it takes to play center at the National Football League level. We’ll continue to work through it.”

The “tremendous upside” guys turned out to be a single human, named Gavin Gerhardt from the University of Cincinnati, a man extracted from Round 7. While Gerhardt could emerge in time, it’s probably Brandel’s job to lose at center this season.

3. Brian Flores (DC)

After the Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah at the end of January, fans assumed that Flores would have more say in the organization and the draft process.

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Fans were right.

Zone Coverage‘s Tom Schreier wrote over the weekend, “Ultimately, the issue with Adofo-Mensah is that he didn’t have a scouting background. The idea behind hiring him was that he would collaborate with the coaches and scouts to identify the best players, then use analytics to maximize draft picks and free-agent spending.”

“By replacing Rick Spielman with Adofo-Mensah, the Vikings were moving from a super scout as their general manager to a CEO.”

Brian Flores watching Vikings players during organized team activities practice. Vikings draft.
Brian Flores observes players moving through drills, tracking positioning and effort as the Minnesota Vikings conduct organized team activities on June 10, 2025, at the team’s training facility in Minneapolis. The defensive coordinator studies each rep closely, continuing to shape a unit that gained momentum during the previous season and enters a pivotal offseason stretch. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images.

Five of the nine new guys play defense:

R1: Caleb Banks (DT) | Pick 18
R2: Jake Golday (LB) | Pick 51
R3: Domonique Orange (DT) | Pick 82
R3: Jakobe Thomas (SAF) | Pick 98
R5: Charles Demmings (CB) | Pick 163

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That’s a Floresian draft, folks.

2. Tai Felton (WR)

Minnesota scouted oodles of wide receivers in February, March, and April. How many did they draft? Zilch.

Brzezinski and O’Connell said “no thanks” to dozens of promising wideouts, basically allowing Flores to cook from the section above. And — that turned out to be good news for Felton, who remains the Vikings’ WR3 right after the draft.

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In theory, Minnesota could sign Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings, Tyreek Hill, DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs, or Keenan Allen — or even trade for Brandon Aiyuk — but for now, Felton is the WR3 on paper. Most fans didn’t expect that outcome in the fallout from the draft.

1. Dallas Turner (OLB)

For two seasons, Flores struggled to find full-time playing time for Turner, the team’s 1st-Round draft pick in 2024. Those days are over.

Dallas Turner lined up on defense during Vikings playoff game against Rams. Vikings draft.
Dallas Turner lines up on defense during postseason action, focused on the snap as the Minnesota Vikings face the Los Angeles Rams in an NFC wild card game on Jan 13, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. Wearing No. 15, the linebacker prepares to engage, bringing energy to a high-stakes playoff matchup. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images.

Pro Bowl outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard was shipped to the Philadelphia Eagles for two 3rd-Round draft picks, completely paving the way for Turner to start in 2026. He received ample playing time down the stretch of 2025 when Greenard was hurt, but now Turner doesn’t have to sit around and wait for injuries to hear his name called.

In September and beyond, you will soon find out if the [very] expensive Turner trade, conducted by the aforementioned Adofo-Mensah, was worth it.

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Naoya Inoue confirms his interest in US super fight after Nakatani: “Yes I’d beat him”

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Naoya Inoue is set for an iconic battle with Junto Nakatani this weekend, in what will be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history. Following that potentially legacy-defining bout, ‘The Monster’ wants another major match-up.

Inoue has ruled in four weight divisions and had been linked with a featherweight debut if successful in defending his undisputed super-bantamweight crown against Nakatani on Saturday.

However, the 32-year-old has revealed that his clash with Nakatani will be his penultimate one at 122lbs, with plans to stick around for one more fight in the division despite appearing to have cleaned it out.

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As a result, rumours have emerged that Inoue could take on unified super-flyweight champion and fellow pound-for-pound star, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez – who debuts as a bantamweight against Antonio Vargas in June – before moving to featherweight and out of the Texan’s reach.

In a game of ‘yes or no’ with DAZN Boxing, Inoue confirmed his interest in a showdown with Rodriguez and confidently forecasted that he would come out on top against the undefeated 26-year-old southpaw.

“Yes, [I would love to fight Jesse Rodriguez].”

“[Would I beat him?] Yes.”

Rodriguez will become a three-division champion if able to trump Vargas on Saturday, June 13, but he would usurp Inoue as the pound-for-pound king if he were to hand the Japanese sensation a first career defeat – providing Nakatani doesn’t do it this coming Saturday at the Tokyo Dome.

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‘Bam’ Rodriguez has also expressed his interest in the fight, saying he would take it without hesitation should it present itself. With boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh close to both men, it might just.

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Steelers sign explosive Missouri linebacker

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This article originally appeared on SteelersNOW.com.

The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to terms with undrafted free agent linebacker Daylan Carnell, the team announced on Monday.

Carnell, who stands at 6-foot-2, 233 pounds, recorded 175 career tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 22 passes defended, five interceptions, four forced fumbles and three sacks in his five seasons at Missouri. Carnell played a hybrid safety/linebacker role in Missouri’s defense the last three years. He also returned two interceptions for touchdowns in his career.

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In 2025, Carnell made 12 starts and played in all 13 games. He posted 41 tackles (22 solo) with 6.5 for loss … Picked off one pass and batted four others down. The Indianapolis native was a three-year starter at Missouri.

Carnell’s best season came in 2023, when he registered 51 tackles, six tackles for loss, seven pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and a pick six.

Click here to read more from SteelersNOW.com.

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Penguins fend off elimination again with Game 5 win over Flyers

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PITTSBURGH — Connor Dewar, Kris Letang and Elmer Soderblom scored and the Pittsburgh Penguins avoided elimination for the second time in 48 hours with a 3-2 win over Philadelphia in Game 5 of their first-round series on Monday night.

Sidney Crosby shook off a shot to his left knee to add two assists for the Penguins, who cut the Flyers lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.

Game 6 is Wednesday in Philadelphia, where the pressure will be on the Flyers to avoid putting themselves in danger of becoming just the fifth team in NHL history to blow a series after winning the first three games.

Alex Bump scored his first goal of the playoffs for Philadelphia, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie it on Travis Sanheim’s second goal of the series 15:06 into the second.

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Crosby, who limped to the bench and then to the training room for treatment minutes earlier after a blast from the point by teammate Ryan Shea appeared to hit the top of his left knee, helped put the Penguins back in front just over two minutes later when he fed the puck to Letang at the top of the Philadelphia zone.

Letang sent a shot toward Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar that sailed wide of the net before bouncing back toward Vladar. The puck smacked off Vladar’s left pad, then his right and across the goal line to give Pittsburgh the lead for good.

After four games of mostly low-event hockey, Game 5 started with a frantic pace, a style that favors the Penguins, who finished as the NHL’s third-highest-scoring team during the regular season.

That offense went largely missing while Pittsburgh fell into a 3-0 hole. Pushed to the brink, it has returned with a flourish, and this time it wasn’t just Crosby, Letang and Evgeni Malkin shouldering the burden.

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Soderblom scored on Pittsburgh’s first shot, taking a pass from Anthony Mantha originally intended for Ben Kindel and banging it home from the slot to give the Penguins the lead just 2:45 into the game. Dewar doubled it 3:17 into the second when his shot from the left circle rifled over Vladar’s right shoulder.

Bump needed just 12 seconds to cut the deficit to one when he bore in on Arturs Silovs and jammed it by the goaltender. Sanheim’s shot from the left circle, one that deflected off Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson, drew the Flyers even, but only briefly.

There was little space in the third period, with the Penguins clogging up shooting lanes to send the series back to the eastern side of the state.

Pittsburgh will take the ice on Wednesday, having all the momentum after two games in which they looked like the resilient, resourceful group that was among the NHL’s biggest surprises.

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The Flyers and their late playoff surge were one of the others, though Philadelphia and its young core will have the difficult task of finishing off a more experienced group with Hall of Famers scattered across the roster.

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Seth Rollins blames 28-year-old star for not headlining WrestleMania 42 this year

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Seth Rollins came out in the opening segment of Monday Night RAW and had quite the intense segment, with a huge match finally being set (but not made official yet). He blamed a 28-year-old star for not headlining WrestleMania this year.

Technically speaking, Seth Rollins has headlined WrestleMania thrice. However, he has only had two proper WrestleMania main events – headlining the Saturday editions of WrestleMania 40 and 41. Last year, he was victorious in the main event of night one as he defeated both Roman Reigns and CM Punk, which is where the entire Vision storyline began. However, his alliance with Paul Heyman didn’t quite work out, and his World Heavyweight Championship reign ended with The Vision brutalizing him. And as it looked like he returned on time and would have been ready to face Bron Breakker, he ended up facing Gunther instead at WrestleMania 42. Las Vegas was where Bron Breakker made his comeback, and he cost Seth Rollins big time.

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Seth Rollins told Bron Breakker that he was the reason he didn’t headline WrestleMania 42 this year.

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The entire segment was made to set the stage for the clash between Rollins and Bron Breakker. Breakker didn’t exactly sit silently as well. He completely roasted Rollins, telling him that he was the best at being second-best.

That’s a huge shot because Rollins has infamously been in that #2 spot in the company for quite a long time, never quite reaching the level of Roman Reigns despite having a fantastic record against The OTC in head-to-head competition. It’s one of those paradoxes that will be looked back on because Rollins has almost always had Reigns’ number, especially in big matches where it has mattered the most, but he could never quite reach the same heights that his Shield brother did.