Vikings Pull Down Trashy Draft Class Ranking

Were you impressed and excited by the Minnesota Vikings’ draft haul? If so, some portions of national media didn’t share the enthusiasm. The Athletic ranked all the NFL’s draft classes on Monday, and sadly, Minnesota checked in at No. 29 — also known as fourth worst.

Minnesota made a calculated bet on upside, and the final verdict needs real football.

When it comes to the draft, the Vikings just can’t seem to win.

Banks Can Become the Saving Grade

It’s another lousy draft verdict for you-know-who.

The Athletic: Vikings at No. 29 for Draft Haul

According to The Beast author Dane Brugler, only the Los Angeles Rams (No. 30), Denver Broncos (No. 31), and Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 32) produced worse draft classes than the Vikings.

But when Bruger explained the placement on his list, he had nothing bad to say about Minnesota: “Favorite pick: Jake Golday, LB, Cincinnati. This is true for most prospects, but Golday’s landing spot was going to be pivotal for his rookie-year success. Drop his rangy athleticism into a Brian Flores-led defense, and he’ll have a chance to make an immediate impact.”

“Day 3 pick who could surprise: Charles Demmings, CB, Stephen F. Austin. Aside from Demmings always being a great quote, he leaves everything he has on the field. With his cover athleticism and mental toughness, Demmings was a worthy bet in the fifth round, and he landed with a team that needed cornerback depth.”

He just thought 28 teams drafted better players — evidently.

No Real Reasoning for the Poor Assessment

The strange part? In addition to Brugler provided no context for why he deemed the Vikings’ draft class a poor haul, the team didn’t have a reduced allotment of picks. For example, Minnesota left the 2025 NFL Draft with just five players due to the expensive Dallas Turner trade in 2024. Ranking near the bottom of draft-grade lists made sense.

This time, it does not. The Vikings brought home nine players and only notably missed out on a 4th-Rounder, which was offloaded during the Cam Robinson trade of 2024.

Therefore, Brugler apparently didn’t enjoy the Banks selection in Round 1 — or something like that.

Vikings Zagged when NFL World Thought They’d Zig

From late February to late April, the NFL masses thought for certain that Minnesota would draft Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman. Over 90% of mock drafts connected Thieneman to the Vikings, so much so that it felt like a foregone conclusion he would be the pick, although not a single soul within the Vikings organization or those close to it gave credence to the theory.

Then, when draft week arrived, momentum built for Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq, but the New York Jets unexpectedly wiped him off the board before Minnesota could consider him at No. 18.

Meanwhile, the NFL draft community had decided that Banks was a 2nd-Round pick after he broke a bone in his foot at the NFL Combine. He’s a big dude, and big dudes with broken bones in their feet are often non-starters for 1st-Round draft discussions.

The Vikings didn’t care. They drafted Banks at No. 18, rather than getting cute by trading down the board. Some intel later revealed that other teams picking immediately after Minnesota had their eyes on Banks, and that the media-driven draft big board misvalued Banks’s draft stock.

USA Today‘s Jacob Camenker and Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz gave the Banks pick a ‘C’ grade and explained, “It’s easy to see the appeal of Banks, a 6-6, 327-pound interior force with unparalleled explosion off the ball. Yet Banks has been waylaid by multiple foot injuries in the last year, and staying healthy could be a considerable concern.”

“Banks also struggles to finish plays as a tackler once he gets in range of a ball carrier. There’s massive upside here for him to thrive in Brian Flores’ scheme, but this could also go awry if Banks can’t become a consistent performer.”

A Verdict in 3 Years or So

The fun part about draft grades and draft rankings? They’re merely entertainment in the days after the draft. There’s just no way to grade a rookie haul right after the event, and in fact, one should usually wait until a few years down the road to gauge the trajectory of young players. For example, when Minnesota drafted Danielle Hunter in 2015, some of the powers that be of NFL draft coverage called the pick silly. Eleven years later, Hunter is a five-time Pro Bowler.

Draft grades for the 2026 draft class should be distributed during the 2029 offseason at the earliest.