Vikings 2021 mock draft: Pass rush or pass protection early?

Vikings 2021 mock draft: Pass rush or pass protection early?

The Minnesota Vikings are a team that is clearly underachieving in 2020 based on the expectations placed on the shoulders of quarterback Kirk Cousins when he signed two huge contracts with the team.

Cousins’ big contracts have not translated to enough victories over the past three seasons, and the Vikings have a record of 22-18 under Cousins’ watch.

This has led many to believe the Vikings will be in the market for a quarterback early on in the 2021 NFL Draft, but that is far from any sort of guarantee. With a $41 million dead cap hit in 2021, there is no way the Vikings are moving on from Cousins. If they were to use a first-round pick on the quarterback position in 2021, they don’t have a second-round pick to supplement that investment, which wouldn’t yield any dividends until 2022 at the earliest, barring injury.

With that in mind, the Vikings really do need instant impact out of their first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft unless they have such a different opinion of Cousins than they did eight months ago.

What direction will the Vikings go early on in the 2021 NFL Draft? Right now, their top needs are on defense (all three levels could use attention) and at the left tackle position, depending on what they want to do with Ezra Cleveland potentially finding a home at right gaurd and Riley Reiff’s contract expiring.

Here is a three-round 2021 mock draft for the Vikings hitting on their biggest current needs.