Zone Coverage: Absent QB, Should the Vikings Prioritize CB Or Edge In the Draft?
Over at Zone Coverage, I explored the debate between cornerback and edge rusher for the Vikings' first pick in the NFL draft.
I hope to regularly update newsletter subscribers of my freelance work. I currently publish weekly with Zone Coverage. This week’s piece is on prioritizing the NFL draft. Assuming the Vikings don’t pursue a quarterback in the draft, what position should they prioritize?
A survey of mock drafts thus far – there is no meaningful consensus big board yet – tells us this may be what’s happening. At GrindingTheMocks, an average of three edge rushers get selected before the first cornerback. The consensus mock draft at the NFLMockDraftDatabase has two edge rushers go before the first cornerback, with the third shortly after.
But mock drafts aren’t really the same as a measure of pure talent, even in the aggregate. Checking big boards from big media organizations reveals a bit of a split – about 40% of them rank their top cornerback above their top edge rusher.
There has been a slight bias for edge rushers in mock drafts over their board position. That’s not a bad thing; it reveals that draft analysts believe the NFL prioritizes the edge position more than cornerback. That’s certainly the case with more extreme examples, like at quarterback.
In the abstract, does that assumption hold up?
FYI, I think your bio needs updating on zonecoverage. No mention of this Substack from what I can see.
CB