ESPN 2025 NFL Mock Draft Picks Minnesota Vikings an All-American Defensive Star

The consensus pick for the Minnesota Vikings in mock drafts leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft was J.J. McCarthy. While the 2025 NFL Draft is nearly a year away, there are already analysts who see the Vikings landing one of McCarthy’s former teammates and one of the best players in college football.

Expectations aren’t super high for Minnesota in 2024, with many viewing the upcoming season as a growth year. Many were hopeful for McCarthy to become the Vikings starting back quickly, but season-ending surgery means that Sam Darnold will be the guy this fall.

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While it certainly doesn’t spell doom for Minnesota’s season, it does lower the team’s upside. McCarthy showcased this summer that he might’ve already been the best quarterback on the Vikings roster. Instead, head coach Kevin O’Connell will have to put the offense in Darnold’s hands.

It certainly increases the odds of Minnesota having one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL Draft order. If that happens, a recent ESPN NFL mock draft might have forecasted who could join the Vikings defense next year.

Related: NFL defense rankings 2024, see where Minnesota Vikings land

In his first 2025 NFL mock draft, ESPN ‘s Field Yates has Minnesota landing the 7th overall pick and selecting Michigan Wolverines defensive tackle Mason Graham.

“While Michigan does not have the sheer depth of draftable talent that it did last year, its star power at the top looks better on paper entering this season. There are plenty of ways to describe Graham, but the best would be “play wrecker,” as he lives in opposing backfields with ridiculous explosion and quickness off the snap. He reminds me a bit of Rams 2024 second-round pick Braden Fiske but with more length and younger at just 20 years old (Fiske was 23 entering his final college season). In his first year as a starter last season, Graham had three sacks and was third on the team in tackles per game (3.2).”

Field Yates on projected Minnesota Vikings draft pick Mason Graham ( ESPN )

Background on Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham

Mason Graham, age 20, joined the Wolverines in 2022. Rated as a four-star recruit by 247 Sports as the 209th-best prospect in the country at the time, Graham has emerged as one of the best players in college football.

Related: Minnesota Vikings draft picks 2025, Vikings future draft picks

The 6-foot-3 defensive lineman stood out immediately, earning freshman All-American honors in 2022. As a sophomore starter on one of the best defenses in college football , Graham broke out. The 320-pound defensive tackle earned second-team All-American honors and was named the Rose Bowl Defensive MVP on the way to winning a national championship.

• Mason Graham stats ( ESPN ): 23 solo tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble

Among FBS defensive tackles, Graham finished the 2023 campaign with the 20th-most pressures (29), the seventh-most quarterback hits (seven) and the third-highest pass-rush win rate (16.4 percent), per Pro Football Focus .

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In preliminary 2025 NFL Draft rankings, PFF rated Graham as the best draft-eligible player in college football. Meanwhile, Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports has Graham as the fifth-best prospect and Dane Brugler of The Athletic evaluated him as the fourth-best player in the class.

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