Will Vikings Be Cautious in Drafting This Player?

Great players sometimes fall below their draft grades in the NFL draft. Sometimes, it's with good reason.

One player who could just as easily fall be drafted in the Top 10 as fall to the Vikings at No. 18 is Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Jordan Tyson. Yet, while the move would certainly excite Vikings fans to add a star wide receiver to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, one writer says the Vikings might should think twice about making that move.

Austen Bundy of Fansided shares that Minnesota should not risk drafting the Arizona State receiver. Bundy wrote the following on that contention.

"With the departure of Jalin Nailor in free agency and the premature passing of Rondale Moore, the Vikings are in need of a WR3. Jordan Addison is on the final year of his rookie contract and could get a huge pay day in free agency if Minnesota can't afford his services. All of those circumstances make selecting a wide receiver in the first round very tempting, especially if top prospects Carnell Tate (Ohio State) and Makai Lemon (USC) are taken in the Top 15.

Minnesota should hold steady and address a different need at No. 18 rather than panic and take Jordyn Tyson. The Arizona State product is considered a first-round talent and probably will be selected in the first 32 picks. That being said, he suffered a staggering number of injuries in college including a torn ACL, MCL, PCL and a pulled hamstring. His numbers despite those are incredibly impressive but should Minnesota use its first-round selection on a guy who poses the risk of reaggravating any of those ailments?"

It is true that drafting players with injury history poses a threat to both the Vikings' immediate and long-term prospects. A player like Tyson, who has seemingly injured every cruciate ligament in his knee, does carry some of that risk himself. That said, it's also fair to look at the prospect he is right now in analyzing how he will fit in Minnesota.

Can he still play? Perhaps that's the first question teams will ask in evaluating the star receiver. But the next question teams might ask is, how badly do we need him? On that front, Minnesota might not be as eager to go and select the star player.

The Vikings have a good receiving corps with great No. 1 and No. 2 options in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. And while they have questions about their third option, they could just as easily address it with a free agent like DeAndre Hopkins who has made his interest in the Vikings well known.

The divide between admiration for Tyson and how badly the team needs him might be more about what the Vikings need to replace on defense. Ultimately, that might be the reason they opt to look elsewhere. Nevertheless, Tyson is still a player we can't rule out for Minnesota at pick No. 18.