As one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s class, Jayden Daniels remains busy with respect to in-person meetings with potential NFL destinations. That process will see him take part in a private visit with the Vikings. 
Minnesota has lined up a second summit with the reigning Heisman winner, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. Daniels had already booked a ‘top 30’ visit with the Vikings, and it comes as no surprise the team is taking an extended look in this case. Minnesota has frequently been linked to a trade moving the team up the order from 11th overall into the top five.
In the event that were to take place, Daniels may very well be the target. Plenty of intrigue exists at the top of the board with the draft drawing nearer, as only Caleb Williams-Bears connections with the No. 1 pick are believed to be certain. After Williams (presumably) hears his name called first on Day 1, Daniels (who is also set to visit Washington) is one of the top candidates to be selected second overall by the Commanders. Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy join him in that regard.
Daniels threw at LSU’s Pro Day, after he declined to take part in testing or measurements at the NFL Combine. As a result, it would come as little surprise if the Vikings preferred to have him take part in a workout when making his return to Minnesota. The team has not sent large contingents to many Pro Days this offseason, instead opting for private visits. Daniels’ frame has been the only main criticism he has faced so far, as detailed by Adam Caplan of Pro Football Network. Compliments based on his processing and ability to make throws while on the move has helped his stock’s notable rise during the build-up to the draft.
After watching Kirk Cousins depart in free agency, Minnesota signed Sam Darnold on a one-year deal. The Vikings have nevertheless been named as a team to watch regarding a long-term investment under center, and the acquisition of a second Day 1 pick (No. 23, from the Texans) has given them the capital to move up the board. Daniels is firmly on Minnesota’s radar as general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Co. contemplate an aggressive QB addition later this month.
They should trade Justin and 23rd pick to the Cards for the 4th pick. Cards have the money for Justin’s new contract and Minny would still have an extra 1st.
Monti Ossenfort would be willing to personally bring Jefferson to Arizona by piggyback ride if you offered that.
May as well use the two 1st round picks and JJ to get their QB of now and the future. I’m not sure what the exact price would be for the 4th, but the cards definitely need WR1.
Oh I think Arizona would love to get arguably the best receiver in football and then still have two first round picks. I just think there’s no chance Minnesota would do that. With a QB on a rookie deal, they can easily afford to keep their superstar and even if they spend a lot of draft capital to acquire QB 3 or 4 in this draft, they’ll have an absolute ton of cap space after next season.
I agree Arizona needs a WR1, but I kind of assume they’ll only trade out of #4 if they either only move down slightly (like 6 to the Giants) or can do what they did last year and trade back into the top 10 to land one of Harrison, Nabers, or Odunze. Very handy for them that this draft has three elite receiver prospects and QBs are going to get pushed up the board.
Vikes said they were going to re-up Diggs then traded him. Now they are delaying Justin, for some reason.
For me, if I could trade a top 5 WR (everyone has different opinions/rankings, but he’s a stud) for my hand picked QB, I’d do it. QB is and always will be more valuable. The only top 5 team not open to a trade are the Bears. DC, Pats, Cards, & Chargers all could use a legit #1 and a 1st round pick this year.
But I would rather trade draft picks to land a QB than a bonafide superstar young WR. I don’t think the Diggs situation particularly bears on this one, especially because Minnesota doesn’t have Cousins and a bunch of other expensive veteran talent forcing them into tough decisions. They have the draft capital to move up. And again, it’s a great year to need a WR in the top few picks of the draft.
Sure, because draft picks aren’t predictable. Look at what happened last year w/ the 1st pick vs 2nd pick.
From what I have read, Vikings ownership is demanding a highly touted QB. To get that done for the GM, JJ has to be in play along w/ an additional 1st.
I think Jefferson is worth well more than a first. Trading Jefferson plus another first to get someone like McCarthy seems bananas, even by the standards of QB trade-ups. If Minnesota is only moving up to 4 or 5, I would think a package based around 11 and 23 with maybe some future picks added should be enough to get it done. Especially in the Chargers case. Between Harbaugh taking over, their cap situation, and bringing in a GM from Baltimore, it sure seems like they’d be interested in accumulating more picks to revamp that roster in their image.
You’re right. But the problem is ownership. Your boss demands one of the top 3-4 QB’s, you gotta pull the trigger.
I also agree that McCarthy isn’t worth 2 first round picks, but it looks like they’re going to use them on him. May as well use one 1st and Justin for a top 3 QB. However they are ranked by management/ownership.
I get what you’re saying. I just don’t think Jefferson is a price they would pay and I don’t think they’ll need to. Two first rounders this year to move up is a lot of ammo.
And I agree w/ you, Justin not going anywhere. But Minny will end up trading 2 firsts for a Cosuins’eque QB. He’ll just be younger & cheaper for a few years.
I see the value in trading Jefferson, but I’d agree that he’s worth a monumental trade package. Minnesota could probably get the 4and possibly another first from Arizona for him if they wanted to (another team lower would almost certainly give more than that). The Vikings are on the tip of a rebuild, so if they dashed their plans (not immensely likely this close to the draft, but could be a surprise waiting), they could go that way. After all, most of their vets, Harrison Smith notwithstanding, are gone now.
However, I think Jefferson is worth more than any of these QBs. Even if you do think that the QB is worth more, they’re still all projection at this point. Jefferson is a proven NFL talent, and not just as a starter, but as the rare elite WR who makes QBs better. Jefferson, in my mind, should have been MVP two years ago. He makes impossible-truly impossible-catches routinely, or at least he did with a good QB putting the ball in decent places. Continuing that trend for the Vikings should be tempting. I don’t think that Daniels is that level prospect, and I don’t think any of the others, most of whom I think are better, are on that level of generational talent.
If the Vikings want to move on from Jefferson, they should target a franchise altering type of haul, instead of just aiming to move up for the second or third QB to come off the board.
I have concerns about Daniels, but I’d feel better about him in Minnesota than Washington. O’Connell would actually have a plan to work with his skillset and put him in a position to succeed. If Kingsbury shows as much acumen as he did with Murray in Arizona, I think Daniels would be up a creek without a paddle.
I agree. Washington’s rebuild may go well, and O’Connell has a chance to show his offensive scheming prowess can adapt to a new player, but the roster talent is a bit better in Minnesota. Really, this comes down to two players, in Jefferson and Darrisaw. Washington has made some good signings along its o-line, but we’ve seen that these players for Minnesota have produced in the past. As of now, it’s a more stable situation for a QB to walk into.
Absolutely. I think *both* of Minnesota’s tackles are notably better. Plus, people keep tying Washington to running QBs because of Kingsbury, but Kingsbury didn’t actually do strong work with Murray or Williams. Given that he’s an air raid guy and Maye ran an air raid offense last year, I don’t quite get why that doesn’t make more sense.
Eh, it’s just an easy projection I suppose. I think that people see “Murray” next to Kingsbury and just assume. Kingsbury rarely designed runs for Murray, and let him scramble on open plays when he couldn’t find good completions (which happened often, leading to a lot of scrambles). That’s what it mire dangerous, in a way, and led to other completions later because of the fear of scrambling…at least, when it was working, which it obviously didn’t always.
People wonder how an offense produces so many yards and yet struggles so much in the endzone-well, Murray could produce yards, but he didn’t do well when the field wasn’t so open and coverage tightened. Kingsbury I think would actually prefer a quarterback who can play more decisively from the pocket and make tighter throws and better reads. Murray wasn’t doing that very well. That studying controversy was probably tied to that frustration.
In Daniels’ case, he is not strong on the deep ball, but apparently processes better than Murray did coming out of college. If anything, it should be that connecting him to Kingsbury, not the scrambling ability, which is probably an added plus. Any quarterback running Kingsbury’s system should be able to find some rushing yards underneath at some point, especially given how expected it is of any QB today to at least be an average scrambler.
That’s a lot more than I meant to write, but I agree, sorry about that. I think that Murray frustrated Kingsbury by not being to run his reads correctly, and if anything, Kingsbury would want a quarterback who could do that differently. Granted, I also don’t take it as a given that Kingsbury is a genius by default, either. The other thing to consider here is that Murray and Kingsbury knew each other well, and that still didn’t help. A lot of that is Murray’s fault, as I alluded to above, but it does offer questions about Kingsbury, too.
I always got the sense that Murray *had* to scramble, because Kingsbury’s predictable offense wasn’t creating good looks for him, so Murray had to go create on his own. Williams took a step back under Kingsbury. I really think he was a quizzical hire by Washington.
Fair points.
Leave it to we’ll always miss on 1st round QB’s Minnesota..
REMEMBER:
How the ORIGINAL Cleveland Browns traded Paul Warfield to Miami for the #3 Draft Choice which was used to draft Mike Phipps. That FLOPPED.
Many factors enter into conversations involving JJ and his future.
His mere presence makes ANY Quarterback better.
How much $$ will it take to keep him happy?
What is the impact of that commitment to the rest of the roster?
Will he be accepting of having a rookie QB and or Sam Darnold throwing to him?
What is the cost to move up?
What can be gained by moving down?
Just which 2024 draft QB does the organization LIKE?
One of the Big Three?
One of the next three = McCarthy, Penix, Nix?
Another “Under the Radar” QB available later?
What is the organization’s opinion on Jaren Hall?
Time Will Tell….