General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Minnesota Vikings took an aggressive approach to their latest draft class, trading up twice in the first round to land quarterback J.J. McCarthy and EDGE Dallas Turner.
That strategy will likely change in 2025, as the Vikings are currently projected to have four total selections in this April’s draft. They’ll have a late first-round pick, two fifth-round selections, and a projected third-round compensatory pick for Kirk Cousins leaving for Atlanta in free agency.
With limited future draft capital — the team has already dipped into 2026 via midseason trades for Cam Akers and Cam Robinson — the Vikings will most likely be standing pat on Day 1, or looking to recoup another Day 2 pick by trading back.
With that in mind, Minnesota could be a landing spot for an elite prospect that slips towards the end of the first round of April’s NFL Draft. Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News predicts that player will be Shavon Revel Jr., a cornerback coming off a season-ending knee injury suffered during a September practice while at East Carolina.
Here’s Iyer’s take on Revel’s potential fit with the Vikings:
The Vikings have been also struggling against wide receivers all season long and should think corner above all else. Revel’s size and strength outside will be a good asset for their established attack scheme under DC Brian Flores.
It remains to be seen how far Revel will fall in April’s first round coming off ACL surgery in October. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reported that Revel expects to be medically cleared before April’s draft. Prior to the injury, he was expected not only to be one of the top cornerbacks selected, but one of the top defensive players, period.
Kyle Crabbs of the 33rd Team compared Revel’s athletic profile to Richard Sherman: “This is an uber-physical cornerback who dictates terms in every phase of the position — be that as a run support player on the edge, a tackler at the catch point in rally opportunities to the football, or playing press coverage or at the catch point,” Crabbs wrote. “Revel Jr. has the length, transitional quickness, and long-speed blend to be an alpha cornerback at the NFL level.”
Flores loves long, physical corners, and the 6-foot-3 Revel certainly fits the mold. He would also fill a major future need, as the Vikings still have decisions to make on impending free agents Byron Murphy Jr., Shaq Griffin and Stephon Gilmore.
Gilmore could be the odd man out, as he’ll turn 35 next September. Replacing him with a potential franchise boundary corner could be the win Adofo-Mensah needs given his questionable draft history since taking over in 2022.