The NFL draft is less than a week away now, and the Vikings, from top to bottom, look a lot deeper than they did at the beginning of free agency after signing a slew of players in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave fill the immediate need the Vikings had on the defensive interior, and those two, plus Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel returning at edge rusher, complete one of the most formidable defensive lines in the league right now.

On the offensive line, signing Ryan Kelly at center and Will Fries at right guard means that the Vikings could move on from the offensive line for the offseason. Other signings, such as bringing back Byron Murphy and Harrison Smith in the secondary, signing Isaiah Rogers at cornerback, and trading for Jordan Mason at running back means that the Vikings do not have immediate needs there.

That being said, in the long term, there are some positions that the Vikings should be targeting in the first two days of the draft. Allen and Hargrave are both over 30 and aren’t long-term solutions on the defensive line, while the cornerback and safety rooms are looking thin past the starters. Aaron Jones is also over 30 at running back, while Blake Brandel seems to be the weak link on the offensive line at left guard and will have to be addressed sooner or later.

The Vikings’ first draft pick this year is at 24th overall, which makes it hard to predict which prospects may be available so late in the first. However, there are a few players that stand out to me as strong considerations to pick in that spot. In all likelihood, the Vikings will look to trade down to acquire more draft capital, as they only hold the rights to four draft selections in this year’s draft. However, if they were to stay at 24 and pick, I have a few favorites to pick out from the selection.

My pie-in-the-sky dream prospect for the Vikings would be Michigan’s Kenneth Grant. The 340-pound defensive tackle ran a 5.07 40-yard dash on his pro day, which is incredible speed for his weight. Is a natural at using leverage to his advantage, has a quick first-step and strong pass rushing chops for an interior player, making him a mismatch for guards to pass block for. He may be the only player in this draft that I would be upset with the Vikings for trading out of to get more picks, but he seems unlikely to be there in the late first. Still, prospects fall in every draft, and if Grant is there for the Vikings, I would be thrilled with the pick.

In the next tier for me are players I would still be happy with if they picked them at 24, but wouldn’t be upset of they decided to trade down instead. Georgia safety Malaki Starks and Alabama guard Tyler Booker fall into this category. Starks is a heady coverage safety that would be more or less a one-for-one replacement for Cam Bynum, who departed in free agency. While Starks won’t be playing in the box like Smith or Josh Metellus very often and doesn’t trigger downhill as well as I would like, he would still be a useful tool for Brian Flores, as he is comfortable in quarters coverage and man schemes, allowing the Vikings to continue to mix up coverages on defense. Booker, on the other hand, is a powerful and technical guard that could make the Vikings one of the top offensive line units in the league. My only holdback on him is he appears to get lost at times when climbing to the second level in run blocks, missing his man and getting confused in space. This would be a problem for the Vikings, who love to use their linemen in this way in their inside zone run scheme.

The next category of players are ones I would look to target if the Vikings trade back into the late first or early second. These players for me are Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori and East Carolina’s Shavon Revel. Harmon has a lot of the tools that Grant has, but is less refined in his pass rush moves has problems with his consistency, getting washed out in run plays or caught with his hands up during a swim move. Emmanwori is an athletic freak who covers well, but for such an explosive athlete, his change of direction and ability to attack downhill were missing on the tape. He also occasionally overestimates his speed and gets burned by faster players, which is a big no-no for safeties.

Shavon Revel may be my favorite value in the draft, as while he did not go to a power five school, his technique when backpedaling and ability to bully receivers at the line of scrimmage stood out to me as something that could translate not matter the level of competition. He also stands at 6-2 and ran a 4.40 40-yard dash, giving Minnesota size and speed that they don’t quite have at corner right now.

Some prospects I would not be happy with in these scenarios include Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts and North Dakota State offensive tackle Grey Zabel. Watts lacks the athleticism of Emmanwori and the brain and flexibility of Starks while sharing their lack of prowess triggering downhill, all while missing more tackles than both of them. Zabel will likely be moved to guard at the next level due to his size, which is all well and good because he will have to completely relearn his footwork from scratch, meaning he offers little to no value for the Vikings in year one.

The NFL draft is always one of my favorite parts of the sports calendar, and I’m excited to see who the Vikings will add to an already intriguing roster.

EXTRA HOT TAKE

This one is not related to the Vikings, but I don’t think Jaxon Dart is going to be an NFL quarterback. The Ole Miss system is famously easy on the quarterback, and Dart’s production benefited immensely from it. For every highlight play, there’s another of him not being able to progress beyond the first read and panicking. Dart’s arm talent is slightly above average, and his mobility offers him a higher floor than most quarterbacks, but those advantages are far more impactful at the college level than they are at the pro level. Everyone is bigger, faster and stronger in the NFL, and the reads become far more complex. Dart was not set up to make reads at Ole Miss, and I project that he will struggle to make them at the highest level of competition.