NFL analyst's mock draft predicts Minnesota Vikings make major trade

The Minnesota Vikings have already made one major trade, acquiring the 23rd overall pick from the Houston Texans in the NFL Draft. But they could be preparing to make another huge deal.

ESPN’s Field Yates has the Vikings trading up in his latest mock draft, sending picks No. 11 and 23 as well as a 2025 first-rounder to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for the fifth overall selection.

Yates then has Minnesota selecting University of Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the pick.

The Vikings lost Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency, so they obviously have a significant hole under center. They signed Sam Darnold, but he is nothing more than a backup or potentially a bridge starter at this stage of his career.

That Minnesota even acquired the 23rd pick from the Texans is a sign that they are considering putting together a package to move up in the draft to take a signal-caller.

McCarthy has been moving up many draft boards, and some even feel that the New England Patriots will take him with the third overall pick.

The general consensus is that USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels are the top three quarterbacks in this draft class, but we have seen the order of quarterbacks get shuffled before, like in 2018 when Baker Mayfield ended up getting taken No. 1 overall.

McCarthy just won a national title at Michigan and is coming off of a season in which he threw for 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 72.3 percent of his passes.

He has even drawn some comparisons to Cousins.

McCarthy has physical limitations, but his intangibles are what is causing many to state that he could be one of the first quarterbacks off the board later this month.

We’ll see if the Vikings pull the trigger on a trade and take McCarthy.