When the first round of the NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday, one team that you're definitely going to want to keep an eye on is the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings could end up creating some major drama at the top of the first round and that's because it's become pretty clear that they're going to try and trade up for a quarterback, but no one seems to know for sure who Minnesota is actually targeting.
For most of the past month, the Vikings have been connected to J.J. McCarthy, but apparently, Minnesota might not actually be interested in drafting the former Michigan quarterback. According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, the Vikings seem to have their eyes set on someone else: Drake Maye.
"There is a growing consensus among NFL teams that McCarthy is not the primary target in a potential trade-up for the Vikings. Instead, it's believed Minnesota's top target is Maye," Robinson writes.
The Athletic has also reported that the Vikings are interested in trading for Maye and NFL Media's Peter Schrager has also heard the Vikings are targeting Maye, so this could certainly be a "where there's smoke, there's fire" situation.
Of course, even if the Vikings want Maye, there's no guarantee they'll be able to get him. Minnesota would likely have to make a blockbuster trade up to No. 3 overall and the Patriots are only interested in making a deal if someone blows them away with an offer. The Vikings could make Justin Jefferson available in the trade, but they've given no indication that they'd be willing to do that.
If the Vikings can't get Maye, it seems that McCarthy isn't even their fallback option. According to Robinson, the Vikings' ideal scenario is to trade up to three and get the North Carolina QB, but if they can't make that deal happen, the team would be perfectly content to move on to their contingency plan at quarterback: Bo Nix.
"A very well-connected league source told Yahoo Sports they firmly believe that if the Patriots take Maye, the Vikings are comfortable standing down in trade talks and using one of their two first-round picks -- either No. 11 or No. 23 -- to select Oregon quarterback Bo Nix," Robinson writes. "It's worth noting here that Nix had a private workout for the Vikings earlier this month."
The one huge upside that Nix would be bringing to the NFL is that he's accurate. The former Oregon quarterback led all FBS passers in completion percentage last season and that accuracy would likely make him a solid fit in the offensive system that's run by Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell. Also, Nix thrived in play-action situations at Oregon and the no one in the NFL loves running play-action more than the Vikings, so the fit could make a lot of sense.
If you're scoring at home, this means the Vikings will try to make a trade for Maye, but if they can't make that happen, then they'll sit tight and let Nix fall to them in the draft. On the other hand, it's also possible that this is all a giant smokescreen and that the Vikings do want McCarthy, but they're trying to throw everyone off their scent. The draft is confusing. The good news is that we won't have to wait long to find out the Vikings' plans because the draft kicks off in just one day.
