Vikings picked Mel Kipers 62nd-ranked player with the 18th pick in the NFL Draf

Every draft board is different. In this case, the clearly had a very different draft board from the one put together by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. Kiper had Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks ranked as his No. 62 player in this draft cla s. The Vikings took Banks with the 18th overall pick during Thursday night's first round. 2026 NFL DRAFT HQ: | | Yeah, that's a bit of a difference. "Big-time reach for me," . "Banks was No. 62 on my board, the biggest stretch of the night. Sure, there's reason to believe this could work out for the Vikings. Banks can stop running backs in their tracks, and he gets enough interior push to be a factor in the pa s rush. He moves well for a 6-foot-6, 327-pounder. But he has been dealing with afoot injuryfor a while now, and he just had surgery on it Andre Ethier Jersey after the combine. A lot of risk here, even if Banks healthy and at his best can shore up the interior." Making matters worse is that two great safeties, Dillon Thieneman and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, were still on the board. BEST DRAFT NAMES: | | | The Vikings will need an heir to Harrison Smith, and many thought they'd go safety with this pick. Instead, they reached on Banks. "This was made worse by the fact that safetyDillon Thienemanwas still on the board," Kiper writes. "Everyone thought that pairing made sense.Harrison Smithis still uncertain to return for 2026, and even if he comes back, he's 37 years old. Thieneman would have been perfect in Brian Flores' defense. Not sure I understand this one." Banks will have to prove some doubters wrong. Football players love that kind of motivation, though, so don't be surprised if Banks is paying attention and uses it as fuel. More NFL Draft news: Rickey Henderson Jersey

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