Draft season is coming to a head with Vikings Top 30 visits this week and evaluations being finalized, and the Minnesota Vikings are doing it with the 2026 NFL Draft only 16 days away. Expected to sit at 18th overall in the first round, the club is sorting through a mock draft board that keeps shifting at safety and along the defensive front.
Dillon Thieneman has been the most popular name in the latest version of the tracker, appearing in 14 out of 25 mock draft submissions. He backed up that buzz at the combine with a 4.35-second 40-yard dash and a 41-inch vertical jump, numbers that fit the kind of range and burst teams want from a back-end defender. Jermod McCoy also remains in the mix after a Pro Day workout that reportedly put his 40-yard dash in the 4.37-4.41 range, even though he did not play in 2025 because of an ACL injury. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren was projected by three mock drafters for Minnesota, and he was described as a long, dynamic player.
The board has also produced a more surprising name in Miami edge Akheem Mesidor, who was mentioned as a possible Round 1 choice for Minnesota for the first time among more than 50 prognosticators featured by the Vikings. That kind of movement matters this late in the process because the team is not just weighing talent; it is trying to map out a future that may be changing in real time at safety. Harrison Smith, the six-time Pro Bowler who has played 14 seasons, has not decided whether he will return for Year 15 or retire, and that uncertainty hangs over every projection that links Minnesota to a young defensive back.
The tracker is still just that, a tracker, not a draft result, but it is starting to look like a referendum on the post-Smith future. Thieneman has been viewed as a possible heir to Smith at safety, and the timing of the visits gives Minnesota a narrow window to decide whether it wants to chase immediate help, long-term replacement value, or both before the first round opens in 16 days. The Miller Lite Vikings Draft Party is back for that opening night, which only adds to the sense that this part of the calendar is moving fast and the answers are almost here.
"The Hitman"
"It's totally wild to realize the 2026 event gets underway in 16 days. Where has the time gone?!"