The defensive line is one of the areas of strength for the Vikings, but Pat Williams isn't getting any younger, and depth up front is always welcome. So the Vikings may choose to go in that direction in the upcoming NFL Draft, in which they have the 12th overall pick. Nick Nawrocki's latest mock draft at Yahoo has the Vikings taking Adrian Clayborn, a DL out of Iowa.
The Vikings will take chances on medical risks and hit gold with their last Adrian.
Clayborn is a very good player, but neither of those reasons he provides are very good reasons to take him. Coming into the year, Clayborn was considered a top five pick, but some injuries and inconsistency have caused him to slide down draft boards a little bit.
The other question is how Clayborn would fit into the Vikings system. They run a 4-3 with Kevin and Pat Williams up front, but Clayborn might be more suited to play DE in a 3-4 scheme. He could succeed in some of the packages that the Vikings run, but I'm not sure he is a good fit for their base defense. If there is another prospect on the board who represents good value and could help a position of greater need, I think the Vikings might prefer to go in that direction.