{"id":81777,"date":"2024-01-18T03:09:46","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T03:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=81777"},"modified":"2024-01-18T03:09:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T03:09:46","slug":"vikings-projected-to-draft-conference-defensive-player-of-the-year-in-1st-round-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/vikings-projected-to-draft-conference-defensive-player-of-the-year-in-1st-round-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Projected to Draft Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1st Round"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Who will the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0select with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 draft?<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1626443469-1-e1705509229804.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That is right behind their\u00a0decision at quarterback\u00a0as the biggest question facing the front office this offseason. In many ways, the two\u00a0decisions are intertwined, which makes the latest draft projection from The Athletic\u2019s Dane Brugler stand out.<\/p>\n<p>Brugler has the Vikings passing on taking a quarterback not once, but twice in favor of building up their defensive line, perhaps to the delight of Defensive Coordinator\u00a0Brian Flores.<\/p>\n<p>First, with UCLA edge rusher\u00a0Laiatu Latu\u00a0at No. 12 overall. A former Washington Cougar, Latu logged 13.0 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss this past season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver his two seasons at UCLA, Latu accounted for 34 tackles for loss, 23.5 sacks and five forced fumbles,\u201d\u00a0Brugler wrote\u00a0on January 16. \u201cHe has first-step quickness and bend, but his crafty handwork and ability to diversify his attack separate him as a pass rusher.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Pac12FB?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#Pac12FB<\/a> Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year: Laiatu Latu \ud83d\udc3b<\/p>\n<p>Full release \u27a1\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JVxMbkAkMC\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/t.co\/JVxMbkAkMC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SXu1J33KwF\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/SXu1J33KwF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pac12\/status\/1732143053597749630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">December 5, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis injury history could be an issue,\u201d Brugler warned. But this Vikings regime has taken chances with those risks in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Latu suffered a neck injury that wiped out his sophomore season and\u00a0ended his career\u00a0in 2020.<\/p>\n<h2>Viking Projected to Land Pac-12\u2019s Last DPOY in Draft<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4679376 visible aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1795240806-e1705509152437.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Laiatu Latu, Minnesota Vikings\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4679376\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1795240806-e1705509152437.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>After a year off, he earned Comeback Player of the Year in 2022, posting 10.5 sacks in 13 games for the Bruins. Latu was selected as a consensus All-American and named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in the conference\u2019s\u00a0final year of existence.<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Latu also earned the\u00a0Vince Lombardi Award\u00a0as the Lineman of the Year, as well as the\u00a0Ted Hendricks Award\u00a0for Defensive End of the Year in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota signed\u00a0Marcus Davenport\u00a0to a\u00a0one-year, $13 million contract\u00a0last offseason.<\/p>\n<p>They overlooked his extensive injury history and it burned them, with Davenport missing all but four games this season. And he is on the books for $6.8 million. Perhaps that experience steers the Vikings clear of players with concerns as significant as Latu\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not enough for them to bypass him in favor of a quarterback, with Michigan\u2019s\u00a0J.J. McCarthy\u00a0going seven picks later to the\u00a0Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n<p>Danielle Hunter and breakout star\u00a0DJ Wonnum\u00a0are joining Davenport in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>Wonnum is also recovering from a torn quadriceps \u2013 Latu would be a cost-effective replacement. And the Vikings are not done addressing the defensive trenches in Brugler\u2019s mock.<\/p>\n<h2>Analyst Projects Vikings Land Late Bloomer in 2nd Round<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4679373 visible aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1814138373-e1705509056199.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Ruke Orhorhoro, Minnesota Vikings\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4679373\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1814138373-e1705509056199.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>Brugler projects Minnesota to select Clemson defensive tackle\u00a0Ruke Orhorhoro\u00a0with the No. 42 overall pick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Vikings double up on the defensive line,\u201d Brugler wrote. \u201cWell-built at 6-4, 295 with 34-inch arms, Orhorhoro is an impressive mover and offers a high ceiling after he was late to the game of football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Orhorhoro recorded a career-high 5.5 sacks last season, while also logging 8 tackles for loss for the third consecutive season.<\/p>\n<p>Like Latu, Orhorhoro comes with\u00a0some injury concerns, though they are far less severe.<\/p>\n<p>Vikings defensive linemen\u00a0Jonathan Bullard\u00a0and\u00a0James Lynch\u00a0are free agents. Fellow linemen\u00a0Dean Lowry\u00a0and\u00a0Harrison Phillips\u00a0are both under contract but could be cap casualties with the Vikings looking at just $39.5 million in cap space,\u00a0per Spotrac.<\/p>\n<p>This type of draft class would also suggest the Vikings either re-signed Cousins \u2014 as General Manager\u00a0Kwesi Adofo-Mensah\u00a0intends \u2014 or acquired another veteran to take his place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who will the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0select with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 draft? That is right behind their\u00a0decision at quarterback\u00a0as the biggest question facing the front&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}