Zone Coverage

● By Arif Hasan
There has been significant discussion among the Minnesota Vikings fanbase about the utility of trading up in the 2024 NFL draft – one apparently in the cards, given Jeremy Fowler’s ESPN report about the Vikings being a candidate to trade up to the second- or third-overall pick to select a quarterback. I wanted to model what that could look like, so we’ve got another mock draft in the cards. Last week, I used the FanSpeak simulator to generate a mock draft that simulated trades down. This week, we’ll trade up using the Pro Football Focus simulator – one that allows players to be thrown into trades. Without a third-round pick, it was going to be difficult to trade up while also keeping enough picks to produce an interesting mock draft – one that would return value to the Vikings. But thanks to the New England Patriots eschewing quarterback in favor of Louisiana State wide receiver Malik Nabers, it was possible to organize a trade up for a quarterback of the future.