Peter King predicts Vikings will draft QB Anthony Richardson
When digging for football gold on NFL Draft week, one mustn't ignore Peter King's mock draft. The iconic football writer releases one mock every year and he has as much inside information as anyone in the business. King is the guy who walks inside the lines at NFL training camps while the rest of the reporter world is cast outside the chalk and paint to watch from afar.
That's why King mocking Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson to the Minnesota Vikings with the 23rd pick in the draft is so tantalizing. His explanation for the pick:
"Easily could go earlier—as high as four to Indianapolis. But the Vikings would be an intriguing spot for the raw Richardson. Kirk Cousins has one playoff win in five Vikings seasons. The math is not in Cousins’ favor. This is year six. He’ll have made $185 million as a Viking, and will be seeking $45 million-plus to re-sign after this season to be sure, guaranteed. Who would be surprised if the Vikings wanted to start fresh in 2024 if this is another one of those years?"
What about the Vikings passing on a quarterback in the draft and instead trading Kirk Cousins to the 49ers for Trey Lance and more? King doesn't address the Vikings specifically in a Lance scenario, but he did write that, in his opinion, "the chances of a Lance trade are about 7.86 percent."
You'll be hard pressed to find many mock drafts with Richardson tumbling all the way to the Vikings, but King's logic and other noteworthy selections in his mock appear to line up nicely with what other league insiders are saying.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer wrote Monday that "I do believe a quarterback is in play" for the Vikings in the first round, "mostly because I don’t think they’ll do another deal with Kirk Cousins that’s heavy on guarantees."
King also has Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker going to the Houston Texas with the No. 12 pick. Well, ESPN's Todd McShay said Monday that "I keep hearing Hooker will get picked in the top 20."
King is just one guy, but he only had one QB being drafted in the first round last year and he got it right by predicting Kenny Pickett to the Steelers at No. 20.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.