2022 NFL Draft: Vikings to select at No. 12

It doesn’t look like they’ll move from that spot

It’s never too early to start looking towards the upcoming NFL Draft. . .especially if your season is already over. . .and with just one regular-season game remaining, we know where the Minnesota Vikings are slotted to pick when the annual selection meeting comes around this April.

According to Tankathon, who does a great job of tracking this sort of thing, the Vikings will pick at #12 overall in the first round.

The first fifteen picks are locked in, while picks 16, 17, and 18 could potentially shuffle a bit based on the results of this evening’s Sunday Night Football contest between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders. Spots 19 through 32 are based on playoff results, so obviously we don’t know those yet.

Here are the first 15 picks. Keep in mind that the first tie-breaker after win-loss record is strength of schedule, with the team with the lower strength of schedule getting the higher pick (presumably because you had the same record against worse competition).

1. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-14, .512)
2. Detroit Lions (3-13-1, .528)
3. Houston Texans (4-13, .498)
4. New York Jets (4-13, .512)
5. New York Giants (4-13, .536)
6. Carolina Panthers (5-12, .509)
7. New York Giants (from Chicago Bears, 6-11, .524)
8. Atlanta Falcons (7-10, .472)
9. Denver Broncos (7-10, .484)
10. New York Jets (from Seattle Seahawks, 7-10, .519)
11. Washington Football Team (7-10, .529)
12. Minnesota Vikings (8-9, .507)
13. Cleveland Browns (8-9, .514)
14. Baltimore Ravens (8-9, .531)
15. Philadelphia Eagles (from Miami Dolphins, 9-8, .464)
16. Philadelphia Eagles (from Indianapolis Colts, 9-8, .495)
17. Los Angeles Chargers (9-8, .510)
18. New Orleans Saints (9-8, .512)

From a historical perspective, the Vikings have selected at #12 overall twice in franchise history. One of those times came in 2011 when they picked Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder. The other came back in 1973, when they took a running back from the University of Miami (Florida) named Chuck Foreman that you may or may not have heard of. Hopefully, if the Vikings stay at #12 this April, that pick will be more like the latter than the former.