Vikings GM Adofo-Mensah's 'uber-aggressive' first round gets mixed reviews

Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was both “shrewdly calculated and uber-aggressive” in his third crack at the NFL Draft on one of the “most important nights in the organization's modern history,” according to Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Adofo-Mensah's “impressive offseason makeover continued in full force Thursday” as the team drafted QB J.J. McCarthy and DE Dallas Turner. Adofo-Mensah “could not have closed shop without a new quarterback.” Anything short of that “would have qualified as a disaster.” Scoggins wrote it was “refreshing to see the Vikings aggressively move up to take a highly regarded player” rather than trade back to accumulate later-round picks. This team “needs difference-makers” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/26). In Minneapolis, La Velle Neal III writes fans “flocked to U.S, Bank Stadium on Thursday with quarterbacks on their mind.” Vikings officials said that nearly 7,000 tickets were distributed for their draft party. While many fans coveted QB Drake Maye, there were “many who had no problem with landing McCarthy.” The Vikings “masterfully maneuvered” through a draft that could prove to be an historic one in franchise history (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/26).

WIN SOME AND LOSE SOME: USA TODAY’s Nate Davis wrote Adofo-Mensah is a winner in this year’s draft as he “executed Thursday night’s first two trades -- but didn’t, as was widely expected,” have to surrender one of his first-round slots to select a quarterback (USA TODAY, 4/26). SI’s Conor Orr wrote his losers for the draft being Adofo-Mensah and wonders if he was trying to get too cute. Orr: “Instead of inching up for QB5 and then inching up again for EDGE2, why wouldn’t you go all in for one of those players? ... This felt like the draft for the Vikings to tear their shirts off and kick the door down. We certainly didn’t get that" (SI, 4/26).