While the Chicago Bears get showered with praise for their first-round selection of Dillon Thieneman, what the Minnesota Vikings did in Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft raised some eyebrows.
In case you missed it, the Vikings used their first-round pick on Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks. A healthy Banks was one of my favorite prospects going into the pre-draft build-up. Banks has a unique blend of size (6-6, 327 pounds), length (35-inch arms, 10 7/8-inch hands), and athleticism (his 80 Athleticism Score at the Combine via NextGen Stats was the fifth-best among defensive tackles), which is what made him such an alluring prospect. But injury concerns — most notably, a foot injury that caused him to miss most of the season, eventually required surgery, and will likely keep him out until June — reportedly took the University of Florida off a bunch of teams’ boards ahead of the NFL Draft.
The injury issues also led some prognosticators to opine that it would drop Banks out of the first round. Apparently, the Vikings didn’t get the memo. And when ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. was dissecting the selection, he did not hold back when describing what is arugably the most questionable pick from Night 1 of the NFL Draft:
Big-time reach for me. Banks was No. 62 on my board, the biggest stretch of the night. Sure, there’s reason to believe this could work out for the Vikings. Banks can stop running backs in their tracks, and he gets enough interior push to be a factor in the pass rush. He moves well for a 6-foot-6, 327-pounder. But he has been dealing with a foot injury for a while now, and he just had surgery on it after the combine. A lot of risk here, even if Banks healthy and at his best can shore up the interior.
2026 NFL DRAFT TRACKER — THE 32 PICKS FROM NIGHT 1
© Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesESPN NFL Draft Guru Mel Kiper Jr. Sounds Off on Vikings’ 1st Round Pick
It would be understandable if a Vikings fan read Kiper’s initial reaction to the pick and crashed out. Again, a healthy Caleb Banks is an intriguing prospect. And I don’t gengerally like the idea of giving Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores players with untapped potential and enticing upside. But if you are someone who is into schadenfreude, then perhaps this anecdote from Kiper will pique your interest:
This was made worse by the fact that safety Dillon Thieneman was still on the board. Everyone thought that pairing made sense. Harrison Smith is still uncertain to return for 2026, and even if he comes back, he’s 37 years old. Thieneman would have been perfect in Brian Flores’ defense. Not sure I understand this one.
Oof! The Vikings REALLY passed on the “perfect” fit for a Brian Flores defense and a logical heir apparent to Harrison Smith in Minnesota’s secondary in order to draft a toolsy defensive lineman with injury concerns. Tough break. Maybe go check on a friend who is a Vikings fan at some point today. They are probably not doing well.
In the end, I am obviously pleased with the Vikings’ decision to pass on Dillon Thieneman. I had lost track of how many mock drafts that had Minnesota landing the Oregon safety. So much so that I was of the belief that Thieneman would not be available when the Bears went on the clock with the No. 25 overall pick. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be to see (1) Thieneman on the board when it was Chicago’s turn to pick and (2) the Bears not overthink it and make a rational decision on how to use their first-round pick. Thanks, Vikings!
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