This is the fifth year I have done SKOL Search with the sole mission being to find NFL Draft prospects for the Minnesota Vikings. Throughout the entire process, this will be the most comprehensive draft guide with a focus on the Vikings.
Each year, I scout incoming draft prospects from a neutral perspective and try to see how they could fit with Minnesota. This will be general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s fourth NFL Draft and we have a good sense of what he likes in a prospect.
Going into the offseason, the Vikings have just three official selections with a fourth likely coming with a compensatory selection in the third round. However they choose to use them, they need to make the most out of their limited resources.
D.J. Giddens
- Kansas State
- Height: 6010
- Weight: 212
- Class: Fourth-year Junior
- Recruiting info: 0-star recruit in 2021 class per 247 Sports
- Stats: 517 attempts, 3,087 yards, 6.0 YPC, 23 touchdowns, 58 receptions, 679 yards, 11.7 YPR, 4 touchdowns
- Games watched: Tulane 2024, Colorado 2024, Kansas 2024
Strengths
- Footwork: Giddens has excellent feet. He keeps them moving and allows him to maneuver around defenders and through holes with jump cuts and normal cutbacks.
- Balance: He thrives in every aspect of balance. Stays upright when defenders hit him and has great ankle flexion when cutting back in zone concepts. He can slalom through the hole to attack the second level.
- Burst: One thing that Giddens doesn’t have is high-end speed, but he does have really good burst through the hole. Giddens will be a really good doubles hitter at the next level, getting chunks of yards with consistency.
Weaknesses
- Pass Blocking: Giddens makes effort to pass blocking, but doesn’t have a great feel for it, nor is the technique there yet. Those things can be taught, but he won’t be a third-down back for a little bit.
- Breakaway Speed: Giddens is somewhat of a bigger back and that resonates in a major way when he breaks into the second and third levels. It’s relatively easy to track him down and that will limit his ceiling.
- Pad Level: With his more upright running style, Giddens leaves himself more open to hits by defenders than you would like to see.
