Minnesota Vikings Surprise Rookie Gem?

The Minnesota Vikings 2016 Draft class yielded some talented players, but who will be the surprise gem of the class?

Over at Bleacher Report, they have constructed a list of surprise rookie gems for each NFL team. With talent all throughout the Minnesota Vikings draft class, I was interested to see who they chose.

Jayron Kearse, the Vikings seventh-round safety, was the rookie who they think will make a surprise impact this season. I love the selection of Kearse in the seventh round as he will be a great player for Zimmer to work with. Zimmer has been known to like defensive backs with all the measurables.

Here is what they had to say about Kearse.

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"One of the more highly discussed Clemson Tigers during their national title run, Jayron Kearse was expected to be a potential top-100 pick. Instead, Kearse slipped all the way to the 7th round. A lack of great run defense instincts and really only having length as a benefit for his vertical coverage, Kearse’s film out-matched his impressive body type for NFL teams.However, in Minnesota, where head coach Mike Zimmer seems to love length and size at his safety positions, Kearse has a great opportunity to earn top-four safety status, make the team and potentially much more. He’s arguably the team’s only capable strong safety after recently resigned Andrew Sendejo, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s groomed to be the team’s long-term option at safety."

In my earlier projected final Vikings 53 man roster, I had Kearse making the final cut. I also had the Vikings running with five safeties when they vowed to take four into the season last year. My reasoning was that I think Zimmer will take Kearse under his wing and he could possibly be groomed to be a long-term option opposite Harrison Smith. If Kearse went to the practice squad he would easily be picked up by another team.

It will be a huge position battle. We know Harrison Smith is a lock. We can also say that Andrew Sendejo is a lock after getting a four-year contract extension earlier this offseason. The remaining spots are up for grabs. The Vikings signed Michael Griffin, once a Pro Bowl safety with the Titans, in free agency. All though he is on the wrong side of thirty, some think he will get the starting job

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next to Harrison. Then there is Anthony Harris, who at times showed great play. Harris is a ball hawk, and if he can take another step forward this year, he could be in serious consideration for the starting spot opposite Smith. That leaves Antone Exum Jr. I think he will be the odd man out.

This will be an interesting position group to watch throughout this offseason. Let us hope that the Vikings have made the right moves and can find a capable option opposite of Smith and sure up the back-end of the defense even more.

Next: PFF Ranks Vikings Offseason: B

Last season the Vikings had multiple rookie gems. From Eric Kendricks to Danielle Hunter, to Stefon Diggs. We even saw TJ Clemmings come in and start a majority of the season due to injuries and we have yet to see the potential of Trae Waynes, as he was being brought along slowly. We can only hope that this class has as much of an impact as the last few years.