3 perfect Kirk Cousins replacements Vikings need to target in NFL Draft

Newman transferred to Georgia in 2020, then opted out of the season due to COVID-19. So the last time we saw him play was in 2019 for Wake Forest, when he had nearly 2,900 passing yards, 574 rushing yards and 32 total touchdowns (26 passing, six rushing) with 11 interceptions over 12 games. The decision to opt-out was understandable, even if some in NFL circles will use it as a flimsy knock on players who did. But Newman surely could have benefitted from playing if he had been up to it.

Newman is very much a developmental prospect, with 16 college starts and one full season as a starter on his resume. But he’s got the traits (size, mobility, arm strength) NFL teams always think they can mold, and his ceiling is as an eventual top-end starter in the league. He would get the benefit of a year behind Cousins to refine.

Newman is projected to be a fourth or fifth-round pick. As mentioned the Vikings have four fourth-round picks, including three in less than a 20-pick span (No. 119, 125 and 134). Packaging some of those picks for a move up in earlier in that fourth round, to get Newman, should be on GM Rick Spielman’s radar. Or maybe he’s just there at No. 119, and the Vikings take him without complication.