3 mistakes Minnesota Vikings made in the 2021 NFL Draft
By Scott Rogust
2. Selecting Kene Nwangwu over Chuba Hubbard
It was a bit of a shock to see the Vikings go for a running back in the draft. They have star Dalvin Cook leading the way in the backfield with Alexander Mattison as the teams’ primary backup. But, the Vikings opted to move forward in adding another player to the positional depth chart by selecting Iowa State’s Kene Nwangwu in the fourth round.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard was still on the board at the time.
Hubbard did not put up the greatest performance this past season, but we can not gloss over the fact that he rushed for 2,094 yards and 21 touchdowns through 13 games in the 2019 campaign. As a result of those numbers, Hubbard won the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year award.
It is quite obvious that the Vikings wanted to bolster their return game, hence the selection of Nwangwu. The former Cyclones running back took 92 kicks for 2,470 yards and one touchdown. Yet, no one thought that Nwanwgu would be taken off the board before Hubbard. We know who is happy the Vikings passed, and they are the Carolina Panthers, who will slot Hubbard behind star Christian McCaffrey in the offense.
Again, we will not criticize the pick until we have a season or two of evidence.