5 players Vikings should draft in the first round

3. Derek Stingley Jr.

Stingley is another former 5-star recruit who entered the season as a virtual lock to be a top-five pick. Like Thibodeaux, an uneven collegiate season has caused the talented corner’s draft stock to take a noticeable hit.

With all due respect to Gardner, there’s still a serious chance that Stingley turns out to be the best corner taken in this year’s draft. He possesses good size to play on the outside and he’s got some of the best instincts scouts will ever see when he’s asked to play press-man coverage.

The downside to Stingley as a prospect is that he just didn’t play with consistency or urgency at times during his LSU career. Admittedly, he was surrounded by some difficult circumstances with the Tigers, but scouts would like to see a player of Stingley’s quality rise above that kind of dysfunction rather than be weighed down by it.

Giving Stingley a fresh slate to work with at the NFL level could be a stroke of genius by the Vikings’ front office. Talent still rules the pro game and Stingley has an exceptional amount of it to work with.