Where Does SI Rank Vikings' Draft Class Within the NFC?

During last weekend's NFL draft, the Vikings secured their quarterback of the future and one of the best defensive players in the class, trading up twice to take J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner with top-20 picks. That duo alone has the potential to make this one of the most impactful drafts in franchise history. But with just one pick in rounds two through five, the Vikings weren't able to do a whole lot after the first night.

SI's Gilberto Manzano recently ranked the NFC's draft classes 1-16, and the Vikings checked in at No. 10 on his list. Here's what he had to say:

"If J.J. McCarthy was the target all along, the Vikings played this well by only trading up one spot to get him at No. 10 instead of moving into the top five to select the Michigan quarterback. But Minnesota took a risk by banking on the fifth quarterback taken in the draft. As history has shown, it’s rare when five quarterbacks from one draft class develop into legitimate franchise signal-callers. 

The Vikings tried to trade three first-round picks to the Patriots for the right to draft Maye, who likely has the best skill set among all of the QB prospects. McCarthy's ceiling might not be as high as the others, but he proved at Michigan he can run an efficient offense and will now get to throw to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson. By not getting desperate for a quarterback, the Vikings also added Dallas Turner at No. 17 to pair with free-agent signing Jonathan Greenard."

Not all of the six quarterbacks taken in the top 12 picks are going to pan out. But just because McCarthy was the fifth one taken doesn't mean he has worse odds to be one of the successful QBs to come out of this class. In fact, he might be better set up to thrive than any of the others, due to the Vikings' coaching staff and the talent they have around him on offense. No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams probably has the best chance to pan out, due to his talent and the Bears' impressive wide receiver corps. Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye might have higher ceilings than McCarthy, but they landed in tough spots in Washington and New England. Michael Penix Jr. landed in a bizarre spot behind Kirk Cousins in Atlanta. Everyone outside of Williams would probably trade places with McCarthy if they could.

As for not trading up for Maye, that allowed the Vikings to keep the 23rd pick and trade up for Turner (and keep their first-rounder next year). The former Alabama star has a chance to be very productive in Brian Flores' aggressive defensive scheme. Because of that, I think you could make the argument that the Vikings at 10 are too low in these rankings. Elsewhere in the NFC North, the Packers are 9th, the Lions are 3rd, and the Bears are 1st on Manzano's list.