It’s been a very long time since the Vikings have entered the NFL draft where a quarterback was not one of their top needs. Except for that one season of Brett Favre’s greatest hits, the team has been looking for their franchise quarterback since Daunte Culpepper went down with a serious knee injury in 2005. This year, finally, the Vikings are not in the market for a starting quarterback in the draft (let’s all just pretend that the Christian Ponder era never happened). Teddy Bridgewater, drafted with the last pick in the first round of 2014, has established himself as the unquestioned starter and we hope he’ll continue to improve his game the way he did throughout his rookie season.

The team still has some deficiencies that can be filled in the draft, including cornerback, safety, middle and strong-side linebacker, wide receiver, and offensive guard. The mock draft folks have had a great time trying to read the tea leaves to figure out who the Vikings will draft, and I guess it’s fine for them to speculate wildly. (It keeps them off the streets.)

As I say around this time every year, I don’t follow college football, so there’s little or no point in me trying to predict the individual players who will end up wearing purple and gold this year. Instead, I can look at the team’s needs at various positions and try to guess how the team leadership may play their hand during the draft (you can consider this my re-thinking of my March 10 post on the same topic). Where I mention actual player names, it’s not because I’m convinced they’re the answer at that position, but that the mock draft folks have that player pencilled-in frequently enough that it does seem a strong possibility.

To start with, the team currently holds the #11 pick in the first round, and six other picks. General Manager Rick Spielman has said repeatedly that he prefers to have ten picks in the draft to increase the chances that they get players who will be able to contribute over the long term. That might well mean that the Vikings will be looking to trade out of the #11 spot in exchange for additional picks later in the draft. Another tendency of the Vikings under Spielman’s tenure has been making multiple first-round picks. In 2014, the Vikings traded with Seattle to get the Seahawks’ first rounder to use on Teddy Bridgewater, having used their first pick on linebacker Anthony Barr. In 2013, the team picked DT Sharrif Floyd, CB Xavier Rhodes, and WR Cordarrelle Patterson. In 2012, the first rounders were OT Matt Kalil and S Harrison Smith.

On top of this, there’s still the Adrian Peterson situation needing to be resolved. In mid-April, the league allowed Peterson to move off the exempt list and is now eligible to take part in normal team activities. It’s unlikely that Peterson will report to the team before the first mandatory organized team activity, and he may not even report then — all signs from the Peterson camp indicate that he’s eager to get away from Minnesota and join another team (Dallas or Arizona are speculated as the most likely landing spots if he does depart). The Vikings have Peterson under contract through 2017, and will not just release him without compensation in the way of draft picks and/or players. My crystal ball is too cloudy to let me see what the outcome will be, but it would not surprise me if Dallas, Arizona, Oakland, Jacksonville, or Tampa Bay step up during the draft with an enticing enough trade offer to satisfy the Vikings and give Peterson a new home for the rest of his career. Similarly, it wouldn’t surprise me if no trade occurred and Peterson is left with the stark choice of reporting to training camp or sitting out the next three years.

For my part, while I admire what he can do on the football field, I think it would be best for all concerned if he plays for another team from now on.

Back in March, I listed the Vikings’ free agency/draft needs in this order:

• Middle linebacker
• Wide receiver
• Offensive guard
• Outside linebacker
• Safety
• Running back (if Peterson doesn’t return)
• Cornerback
• Quarterback (backup and/or developmental)

Since then, the situation has changed a fair bit, as the team traded for Miami’s Mike Wallace and cut Greg Jennings (who recently signed with the Dolphins), which moves the wide receiver need down several notches. I really liked Jennings, but in spite of his overall good play he never justified the big numbers on his contract. With Wallace, Charles Johnson, and Jarius Wright all able to fill the “deep threat” job description, the team now seems to need a solid possession receiver to step into the role that Jennings used to fill. While I wouldn’t be upset if the team drafted DeVante Parker (Bridgewater’s college team-mate), Amari Cooper (who played high school football with Bridgewater), or one of the other highly touted receivers, I don’t think the need is that great, so trading back from #11 seems more likely to me than drafting a wide-out. I’ve seen a few mocks showing Missouri’s Dorial Green-Beckham going to the Vikings in the second round … but that would be a best-available-player pick, not one of need.

With those changes, here’s how I think the team’s needs now rank:

• Offensive guard
• Middle linebacker
• Outside linebacker
• Safety
• Cornerback
• Running back (if Peterson doesn’t return)
• Wide receiver
• Quarterback (backup and/or developmental)

Charlie Johnson had already been cut by the time I posted my last draft guesstimates, but since then the team has re-signed Joe Berger to a two-year deal and he’s expected to compete for the starting left guard spot. Second-year player David Yankey should also be ready to compete for that job, having worked out during the offseason with trainer Ryan Goldin (who also worked with Bengals guard Clint Boling and former Chargers Pro Bowl tackle Marcus McNeill). The team generally doesn’t draft interior lineman on the first or second day of the draft, so it would be a surprise if they selected someone like OT/OG Brandon Scherff at #11 (if he lasts that long), but Scherff might be a special case who could excel at guard but also provide an insurance policy at the tackle position if Matt Kalil doesn’t manage to return to his rookie year form.

Last year’s starting middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley accepted a two-year deal from Dallas rather than accept the minimal one-year deal offered by the Vikings (and I don’t blame him for that decision). In my view, that still means that middle linebacker is the biggest need on either side of the ball. I’m a fan of Audie Cole, but the coaching staff never seemed to be confident enough in Cole to let him show what he could do as the regular Mike linebacker. Michael Mauti is the other middle linebacker on the roster, but his value on special teams appears to outweigh his contributions on defence. If UCLA’s Eric Kendricks is still on the board when the Vikings’ second round pick comes up, he might be the player they select.

Weak-side linebacker Chad Greenway restructured his contract for a second straight year in order to stay with the team. He provides leadership and continuity, but his level of play is no longer what it was, and it may not be certain that he will even start for the Vikings this season. Anthony Barr looks like the real deal at one of the outside linebacker spots, but it’s not clear if the coaches feel that Gerald Hodges can hold down the other side. I could see the team drafting an outside linebacker in the second or third round, but it’d be astonishing if they spend a first-rounder at that position again this year.

Safety Harrison Smith was cheated of a Pro Bowl nomination in 2014, but I think he’ll be a lock for 2015 onwards. The other safety position isn’t quite as stable, with Robert Blanton and Andrew Sendejo both having started games for the Vikings in that role. Blanton is a capable player, and Sendejo shows signs of being able to take on more responsibility, but neither one is as good as Smith. 2014 draft pick Antone Exum is also in the mix for the starting position this year, but he’ll need to show that he’s not going to continue making silly mistakes (like giving up critical penalties) as he did in his rookie season.

The Vikings are excited about what Xavier Rhodes offers at cornerback, and his statistics looked better and better as the 2014 season progressed. On the other side of the field, free agent signing Captain Munnerlyn had his worst season as a pro in his Minnesota debut. Josh Robinson improved on his awful 2013 outing, but he didn’t show enough to take over the starting position from Munnerlyn. If the Vikings don’t trade out of the #11 slot, many mock drafts have the team picking Michigan State’s Trae Waynes to be the bookend for Xavier Rhodes. I don’t see the need as being that great, but Waynes or another highly regarded cornerback prospect might fit the bill if the team trades back in the first round.

In my first draft post this year, the team had just traded Matt Cassel but hadn’t yet agreed to terms with Shaun Hill to be Bridgewater’s backup. Once that deal was in place, the team signed a developmental quarterback in Mike Kafka while releasing Pat Devlin. I don’t expect the team to draft a quarterback before the fifth round, if at all. They will probably need one more as a “camp arm”, but won’t want to spend draft resources on someone not likely to make the team at the cut-down to 53 players (but might risk it if they think they can sneak him on to the practice squad).

If Adrian Peterson returns to the team, then we probably don’t need to say anything much about the running game, with Jerick McKinnon as the change-of-pace back. If Peterson is traded, released, or decides to hold out, then the Vikings running attack last year wasn’t too bad — if nothing else, Matt Asiata scored enough short-yardage TDs that teams may still have to focus on stopping the run, which opens things up for the passing game from Bridgewater to Kyle Rudolph, Chase Ford, or Rhett Ellison along with the wide receivers. A few mocks have the Vikings drafting Boise State’s Jay Ajayi in the middle rounds.