Latest CBS Sports Mock Draft Says Huge Gator for Vikings

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Nine weeks from tonight the Minnesota Vikings will walk to the lectern with the 18th overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, and CBS Sports believes they will exit with one of college football’s most imposing specimens. In his newest first-round projection, CBS draft analyst Josh Edwards slotted Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks to the Vikings, giving the franchise the interior disruptor it has coveted for years.

The marriage checks every organizational box. After using the 2025 first-rounder on Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson, Minnesota is widely expected to return to defense in 2026. Banks, listed at 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds, brings rare length and first-step quickness that evaluators believe can flourish in a penetrating 4-3 front. He logged 10.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks over 34 career games at Louisville and Florida, and he will turn 23 in March—an age that scouts consider more pro-ready than the typical junior declaration.

Edwards’s mock pushes Banks past Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell, who went 17th to Detroit in the same exercise. The slight slide lands the Gator in purple, a scenario that would not surprise draft rooms around the league. Banks has climbed boards since returning from the injury that shortened his 2025 campaign, and the Consensus Big Board currently ranks him 24th overall—squarely within Minnesota’s range.

Scouts laud the physical package but acknowledge the polish is still developing. NFL Draft Buzz summarized the evaluation succinctly: “The physical tools are rare and the athletic profile is legitimate, but the technique has not caught up yet.” The service projects Banks best as a three-technique who can attack upfield rather than a two-gapping nose asked to hold ground against double teams. His Senior Bowl week, however, showed an ability to absorb coaching and recalibrate on the fly—evidence that the upside bet could pay dividends.

The Vikings have danced around the position for more than a decade. Since 2013 the club has selected only six defensive tackles before the end of Round 5, a pace that pales in comparison to division rival Green Bay (four in the first three rounds alone) and perennial talent factory Baltimore (six before Round 3). With Javon Hargrave’s 2026 cap number looming and no sure-fire anchor behind him, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could view Banks as the infusion of youth and mass the roster lacks.

Should Hargrave become a cap casualty, a 2026 interior rotation of Banks, Jalen Redmond, Harrison Phillips, and 2025 fifth-rounder Jaquelin Roy would immediately become the deepest the franchise has fielded in recent memory. Twin Cities analyst Janik Eckardt endorsed the fit last week, calling Banks his “draft crush” and noting the defender’s rare combination of girth and short-area burst that could form a long-term tandem with Redmond.

Edwards’s projection also underscores a philosophical shift. The Vikings bypassed USC receiver Makai Lemon (to Pittsburgh at 20) and Ohio State nose Kayden McDonald (to Chicago at 19) in the mock, signaling a willingness to invest premium capital in a position they have historically neglected. If the board unfolds this way on draft night, Banks’s selection would represent both a value grab and a statement of intent: Minnesota is no longer content to band-aid the middle of its defensive line.

The Vikings have nine weeks to finalize their grade on the Florida product. Between now and then, the combine will measure his 34-inch arms, time his 10-yard split, and test whether the agility matches the tape. If the numbers align, the purple faithful could be welcoming the biggest Gator of them all come April.