Mario Edwards has yet to become a household name despite his prodigious talents and likely high selection in the looming 2015 NFL Draft. It seems the Minnesota Vikings brass may be rubbing their hands together and muttering "excellent" to themselves again and again thanks to this fact though, as they reportedly have their sights set firmly on the raw, but talented Edwards as a potential first-round pick come late April.
"Certain teams definitely seem to like Edwards more than others, including the Vikings, who pick No. 11 overall," reports Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. "That might be high for Edwards -- plenty of mocks have nose tackle Danny Shelton going there -- though I wouldn't rule it out. And if perhaps you see the Vikings trade down out of that spot, definitely keep an eye on Edwards as a target."
A defensive lineman for Florida State who just completed his junior season, Edwards has thus far flown under the draft radar - which is surprising considering the seemingly endless coverage of pre-draft visits, mock drafts and other such mostly rumor-born fodder - but that may be on the verge of changing - in the media - thanks at least in part to La Canfora's report.
"Why aren't any of you guys writing about Mario Edwards?" an evaluator asked La Canfora. "I look around the Internet at these mock drafts and I don't think I've seen him in the first round in one of them. He's not showing up in any of them. I think you're missing on him. He's going to surprise some people. I think he goes in the first round. In this [not overly talented] draft, he's definitely a first-rounder for me."
Part of Edwards' lack of inclusion in mock drafts to this point is the groupthink aspect of the pre-draft media process - the same names tend to be offered up in different orders because someone somewhere dubbed them worthy of a first-round pick.
There's also the overall struggle of the Seminoles defense due to the loss of defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt prior to last season.
"There was a dropoff across the board from that defense, and a lot of it I think was from losing their coordinator," another evaluator said.
Despite the loss of Pruitt, Edwards performed admirably, showing nearly unmatched and first-round worthy promise.
While Edwards is certainly raw, his strength, athleticism and versatility at 6-foot-3, 279-pounds should make him an intriguing option for any number of teams.
The Vikings, lacking pass-rushing depth beyond Brian Robison and Everson Griffen and inside depth beyond Shariff Floyd, could certainly use a player like Edwards able to line up at any number of spots along the defensive line and create havoc for the opposition.
Still, the best part about Edwards - the former No. 1 recruit in the nation coming out of high school and son of former NFL cornerback - is that league evaluators feel as though he's only going to get better once he enters a professional program.
"He has great leadership qualities. He was one of the most coachable kids you could work with. You could always count on him on the field and off the field," someone who worked closely with Edwards at FSU said. "He did everything that was asked of him and expected of him. He was incredibly well-liked within the program. He's very comfortable with the professional game because of his legacy with his father playing in the NFL. He's built for the league and he will keep getting better."
