The Vikings has selected five elite defensive players with the ele.

The NFL draft is a little over three months away, but it’ll be here before you know it. The pre-draft process is going to heat up in a couple weeks with events like the Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl, and the always-important scouting combine will get going in late February.

The Vikings hold the 11th overall pick in this year’s draft. There’s been plenty of understandable speculation about GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah taking a quarterback — and perhaps even trading up to do so — but let’s hold off on that for now. In a world where the Vikings bring back Kirk Cousins or figure something else out at the QB position, they’ll have an opportunity to take a blue-chip defensive prospect who can hopefully become a foundational piece for them on that side of the ball.

The top ten picks are expected to be dominated by offensive players (QBs, WRs, OTs, and TE Brock Bowers), so the Vikings should have an exciting group of defensive players to choose from when the 11th pick rolls around. We’ll dive into each of these prospects more thoroughly in the coming months, but here are five defensive players to keep an eye on as potential Vikings targets this year.

These three are generally viewed as the top tier in this year’s EDGE class. All three are highly intriguing pass-rushing prospects with a ton of upside. Whether the Vikings re-sign Danielle Hunter or not, this might be a good year for them to finally take an edge rusher in the first round for the first time since 2005.