Vikings' fourth-round draft haul: Kick returner, cornerback, defensive end

The Vikings entered Saturday with three picks in the fourth round of the NFL draft. Here's how they used them.

119th pick: Kene Nwangwu, RB, Iowa State

Nwangwu earned all-Big 12 honorable mention as a kick returner in 2016 and again in 2020, after returning from a torn Achilles that forced him to use a medical redshirt in 2017. He stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 210 pounds, but he figures to start his career with the Vikings on special teams, given how little time he spent as the main running back at Iowa State.

Still, the Vikings need to improve their group of return men, and Nwangwu's work there could be what attracted them most to him, given how much K.J. Osborn struggled last year and the fact Mike Hughes' future is in question. Nwangwu will get a chance to win a job on special teams while joining Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison in the Vikings' running back room after the team lost Mike Boone in free agency.

125th pick: Camryn Bynum, CB, California

Bynum was a four-year starter and two-time captain at Cal, where his character and on-field smarts made him a favorite of scouts before the draft. He brings the size to the position that the Vikings like, standing six feet and weighing 196 pounds. He doesn't have ideal speed for the position, but his ability to read and react to offenses could help put him in the right spots to make plays — possibly at the safety position, where the Vikings could need help in the future.

Bynum initially opted out of Cal's season when football had been pushed to the spring, but decided to play once the Pac-12 put its season back in the fall. The fact Bynum played in the Senior Bowl might have helped him make an impression on the Vikings; general manager Rick Spielman has talked about the importance of the game this year as one of his only chances to evaluate players in person.

134th pick: Janarius Robinson, DE, Florida State

Robinson was one of the top recruits in the country coming out of high school, and brings the dimensions (6-foot-5, 263 pounds) the Vikings prize among their pass rushers. It'll be up to Andre Patterson to get more consistency out of him in the NFL than he showed in college. Robinson never posted more than three sacks in a season (though his final year at Florida State was only eight games), and even though he has a massive wingspan with 35 1/4-inch arms, he seems to get lost in plays too often. Still, he's got the traits the Vikings believe they can work with; they'll turn Patterson loose and go from there.

When Hurricane Michael destroyed Robinson's family's home in Panama City, Fla., in 2018, Florida State set up a GoFundMe account to help support the family. The effort eventually allowed them to rebuild the home on the same spot.