B
Minnesota Vikings
Daniels is the Vikings' new face under center. Grade: B.
by Con9nor3 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 5 steals
· 0 reaches
After circling the position for what felt like forever, the Vikings committed. Jayden Daniels is the quarterback now, and the roster gets built to his timeline. The bottom line is a respectable B.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Chestnut. That running back hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. The hoard sets up next April more than it helps this September.
The roster is better shaped than it was, with quarterback chief among the fixes.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 12 they get a franchise quarterback at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
T.J. Tampa at the Round 2 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Good price on Matt Goncalves in the 112th overall pick, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Fair-plus on Gabriel Murphy, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Malik Mustapha in slot 149 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Nothing to complain about; Javion Cohen went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Taking Sataoa Laumea in the 165th pick is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A slide stopped in No. 169, with Ainias Smith worth more than the price. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Steve Linton in slot 233 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
By-the-book stuff, J.J. Weaver at the 238th overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They will replay Duce Chestnut at the 253rd pick for years; that is how good the value is. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.