B+
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B+.
by Max ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 4 steals
· 7 reaches
They will call it conviction in the building and a reach everywhere else: Jaylen Harrell, 73 picks early at the 212th pick. Call it a sensible B+, earned the boring way.
They banked enough surplus on Henderson to cover a lot of smaller sins. They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. Leaving running back unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
The veteran additions, Tyron Smith chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not.
Bottom line, more hits than misses and a roster nudged the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get juice off the edge, though they paid up to get him. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 32nd pick they get a pocket-collapsing interior rusher. A clean fit for the roster.
Cooper DeJean at pick No. 48 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They paid up for Luke Lachey at slot 97 when waiting would have done the job. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Taking Devontez Walker in No. 124 is close to grand larceny; a wide receiver that good had no business lasting this long. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A real head-scratcher, Connor Colby in pick 132 is miles ahead of his ranking. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
DeWayne Carter in slot 179 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Nothing to complain about; JT Daniels went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jaylen Harrell well ahead of where he belonged. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
LaDarius Henderson at the 228th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Steal is underselling it; Willie Roberts at the 233rd overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Value with a capital V on Marques Cox in pick 236, a genuine coup. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A big swing on Aubrey Burks at the Round 7 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.