B
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings answered their biggest question with McCarthy. Grade: B.
by stogie928 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 8 steals
· 1 reaches
They finally answered the question that shadows every other one. J.J. McCarthy is the Vikings' quarterback, full stop. The bottom line is a respectable B.
The Brownlee Jr. pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. If McCarthy pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through safety.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 11 they get a franchise quarterback, though the board says they badly overpaid. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the Round 1 slot they get a disruptor off the edge at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Mike Sainristil at No. 91 is the proof. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Dominick Puni in pick 108 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Taking Leonard Taylor III in Round 4, Pick 29 is close to grand larceny; an interior defensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They will replay Jarvis Brownlee Jr. at the 157th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
Isaiah Davis in pick No. 167 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. A need, and now a little less of one.
They let Xavier Thomas come to them and pounced at the 177th pick. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Tahj Washington at No. 230 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A slide stopped in the 232nd pick, with JD Bertrand worth more than the price. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.