B
Minnesota Vikings
Grand theft in slot 101: the Vikings steal Wilson and grade out a B.
by Angroth ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 8 steals
· 3 reaches
Whoever sat across the table from the Vikings should ask for a receipt. They cleaned the room out, prying loose far more value than they gave up, and it was the quiet MVP of their weekend. The bottom line is a respectable B.
However the rest shakes out, Wilson at that price is a win they earned. They are betting McCarthy proves the room right and everyone else wrong.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
No drama and no debate, Bralen Trice went about where he belonged in the Round 2 slot. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
J.J. McCarthy at pick 34 is a conviction pick that outran the value. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They paid sticker price for Chop Robinson in the 35th pick, and that is fine. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jackson Powers-Johnson at Round 2, Pick 10 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They liked Jonathon Brooks enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 51. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A clean, defensible pick in the 90th overall pick with a little surplus value in Mike Sainristil. A minor itch, scratched.
Roman Wilson in the 101st overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The roster fit checks out.
No edge and no loss on DeWayne Carter in pick 103; it is a wash and a sensible one. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Marshawn Kneeland at slot 106 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jaden Hicks at pick No. 108 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
By-the-book stuff, Cole Bishop at the Round 4 slot squarely in line with his ranking. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Cedric Gray. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Kamal Hadden in the 148th pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
A slide stopped in No. 156, with Malik Mustapha worth more than the price. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Nice patience on Jaylin Simpson, who had no business lasting to No. 160. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Braelon Allen at pick 166. A need, and now a little less of one.
Kitan Oladapo slid further than he should have, and the 179th overall pick is lovely value for the safety. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Value with a capital V on Erick All in the 230th pick, a genuine coup. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They barely believed it either: Daequan Hardy still on the board at slot 243. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.