B+
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings did the meat-and-potatoes work well: B+.
by MiBlunt ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 12 steals
· 1 reaches
Nobody else had Michael Pratt anywhere near No. 94. The Vikings did, by 51 spots, and that gap is the whole story.
They banked enough surplus on Harden to cover a lot of smaller sins. They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it. The Jackson pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with edge rusher, tight end and other spots still on the board.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
A quiet steal in slot 31: Troy Fautanu for less than the market said. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Somehow Cooper DeJean was still sitting there in the 46th pick, and they pounced on premier cornerback value. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They robbed the room for Keon Coleman here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Michael Pratt. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Khyree Jackson at cornerback with edge rusher, tight end and other spots open.
A tidy little value on Cedric Gray in the 124th overall pick, a step better than break-even. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Isaiah Adams at pick No. 128 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the offensive lineman. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Ray Davis at the 129th pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They read the board right and Javon Foster was the payoff at the 146th overall pick. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A slide stopped in No. 157, with Tommy Eichenberg worth more than the price. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Trevin Wallace at the Round 6 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Myles Harden in Round 6, Pick 36 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
The board fumbled Josh Proctor all the way to pick 222, and they scooped it up. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A clean, defensible pick in slot 230 with a little surplus value in JD Bertrand. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
You do not let a cornerback like Johnny Dixon reach No. 235 and blink. They did not. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Dillon Johnson in the 242nd overall pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.