D
Minnesota Vikings
Williams is the Vikings' new face under center. Grade: D.
by thajoykileryahoocom ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 6 steals
· 2 reaches
The trade table was where it all came apart. The Vikings shipped out far more than they hauled back, and no amount of spin dresses up the bill.
Caleb Williams is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off. It is not that Lassiter is a bad player; it is that the Vikings had louder needs to answer first.
The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. They will need Eichenberg to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it.
On value alone, Irving makes the weekend a net positive.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and edge rusher is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 3 they get their guy under center for the next decade at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In the Round 1 slot they get a press-man option on the boundary. More want than need.
A premium they did not need to pay, Jackson Powers-Johnson a notch or two before his time. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Ladd McConkey in the 40th overall pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. The roster fit checks out.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending No. 42 on Kamari Lassiter with edge rusher, safety and other spots unsolved.
Tommy Eichenberg at the 109th pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Bucky Irving at slot 130 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Luke McCaffrey in Round 5, Pick 20. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Somehow Javon Foster was still sitting there in the 166th pick, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Frank Gore Jr. at pick No. 179 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A need, and now a little less of one.
Taking LaDarius Henderson in the 190th overall pick is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They took Sam Hartman at par in slot 229, which is nothing to complain about. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.