D
Minnesota Vikings
A passer of the future in Nix, and a D, for the Vikings.
by Vikings rule ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 5 steals
· 1 reaches
You can lose a draft before you make a pick. The Vikings did it at the trade table, overpaying to chase players the board did not price nearly as high.
Whatever Bo Nix becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. For all the activity, running back went untouched, which is hard to explain. The Nix reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade.
James falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, running back very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
A reach for Bo Nix in the 11th pick; a little patience would have been rewarded. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
In the Round 1 slot they get juice off the edge. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Tykee Smith at pick 109 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A quiet steal in the 130th overall pick: DJ James for less than the market said. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Theo Johnson in No. 156 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A need, and now a little less of one.
The board had Javion Cohen higher than pick No. 166, and the offensive lineman fell to them anyway. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Chau Smith-Wade slid further than he should have, and slot 179 is lovely value for the cornerback. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Darius Muasau is a better player than Round 7, Pick 32 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.