D
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings finally solved quarterback, and it carried them to a D.
by bobbo ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 15 picks
· 11 steals
· 0 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Smael Mondon Jr. slide, and the Vikings were the ones holding the card at slot 177. Highway robbery. The math is unkind, and the D follows.
The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. Cam Ward gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits.
A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want. The veteran additions, JC Latham chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not.
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
Travis Hunter at pick 1 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
In the Round 1 slot they get the face of the franchise. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Nothing to complain about; Tate Ratledge went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Good price on Tyler Booker in Round 2, Pick 12, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A running back of that caliber at slot 97 is the definition of value, full stop. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Steal is underselling it; Quinshon Judkins at pick No. 102 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Circle this one: Gunnar Helm at pick 109 is a fall that decides a draft. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Deontae Lawson in No. 119 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They robbed the room for Barrett Carter here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Kevin Winston Jr. in the 140th overall pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Elic Ayomanor in the 158th overall pick, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Taking Jake Majors in No. 163 is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board fumbled Cam Skattebo all the way to pick No. 166, and they scooped it up. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Smael Mondon Jr. at the 177th pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Jonas Sanker at pick 240 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.