F
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings finally solved quarterback, and it carried them to a F.
by thajoykileryahoocom ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 6 steals
· 4 reaches
Nobody had Frank Gore Jr. this high, and it is not close. The Vikings reached 30 spots to get him at the 197th pick. The warnings were there, and the F is the bill.
Drake Maye gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. Getting Mahogany where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class.
It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
The verdict is harsh because the weekend was, and there is little to argue.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 8 they get a long-term answer under center. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 11th overall pick they get a blindside protector at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 16th pick they get a premier pass rusher. The biggest hole, addressed.
A clean, defensible pick in pick No. 42 with a little surplus value in Ja'Tavion Sanders. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Edgerrin Cooper in No. 52 lands just on the right side of the ledger. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Calen Bullock at pick 81 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
The board had cheaper options than Brenden Rice at slot 83, and it noticed. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They barely believed it either: Khyree Jackson still on the board at pick No. 108. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A offensive lineman of that caliber at pick 129 is the definition of value, full stop. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board had Mason McCormick higher than No. 157, and the offensive lineman fell to them anyway. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Tanor Bortolini at the 167th pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
You do not let a wide receiver like Luke McCaffrey reach the 177th overall pick and blink. They did not. A need, and now a little less of one.
A tidy little value on Fabien Lovett in Round 6, Pick 13, a step better than break-even. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They took Joe Milton III at par in the Round 6 slot, which is nothing to complain about. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Frank Gore Jr. this early at slot 197. The roster fit checks out.
Ro Torrence at No. 207 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
They went early on JD Bertrand in pick No. 213, and the value did not follow. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
They will replay Jaylen Harrell at the 230th pick for years; that is how good the value is. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
No edge and no loss on Trevin Wallace in Round 7, Pick 11; it is a wash and a sensible one. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.