F
Minnesota Vikings
Maye is the Vikings' new face under center. Grade: F.
by wbwychor ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 3 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.
Whatever Drake Maye becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. They will need Ugwu to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped running back, which is a strange place to end up. Goncalves falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
They are betting the present roster is worth a lighter draft next spring.
About as rough as a weekend gets on paper, with running back still staring back at them.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 2 they get their guy under center for the next decade. The biggest hole, addressed.
A quiet steal in pick No. 40: Tyler Nubin for less than the market said. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
By-the-book stuff, Kalen King at the 42nd overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. A minor itch, scratched.
Circle this one: Matt Goncalves at No. 130 is a fall that decides a draft. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Nothing to complain about; Tommy Eichenberg went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. It adds depth where they could use a little.
No edge and no loss on Kamal Hadden in the 140th pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
A straight-up fair deal on Ty'Ron Hopper at pick 148, value and slot in agreement. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Chau Smith-Wade at the Round 5 slot is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Andru Phillips at pick 179 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Josh Proctor in the Round 6 slot is fair value, right on his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Value said wait; Brian Ugwu in the 199th overall pick says they were not listening. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Dylan McMahon at No. 230 is a conviction pick that outran the value. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.