B+
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings finally solved quarterback, and it carried them to a B+.
by wbwychor ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 20 picks
· 9 steals
· 7 reaches
Call it a hunch or call it a gamble, but the Vikings spent the 230th overall pick on Caleb Okechukwu, a name most had 104 spots down the list.
Whatever Bo Nix becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. That Jordan pick is the receipt they will wave around later.
The Melton pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at wide receiver, tight end and other spots. That wide receiver hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
A tidy weekend of work that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 23 they get a franchise quarterback. Exactly the need they had to hit.
They paid a round early for Khyree Jackson in pick 95, more than the board wanted. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Jaden Hicks at pick No. 97 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A curious use of the Round 4 slot. Wide receiver, tight end and other spots needed the pick; a cornerback in Max Melton did not.
Kris Abrams-Draine at the 138th overall pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Steal is underselling it; Cole Bishop at the 148th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
By-the-book stuff, Ty'Ron Hopper at Round 5, Pick 19 squarely in line with his ranking. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They did well to land Braelon Allen in pick No. 160, just ahead of his grade. A need, and now a little less of one.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Edefuan Ulofoshio at the 166th overall pick is the proof. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
They read the board right and LaDarius Henderson was the payoff at the Round 5 slot. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Taking Jaylin Simpson in slot 177 is close to grand larceny; a cornerback that good had no business lasting this long. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Ethan Driskell. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A slide stopped in pick 195, with Isaiah Davis worth more than the price. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Value said wait; Xavier Thomas in the 209th pick says they were not listening. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Myles Cole at the 213th pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Somehow Rasheen Ali was still sitting there in Round 6, Pick 40, and they pounced on premier running back value. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A real head-scratcher, Caleb Okechukwu in pick No. 230 is miles ahead of his ranking. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Jawhar Jordan at the 239th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Trey Wedig well ahead of where he belonged. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They robbed the room for Daequan Hardy here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.