B+
Minnesota Vikings
A masterclass at the trade table lands the Vikings a B+.
by Jakesum ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 4 steals
· 2 reaches
If you want a masterclass in dealing, watch the Vikings, who turned every swap into a profit this weekend. They moved the roster forward and banked a B+ for it.
They are betting Carter proves the room right and everyone else wrong. They punted on safety, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The McMillan steal is the beam this whole class leans on.
The Dayo Odeyingbo pickup adds a known quantity to a class of unknowns.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
A straight-up fair deal on Jared Verse at No. 15, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They paid up for T'Vondre Sweat at Round 2, Pick 14 when waiting would have done the job. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and J.J. McCarthy at the 51st overall pick is the proof. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Jalen McMillan in the 108th pick, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Junior Colson in pick 119 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jaheim Bell. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Nice patience on Mike Sainristil, who had no business lasting to slot 148. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Nothing to complain about; Darius Robinson went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A clean, defensible pick in slot 165 with a little surplus value in Layden Robinson. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for DeWayne Carter. A need, and now a little less of one.
The board fumbled Sam Hartman all the way to the 197th pick, and they scooped it up. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Jabbar Muhammad at pick 230 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.