F
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings found their guy under center in Maye: F.
by nexx ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 2 steals
· 7 reaches
You can lose a draft before you make a pick. The Vikings did it at the trade table, overpaying to chase players the board did not price nearly as high. Little went right, and the F does not pretend otherwise.
Drake Maye is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off. Reaching for Thomas left real value on the table behind him.
Spend now, pay later; the math only works if this class delivers. Simpson falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
The verdict is harsh because the weekend was, and there is little to argue.
Pick-by-Pick
No drama and no debate, Drake Maye went about where he belonged in pick 4. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
In the 11th pick they get a matchup problem out wide. A clean fit for the roster.
In the 27th overall pick they get protection for the quarterback at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A premium they did not need to pay, Jackson Powers-Johnson a notch or two before his time. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
T'Vondre Sweat at the Round 2 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Nice patience on Chris Braswell, who had no business lasting to Round 3, Pick 2. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A conviction pick on Christian Haynes at slot 68 that the board grades a round light. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Cooper Beebe. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Javon Solomon in Round 3, Pick 27 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It does not line up with the team's obvious holes.
By-the-book stuff, Khyree Jackson at pick No. 104 squarely in line with his ranking. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Jalyx Hunt in No. 108 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Where it fits the depth chart is the real question.
A straight-up fair deal on James Williams at pick 129, value and slot in agreement. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Dylan Laube in slot 133 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Theo Johnson at the 148th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Ty'Ron Hopper in the Round 5 slot lands just on the right side of the ledger. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Jaylin Simpson in the 168th pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Javon Baker in the 179th overall pick is fair value, right on his grade. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A big swing on Xavier Thomas at the Round 7 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.