F
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings finally solved quarterback, and it carried them to a F.
by thajoykileryahoocom ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 20 picks
· 8 steals
· 2 reaches
The Vikings spent real capital to be 46 picks early on Blake Watson, and the board is going to hold them to it. The board sounded every alarm, and the F is the fallout.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. They have staked the next five years on Jayden Daniels, which is the only story that really matters here.
They banked enough surplus on Chambers to cover a lot of smaller sins. The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not.
In the end, a class that has to defy its grades just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 11 they get a long-term answer under center at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In Round 1, Pick 24 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare at a price that makes it sweeter. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A tidy bit of business in the Round 2 slot, where Tyler Guyton graded well above the range. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Edgerrin Cooper. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Ennis Rakestraw Jr. at the 51st pick is money in the bank, a cornerback taken below his worth. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A tidy little value on Braden Fiske in slot 56, a step better than break-even. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They liked Zak Zinter enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 3 slot. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Renardo Green at slot 109 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
No drama and no debate, Ben Sinnott went about where he belonged in No. 130. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They barely believed it either: Michael Pratt still on the board at the 156th pick. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Mason McCormick at the 160th overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They took Luke McCaffrey at par in pick 166, which is nothing to complain about. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Isaiah Davis at Round 6, Pick 3 is the proof. A need, and now a little less of one.
No edge and no loss on Khristian Boyd in pick No. 179; it is a wash and a sensible one. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
M.J. Devonshire in Round 6, Pick 9 is fair value, right on his grade. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Walter Rouse at the 189th pick. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A straight-up fair deal on Hunter Nourzad at the 190th overall pick, value and slot in agreement. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Taking Steele Chambers in pick 219 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Circle this one: Drake Nugent at slot 229 is a fall that decides a draft. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Blake Watson at the Round 7 slot is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.