D-
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings finally solved quarterback, and it carried them to a D-.
by thajoykileryahoocom ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 25 picks
· 11 steals
· 6 reaches
The Brenden Rice selection is the head-turner. The Vikings reached 35 spots for him, and it will define how this weekend is remembered. It grades a D-, and the process earned it.
Drake Maye is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. Trotter Jr. falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
A rough weekend that leaves the roster with more questions than answers.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 7th overall pick they get their quarterback of the future. The biggest hole, addressed.
In No. 31 they get a sticky cover corner at fair value. More want than need.
A quiet steal in slot 38: Amarius Mims for less than the market said. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Braden Fiske at pick 51 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Brenden Rice well ahead of where he belonged. A need, and now a little less of one.
Steal is underselling it; Kris Jenkins at the 66th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They took Blake Corum at par in pick 83, which is nothing to complain about. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in the 93rd pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Value with a capital V on Kris Abrams-Draine in the 94th overall pick, a genuine coup. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
The board had Christian Mahogany higher than slot 109, and the offensive lineman fell to them anyway. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Zak Zinter at the Round 4 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They liked Tykee Smith enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 130. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Michael Pratt at No. 132 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Dylan Laube at Round 4, Pick 34 is a conviction pick that outran the value. It fills a real need, too.
A premium they did not need to pay, Luke McCaffrey a notch or two before his time. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Khristian Boyd in No. 166 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Mason McCormick in Round 6, Pick 4 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Ty'Ron Hopper at slot 184 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
A conviction pick on Erick All at pick No. 197 that the board grades a round light. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
JD Bertrand slid further than he should have, and the Round 7 slot is lovely value for the linebacker. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
A clean, defensible pick in pick 229 with a little surplus value in Frank Gore Jr.. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board fumbled Julian Pearl all the way to the 238th overall pick, and they scooped it up. A fine player at a spot low on the priority list.
A top-tier edge rusher at a bargain, Jaylen Harrell in No. 241, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A market-rate safety, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Kenny Logan Jr.. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Nice patience on Brevyn Spann-Ford, who had no business lasting to the 249th pick. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.