B-
Minnesota Vikings
More right than wrong for the Vikings, and a B- to prove it.
by zaproctor ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 1 steals
· 1 reaches
Nobody had Jordan Travis this high, and it is not close. The Vikings reached 28 spots to get him at the 108th overall pick. It nets out to a B-, which feels about right.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through safety. That Smith-Wade pick is the receipt they will wave around later.
Good work on the whole, with safety the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 11th pick they get protection for the quarterback. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A clean, defensible pick in Round 2, Pick 10 with a little surplus value in Chop Robinson. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jordan Travis at the Round 4 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Good price on Tommy Eichenberg in pick No. 130, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A straight-up fair deal on Braelon Allen at No. 148, value and slot in agreement. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Keith Randolph Jr. at the 160th overall pick is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Layden Robinson in Round 5, Pick 30 is fair value, right on his grade. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A slide stopped in slot 179, with Chau Smith-Wade worth more than the price. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Steele Chambers. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.