B+
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings left with their quarterback, and a B+ to match.
by Vkh ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 6 steals
· 1 reaches
The Vikings spent the pick that matters most on Drake Maye, and a roster that has been waiting on a passer can start to take shape. The bottom line is a respectable B+.
The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend. Getting Clark where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class. They are betting Ogunbiyi proves the room right and everyone else wrong.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through interior defensive lineman. The Jackson pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with interior defensive lineman still on the board.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 12 they get the face of the franchise at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Value with a capital V on Kris Jenkins in slot 58, a genuine coup. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A tidy bit of business in pick No. 76, where D.J. James graded well above the range. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Zak Zinter at the Round 3 slot is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Audric Estime at No. 109 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Khyree Jackson adds a cornerback and leaves interior defensive lineman untouched.
Mohamed Kamara in the 113th overall pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Matt Goncalves at the 114th pick is the proof. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Tommy Eichenberg in No. 130 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Malik Mustapha in the Round 5 slot. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Jordan Travis is a better player than slot 147 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A clean, defensible pick in pick 157 with a little surplus value in Keith Randolph Jr.. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Aki Ogunbiyi in the 166th overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A straight-up fair deal on Trey Knox at the 179th pick, value and slot in agreement. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
By-the-book stuff, Braiden McGregor at Round 6, Pick 21 squarely in line with his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Circle this one: De'Corian Clark at pick No. 227 is a fall that decides a draft. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.