D-
Minnesota Vikings
A franchise passer in Maye headlines a D- weekend for the Vikings.
by 18 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 4 steals
· 3 reaches
Call it belief, call it a gut call, but Keith Randolph Jr. at the 180th overall pick is 38 spots clear of consensus, and that is the headline. 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. For all the activity, safety went untouched, which is hard to explain.
The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not. However the rest shakes out, Wallace at that price is a win they earned.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get the arm they will build around. Exactly the need they had to hit.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing T'Vondre Sweat in slot 52. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They read the board right and Elijah Jones was the payoff at pick 129. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A slide stopped in pick No. 157, with Jacob Cowing worth more than the price. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They went early on Layden Robinson in Round 5, Pick 31, and the value did not follow. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Value said wait; Kendall Milton in No. 177 says they were not listening. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They reached into another round for Keith Randolph Jr., and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
No edge and no loss on Tylan Grable in the Round 7 slot; it is a wash and a sensible one. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board had Trevin Wallace higher than the 247th overall pick, and the linebacker fell to them anyway. A minor need, but a need all the same.