Somebody took the Vikings to the cleaners. The deals they made bled real value, and the whole class wears it. A D that will need time and luck to look better.
Jayden Daniels gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. For all the activity, safety went untouched, which is hard to explain. The Smith pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at safety, running back and other spots.
The Nugent pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. Getting Wilson where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and safety is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
R1.7
· Pick 7
· Jayden Daniels
· QB
· rank 7
In No. 7 they get a franchise quarterback at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
R1.11
· Pick 11
· Byron Murphy II
· DL
· rank 20
Byron Murphy II at slot 11 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
R2.10
· Pick 42
· T'Vondre Sweat
· DT
· rank 48
A market-rate interior defensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on T'Vondre Sweat. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
R3.2
· Pick 66
· Payton Wilson
· LB
· rank 43
The board fumbled Payton Wilson all the way to the Round 3 slot, and they scooped it up. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
R4.5
· Pick 105
· Maason Smith
· DT-EDGE
· rank 107
A curious use of pick 105. Safety, running back and other spots needed the pick; a DT-EDGE in Maason Smith did not.
R4.9
· Pick 109
· Jarvis Brownlee Jr.
· CB
· rank 115
By-the-book stuff, Jarvis Brownlee Jr. at pick No. 109 squarely in line with his ranking. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
R4.30
· Pick 130
· Ben Sinnott
· TE
· rank 132
Ben Sinnott at Round 4, Pick 30 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
R5.20
· Pick 156
· Mason McCormick
· OT
· rank 159
Mason McCormick at the 156th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
R6.4
· Pick 179
· Khristian Boyd
· DL-EDGE
· rank 179
They took Khristian Boyd at par in Round 6, Pick 4, which is nothing to complain about. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
R6.15
· Pick 190
· Drake Nugent
· C
· rank 203
The board had cheaper options than Drake Nugent at slot 190, and it noticed. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
