B+
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings won the night they stopped Slaughter from sliding. Grade: B+.
by MNFtball2025 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 8 steals
· 0 reaches
The board owed the Vikings one, and it paid up: Jake Slaughter, the No. 58 name on the board, sitting there at the 82nd overall pick like a gift left on the doorstep. No fireworks, but a solid B+.
The quarterback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. It is not that Igbinosun is a bad player; it is that the Vikings had louder needs to answer first.
Good work on the whole, with quarterback the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 31st pick they get a ballhawk on the back end. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
D'Angelo Ponds is a better player than Round 2, Pick 30 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A minor need, but a need all the same.
The board fumbled Jake Slaughter all the way to slot 82, and they scooped it up. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went cornerback with Davison Igbinosun while clear needs at quarterback, edge rusher and other spots sat open.
A slide stopped in the Round 5 slot, with Kaytron Allen worth more than the price. A need, and now a little less of one.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Amare Thomas in pick No. 165, plain and simple. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They took VJ Payne at par in the 199th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Toriano Pride Jr. at No. 234. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
TJ Hall at Round 7, Pick 19 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
A quiet steal in the 244th pick: Zavion Thomas for less than the market said. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They let Miles Kitselman come to them and pounced at slot 247. It patches a soft spot without any drama.