B
Minnesota Vikings
A solid, sensible weekend for the Vikings: B.
by gpayne ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 5 steals
· 1 reaches
The Vikings torched the value chart for Austin Reed, taking him 49 spots sooner than anyone had him slotted. It does the job without flash, and the B reflects it.
That is a TE-EDGE worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through wide receiver.
It is not that Stover is a bad player; it is that the Vikings had louder needs to answer first.
Good work on the whole, with wide receiver the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
A straight-up fair deal on Dallas Turner at the Round 1 slot, value and slot in agreement. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
No edge and no loss on Jonathon Brooks in the 42nd overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose TE-EDGE. Cade Stover in Round 4, Pick 9 leaves wide receiver, tight end and other spots for later.
A offensive lineman of that caliber at the 130th pick is the definition of value, full stop. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board fumbled Jaylin Simpson all the way to No. 156, and they scooped it up. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A top-tier safety at a bargain, Tykee Smith in slot 166, plain and simple. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Austin Reed in slot 179 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Somehow Sione Vaki was still sitting there in the Round 6 slot, and they pounced on premier safety value. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.