B
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings won the night they stopped Haulcy from sliding. Grade: B.
by jimbo92107 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how A.J. Haulcy got past him. The Vikings do not have to explain a thing at pick 82. They moved the roster forward and banked a B for it.
Leaving quarterback unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. The Harold Landry III deal gives the class an established piece to lean on.
Reaching for Boettcher left real value on the table behind him. A modest surplus at the table, banked quietly.
Good work on the whole, with quarterback the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 31 they get a No. 1 receiver. A real need, handled.
CJ Allen is a better player than pick 49 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Steal is underselling it; A.J. Haulcy at slot 82 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They jumped the gun on Darrell Jackson Jr., taking him earlier than his grade liked. A need, and now a little less of one.
Nothing to complain about; Trey Zuhn III went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They paid up for Bryce Boettcher at No. 163 when waiting would have done the job. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Jeff Caldwell in the 196th pick lands just on the right side of the ledger. It fills a real need, too.
The board had Riley Nowakowski higher than the 234th overall pick, and the tight end fell to them anyway. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Kaden Wetjen at pick 235 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They took Eli Heidenreich at par in Round 7, Pick 28, which is nothing to complain about. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.