A-
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings cashed the board's mistake on Slaughter: A-.
by NorseGods72 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 5 steals
· 2 reaches
The board owed the Vikings one, and it paid up: Jake Slaughter, the No. 55 name on the board, sitting there at Round 3, Pick 33 like a gift left on the doorstep. Just about everything broke right, and the A- follows.
The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend. That quarterback hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
The Norfleet pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. The Christian Gonzalez deal gives the class an established piece to lean on.
A strong weekend's work, and a rare one to find this little fault with.
Pick-by-Pick
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Anthony Hill Jr. at the 49th pick is the proof. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren in Round 3, Pick 18 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Steal is underselling it; Jake Slaughter at the Round 3 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Zxavian Harris is a better player than slot 163 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They jumped the gun on David Gusta, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It fills a real need, too.
A clean, defensible pick in No. 234 with a little surplus value in John Michael Gyllenborg. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Noah Whittington slipping to pick No. 235 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Brett Norfleet well ahead of where he belonged. A need, and now a little less of one.