B
Minnesota Vikings
The steal of the weekend belongs to the Vikings and McNeil-Warren: B.
by nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 6 steals
· 2 reaches
The board owed the Vikings one, and it paid up: Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, the No. 51 name on the board, sitting there at Round 3, Pick 18 like a gift left on the doorstep.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through quarterback. The Gulbin pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. On the needs board they went 6 of 8, with safety the one that mattered most.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the quarterback spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
They read the board right and Jeremiyah Love was the payoff at No. 18. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
By-the-book stuff, Lee Hunter at the Round 2 slot squarely in line with his ranking. The roster fit checks out.
Somehow Emmanuel McNeil-Warren was still sitting there in slot 82, and they pounced on premier safety value. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They robbed the room for Jacob Rodriguez here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Matt Gulbin at the 163rd pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A slide stopped in pick 196, with Zane Durant worth more than the price. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They liked Eli Heidenreich enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 234. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Nice patience on TJ Hall, who had no business lasting to the 235th overall pick. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Jaren Kanak is a better player than pick 244 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.