D
Minnesota Vikings
The phones sank the Vikings this weekend: D.
by Dmeschbe ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
You can lose a draft before you make a pick. The Vikings did it at the trade table, overpaying to chase players the board did not price nearly as high.
With tight end and interior defensive lineman unsolved, spending premium capital on DT-EDGE is the choice that costs them. The tight end hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
The McCarthy pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Latu.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and tight end is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 4 they get a go-to option on the outside. A real need, handled.
In slot 24 they get a disruptor off the edge, and a steal at that. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick No. 27 they get a press-man option on the boundary at fair value. More want than need.
A reach for J.J. McCarthy in No. 35; a little patience would have been rewarded. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Value with a capital V on Tyler Nubin in Round 2, Pick 10, a genuine coup. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A want over a need in the Round 3 slot: Maason Smith adds a DT-EDGE while tight end and interior defensive lineman keeps waiting.
They paid sticker price for Zak Zinter in the 94th overall pick, and that is fine. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Jaylin Simpson at the 168th pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Frank Gore Jr. in pick No. 179. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A tidy little value on Taulia Tagovailoa in slot 230, a step better than break-even. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.