B-
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings answered their biggest question with McCarthy. Grade: B-.
by kgrundseth ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 2 steals
· 4 reaches
The Vikings clearly saw something nobody else did in Carson Steele, taking him 94 picks ahead of his grade. The board is not convinced.
Everything downstream of J.J. McCarthy depends on J.J. McCarthy, and the building knows it. They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. It is not that Brownlee Jr. is a bad player; it is that the Vikings had louder needs to answer first.
They banked enough surplus on Jackson to cover a lot of smaller sins. They will regret leaving safety for another day if the season turns on it.
Not a headline-grabber, but a perfectly good weekend's work.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a long-term answer under center, though the board says they badly overpaid. The biggest hole, addressed.
In slot 23 they get a double-digit-sack hope at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Khyree Jackson in the 108th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Jarvis Brownlee Jr. adds a cornerback and leaves safety, wide receiver and other spots untouched.
A conviction pick on Javion Cohen at No. 157 that the board grades a round light. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Myles Cole well ahead of where he belonged. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Fair-plus on AJ Barner, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. A need, and now a little less of one.
Carson Steele at No. 232 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It fills a real need, too.