C+
Minnesota Vikings
McCarthy is the Vikings' new face under center. Grade: C+.
by kgrundseth ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 2 steals
· 5 reaches
They finally answered the question that shadows every other one. J.J. McCarthy is the Vikings' quarterback, full stop. A weekend of give and take that grades a C+.
The Byrd reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through wide receiver.
Getting Bishop where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class. The trades cost them a sliver of value they did not need to spend.
In the end, a coin-flip class: fine today, with a wide range of outcomes ahead.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a passer to set the clock by, though the board says they badly overpaid. The biggest hole, addressed.
They let Cole Bishop come to them and pounced at pick No. 115. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A straight-up fair deal on Mohamed Kamara at slot 129, value and slot in agreement. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Brandon Coleman. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Dwight McGlothern at the 167th overall pick nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Kamal Hadden slid further than he should have, and the 177th pick is lovely value for the cornerback. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Solomon Byrd in Round 6, Pick 39 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Rasheen Ali at pick 230 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A reach for Keaton Bills in pick No. 232; a little patience would have been rewarded. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.