B-
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings bet the future on Maye. The board says B-.
by Traderrick ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 3 steals
· 4 reaches
After circling the position for what felt like forever, the Vikings committed. Drake Maye is the quarterback now, and the roster gets built to his timeline. A dependable weekend that grades out a B-.
Tagovailoa has a lot of ground to make up just to look fairly priced. The offensive lineman spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Irving.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 4 they get the face of the franchise at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
A premium they did not need to pay, Mike Sainristil a notch or two before his time. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Austin Booker. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They robbed the room for Bucky Irving here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The roster fit checks out.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Justin Eboigbe in the 129th pick, miles early. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They read the board right and Tommy Eichenberg was the payoff at No. 157. A minor itch, scratched.
A quiet steal in the Round 5 slot: Kitan Oladapo for less than the market said. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They reached a country mile for Austin Reed at the 230th overall pick, and the board is aghast. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They talked themselves into Taulia Tagovailoa at pick 232, and the board did not agree. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.