B+
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings found their guy under center in McCarthy: B+.
by venditto ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 4 steals
· 4 reaches
The one hole that towered over the rest is filled. The Vikings spent their marquee pick on J.J. McCarthy, and for the first time in a while there is a real answer at quarterback. A sturdy weekend that grades out a B+.
If one pick saves this weekend, it is Hart. The Ford pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over.
Spending an early pick on cornerback with edge rusher open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 32 they get a passer to set the clock by, though they paid up to get him. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A straight-up fair deal on T'Vondre Sweat at Round 2, Pick 19, value and slot in agreement. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They barely believed it either: Caelen Carson still on the board at slot 83. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Audric Estime slipping to the Round 4 slot is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A surprising call. With edge rusher still to address, they spent No. 129 on DJ James, a cornerback they were not short of.
Jaylan Ford at the 148th overall pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
By-the-book stuff, Layden Robinson at the 160th pick squarely in line with his ranking. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Somehow Cam Hart was still sitting there in pick No. 168, and they pounced on premier cornerback value. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
AJ Barner at pick No. 179 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Jalen Green at Round 6, Pick 39 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They paid up for Joshua Cephus at the 230th overall pick when waiting would have done the job. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.