F
Minnesota Vikings
Quarterback settled, Maye in the fold, and a F for the Vikings.
by Pork12 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 40 picks
· 8 steals
· 19 reaches
When the story of this class is written, it opens with Jaylon Hutchings at pick 231, a reach of 123 spots that the board flatly disagrees with.
The whole projection now runs through Drake Maye; hit there and everything else looks smarter. The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. Getting Johnson where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class.
There is no soft landing here; this class has to massively overperform just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 3rd pick they get a true top target at fair value.
Drake Maye at pick No. 4 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
In the Round 1 slot they get a cornerstone up front. The biggest hole, addressed.
In Round 1, Pick 23 they get a double-digit-sack hope. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In No. 31 they get a No. 1 receiver. A clean fit for the roster.
They paid a round early for T'Vondre Sweat in slot 34, more than the board wanted. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Ben Sinnott this early at pick 35. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing T.J. Tampa in the 63rd overall pick. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Payton Wilson at pick No. 64 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the linebacker. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Spencer Rattler at slot 66 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Kiran Amegadjie. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Blake Corum at the Round 3 slot jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson at the 90th pick is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Dominick Puni in Round 3, Pick 31 lands just on the right side of the ledger. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Zak Zinter at pick 95 is a conviction pick that outran the value. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Blake Fisher in the Round 4 slot is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Christian Jones at the 104th pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They took McKinnley Jackson at par in the 124th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Justin Eboigbe in No. 132 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They jumped the gun on Trevor Keegan, taking him earlier than his grade liked. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They paid sticker price for Isaiah Adams in Round 5, Pick 1, and that is fine. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A slide stopped in pick No. 138, with Josh Newton worth more than the price. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Marist Liufau at the Round 5 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
Value said wait; Ty'Ron Hopper in pick No. 146 says they were not listening. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
They will replay Johnny Wilson at slot 151 for years; that is how good the value is. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Jarrian Jones in the 157th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Khristian Boyd. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jaylen Harrell in the 162nd pick, miles early. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They read the board right and Kitan Oladapo was the payoff at No. 167. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Tip Reiman in Round 6, Pick 2 is fair value, right on his grade. It fills a real need, too.
A straight-up fair deal on Tanor Bortolini at No. 180, value and slot in agreement. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A reach for Trente Jones in pick No. 186; a little patience would have been rewarded. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
You do not let a running back like Dillon Johnson reach pick 193 and blink. They did not. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Ro Torrence in the Round 6 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Michael Barrett in slot 215 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Evan Anderson at Round 7, Pick 6 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They talked themselves into Zion Logue at the 230th pick, and the board did not agree. A need, and now a little less of one.
A big swing on Jaylon Hutchings at the 231st overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A wild overpay on Eyabi Okie-Anoma in the 232nd pick, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They barely believed it either: Cornelius Johnson still on the board at pick 251. The roster fit checks out.