D-
Minnesota Vikings
Best value of the weekend goes to the Vikings for Polk: D-.
by TraderRick ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 15 picks
· 6 steals
· 1 reaches
Every swap seemed to tilt away from the Vikings, and the value they bled adds up to real damage. It grades a D-, and the process earned it.
Reaching for McCarthy left real value on the table behind him. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Polk.
The Vikings paired the rookies with proven help, Minkah Fitzpatrick leading the way.
It is a steep hill from here, and the grade knows it.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 20 they get a disruptive interior force. A real need, handled.
In the 26th pick they get a press-man option on the boundary at fair value. More want than need.
In pick No. 31 they get a premier pass rusher at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A reach for J.J. McCarthy in pick 38; a little patience would have been rewarded. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Jackson Powers-Johnson at the 42nd overall pick is money in the bank, a offensive lineman taken below his worth. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jonathon Brooks at slot 46 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Nothing to complain about; Austin Booker went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board fumbled Ja'Lynn Polk all the way to Round 3, Pick 31, and they scooped it up. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Sataoa Laumea at slot 124 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and James Williams at pick 128 is the proof. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Dallin Holker. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They let Mason McCormick come to them and pounced at pick No. 176. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Dwight McGlothern is a better player than No. 187 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
A slide stopped in the Round 6 slot, with Nathaniel Watson worth more than the price. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
No drama and no debate, Javontae Jean-Baptiste went about where he belonged in pick No. 230. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.