Minnesota Vikings grade and analysis for Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft

The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft is in the books and as many fans expected, the Minnesota Vikings were among the teams who made some bold decisions to go after young players they felt would be a good fit for the team.

Minnesota ends Night 1 by selecting Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy at No. 10 overall and Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner at No. 17 overall. Acquiring both players was achieved by trading up, meaning the Vikings did pay a premium for those players.

Getting arguably the top defensive prospect in the draft and hopefully the team's quarterback of the future is awesome, but only time can tell if these picks will work out for the team and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

Minnesota Vikings Round 1 grade: A-

It's difficult to fault the Vikings for their haul on Day 1. Landing McCarthy without spending an additional first-round pick and getting great value in an elite defensive prospect with Turner is an A+ haul for the purple and gold.

The only real knock against Minnesota is the picks they gave up to put themselves in position to draft these two highly-regarded prospects. Although most of the picks they surrendered with mid-round selections, the Vikings will need to work a little harder to fill out their roster since they only have five picks remaining in the draft with all of them coming in Day 3.

VikingTerritory writer Dustin Baker broke down the trades and what it really cost for Minnesota to be able to select McCarthy and Turner in a post on X.

In the end, feelings about this draft will likely hinge on whether or not you see J.J. McCarthy as being the quarterback of the future for the Minnesota Vikings. If you do, giving up those picks will seem like a small price to pay. But if you're skeptical about his future, odds are that you're not as pleased with the trades and picks that went down on Thursday night.

Seeing the 2025 draft picks in that list is a bit disheartening but it is good that the Vikings were able to hold on to their future first-round picks when it was projected that they may have to give one up if they wanted to move up for a quarterback.

McCarthy is a proven winner who has found success by creating a winning environment around him. He has arm talent but can also impress with his mobility and decision making. He was consistent from 2022 to 2023, throwing for 22 touchdowns with five interceptions and 22 touchdowns for four touchdowns respectively.

in three years at Alabama, Turner racked up 32.5 tackles for loss including 22.5 sacks. He is coming off a 2023 campaign that saw him earn career-highs in tackles (63), sacks (10), and forced fumbles (2) despite only being 20 years old at the time.

Grabbing two productive players with potential to be even better as professionals is great for the Minnesota Vikings. As long as not having those future picks doesn't hurt too much, fans should love what Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and this team are cooking up for the future.