Vikings got most value out of first three rounds per analytics

According to advanced analytics, no team got more value out of the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft than the Minnesota Vikings.

Coming out of the draft feeling like a winner is almost as much about feeling like you got great value out of your picks as the picks themselves, especially from a fan perspective. There are a lot of different feelings about the Minnesota Vikings’ draft performance, but according to the analytics, they had the best draft in the league through the first three rounds.

From statistics from Warren Sharp on X (formerly Twitter), the Vikings got more value out of their picks in the first three rounds than any other team in the league. Sharp calculated this by comparing the DCOE, or Draft Capital over Expected) comparing where a player was expected to be drafted and the capital expected to be used to get him versus the actual investment.

According to DCOE, the Vikings picks over the first three rounds, quarterback J.J. McCarthy and EDGE Dallas Turner, netted the Vikings a score of 3.6, more than a half-point better than the next closest team, their NFC North rivals Detroit.

Detractors of the Vikings’ draft would say that the team gave up too much in order to get McCarthy and Turner, but the data paints a different picture. That picture becomes even better when you consider the amount of salary cap space the Vikings are projected to have next season and the compensatory picks they could receive for the free agents they lost in 2024.