Vikings draft QB, Edge Rusher…plus other NFC North Draft notes
(Detroit, MI) — The Minnesota Vikings made the first trade of the 2024 N-F-L Draft, trading their 11th pick for the New York Jets’ 10th pick. The Vikings used the 10th pick to select Michigan quarterback J-J McCarthy. The Vikings also sent pick number 129 in the fourth round and pick number 157 in the fifth round to New York and received pick number 203 in the sixth round in the trade. McCarthy helped Michigan to a national title this past season, completing 72.3 percent of his passes for 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns and just four interceptions. The Vikings later traded up again to number-17, and selected Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner. Minnesota currently does not hold a pick in tonight’s second or third rounds.
The Green Bay Packers took Arizona offensive tackle Jordan Morgan with the 25th pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft Thursday night. At 6-foot-5 and 325 pounds, Morgan allowed only two sacks during his senior year while playing 787 passing snaps. He was named all-Pac 12 and was a second-team All-American named by C-B-S Sports. Nineteen of the first 25 picks of this year’s draft have been offensive players. There was some speculation Packers GM Brian Gutekunst would make a trade or two – and that could still happen – but he stayed with the 25th pick at the event in Detroit.
The Chicago Bears are transforming their offense. The team selected U-S-C quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the N-F-L Draft yesterday. Williams won the Heisman Trophy in 2022 and passed for 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns, and five interceptions last season. The Bears then gave Williams a new weapon by selecting Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze with pick nine. Odunze was part of a prolific offense with the Huskies last season, catching 92 passes for 1,640 yards, and 13 touchdowns. Chicago has one scheduled pick in Day Two of the draft tonight.
The Detroit Lions fired up the hometown crowd by trading up in the First Round of the N-F-L Draft. The Lions sent their 29th pick and the 73rd pick to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for the 24th pick and a 2025 seventh-rounder. Detroit selected cornerback Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold with the 24th pick. Arnold sky-rocketed up the board after an electric 2023 season that saw him pick off five passes and record one sack for the Crimson Tide.
Most of America was confused by the Falcons‘ first-round draft pick, including the team’s current starting quarterback. E-S-P-N reports Kirk Cousins was notified of the pick only when Atlanta was on the clock, and it created “frustration” and “confusion” from Cousins and his camp. The former Vikings gunslinger joined the Falcons on a four-year, 180-million-dollar deal last month. Cousins believed the organization would use the pick to make the team better for this upcoming season as opposed to drafting his successor.
The Los Angeles Chargers picked towering offensive tackle Joe Alt out of Notre Dame with the fifth overall pick in the 2024 N-F-L Draft. Alt, who was a standout at Notre Dame, and played high school football at Totino-Grace, stands nearly six-feet-nine-inches tall and over 320 pounds. He follows his father John Alt as a first-round pick. His dad, also an offensive tackle and also a Minnesota native, was selected 21st overall in the 1984 N-F-L Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. John Alt played 13 seasons in the league, making two Pro Bowls. He played college football at Iowa. Joe Alt’s brother Mark Alt played hockey at the University of Minnesota.
The city of Detroit set an all-time record at the first round of the N-F-L Draft on Thursday. A massive record-setting crowd of 275-thousand fans attended the N-F-L Draft in downtown Detroit around Campus Martius. Before Thursday, Nashville had held the previous one-day record of just over 200-thousand fans. The draft will continue on Friday and Saturday, with Detroit having an opportunity to break Nashville’s three-day mark of more than 600-thousand people that was set in 2019.
