Vikings jump Giants for quarterback in latest mock draft

The Minnesota Vikings made a blockbuster trade with the Texans on Friday to acquire their second first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Many believe Minnesota will use its two first-rounders to trade up and land a quarterback.

CBS Sports analyst Josh Edwards agrees as he has the Vikings jumping the New York Giants in his latest mock draft.

Minnesota now owns the Nos. 11 and 23 overall picks and would likely need to use both if they were to move up to No. 5 overall, where Edwards has the team landing Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy.

"With three quarterbacks taken with the first three picks, Minnesota has to get aggressive in order to secure the fourth quarterback off the board," Edwards writes. "It trades up to No. 5 overall so that Kevin O'Connell can work with Michigan's J.J. McCarthy since Kirk Cousins has moved on to Atlanta."

McCarthy's draft stock has been rising ever since he led the Wolverines to a national championship in January. He currently ranks as the fourth-best quarterback and No. 28 overall prospect on Pro Football Focus' big board after throwing for 5,710 yards, 44 touchdowns and just nine interceptions from 2022-23.

There is a belief around the league that there could be a run on quarterbacks at the top of the first round.

"The STRONG expectation around the NFL right now- 4 of the first 6 picks will be QB's," NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah posted on the platform X shortly after the Vikings traded for the No. 23 pick.

If that ends up being the case, the Vikings will have to be aggressive if they want to add to its quarterback room with one of the top prospects.

The Vikings have outwardly shown a lack of urgency since losing QB Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency, only signing QB Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract as of Friday afternoon.

Their latest move says otherwise, however, as the team is clearly eyeing one of the top quarterbacks in this year's draft class. Who it is is still up for debate, but fans should expect Minnesota to be on the move once again in the near future.