The 2024 NFL Draft kicks off in Detroit, Michigan just two weeks from today, and what makes this year's draft so intriguing is not just the top end prospects who will soon see their NFL dreams realized… it's that for the most part, we still don't know what will happen on Draft night after the Chicago Bears select Caleb Williams with the 1st overall pick, potentially ending their decades-long search for a superstar quarterback. There hasn't yet been any official indication on what the Washington Commanders will do with the 2nd overall pick, and that's why, for all intents and purposes, the draft starts once Washington is on the clock.

Current betting odds indicate that LSU's Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jayden Daniels is the presumptive #2 pick for the Commanders, but a recent development with the Minnesota Vikings may cast some doubt on both whether that is true, and whether the Commanders may make the selection at all. The Vikings head into the NFL Draft with the 11th overall pick. Assuming that any one of the top four quarterback prospects — Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye or JJ McCarthy — in this draft will fall to 11 looks more and more unlikely by the day, so the fact that the Vikings have scheduled a “private” meeting with Daniels may be a sign that the Vikings are willing to pony up future draft capital in order to move up and get their guy.

Now to be clear, this could just be an example of the Vikings doing their due diligence ahead of Draft night. As things stand right now, there is no legitimate reporting that indicates that the Vikings have had discussions with either the Commanders or the New England Patriots — who own the 3rd overall pick — in order to move up and get a quarterback. A while back, it looked as if the Vikings could find themselves in position to select JJ McCarthy with the 11th pick, but McCarthy's draft stock has seemingly ascended since then, and now the National Championship winning quarterback will likely be selected in the top ten.

So where does that leave Minnesota?

What will the Vikings do on Draft night? 

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Michigan football's JJ McCarthy in Vikings jersey after NFL Draft, deli sandwich in background

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Tom Telesco on one side with a speech bubble that says "We want Daniels!" Jayden Daniels on the other side with the big eyes emoji over his face

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Jayden Daniels in the middle, Jalen Hurts, Randall Cunningham around him, and Washington Commanders wallpaper in the background

Enzo Flojo ·

If the Vikings want to land one of the previously mentioned top four quarterback prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft, it will require that they move up to do so. Minnesota not only owns the 11th pick, but also the 23rd pick in the 1st round of the NFL Draft, and including both of those picks in a deal to move up to either #2 or #3 to possibly select Jayden Daniels is certainly the foundation of a potentially tasty trade package. But because the Vikings do have that second 1st round pick, it's also possible that they can stand pat at #11, grab the best player available, and then potentially take either Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix with the 23rd pick.

The most likely trade up scenario appears to be this one: if Washington were to take North Carolina's Drake Maye with the 2nd overall pick instead of Daniels, the New England Patriots appear to be a more likely trade partner for any team looking to move up. And if Maye were ahead of Daniels on New England's draft board, it could mean New England is even more likely to part ways with the 3rd overall pick, which could pave the way for Minnesota to move up into the top three to get their own quarterback of the future, because despite what Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell says about Sam Darnold, Darnold clearly doesn't possess the upside that someone like Jayden Daniels does.