EAGAN, Minnesota — Donovan Jackson was on the Minnesota Vikings’ radar last year when he was considering entering the NFL draft, but he decided to return to Ohio State for his senior season.
Their interest in the 6-foot-4, 315-pound left guard grew as a result of Jackson’s contributions to the Buckeyes’ national championship run, and not just because of his ability and performance.
An injury at left tackle necessitated Jackson’s slide, but coach Ryan Day left the decision up to him. After all, playing an unnatural position on the fly risked devaluing his draft stock.
But Jackson embraced the change, putting the greater good ahead of his own professional development with a team-first attitude that cemented Minnesota’s confidence in him as a first-round pick.
On Thursday, the Vikings selected Jackson with the 24th overall pick, ignoring opportunities to trade down and increase their pick total in favor of plugging him in as the final piece of their offseason offensive line overhaul.
“We say the word ‘selfless’ often, and I think ‘selfless’ is a word we all like to say about ourselves, but selfless in action — you’re talking about everything on the line for his personal future,” Mensah told reporters.
“What he did for his team, and it resulted in a national championship run, is something that he should be proud of as a player and something that we’re proud to bring to this organization.”
That type of mindset has been a priority for the Vikings since Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell took over three years ago. Culture has become a common corporate buzzword, but it has the potential to impact success.
Their 14-win season in 2024 was undoubtedly aided by strong chemistry, which the front office and coaching staff helped to cultivate through their deliberate process of player evaluation. The key, of course, is to incorporate them without sacrificing talent.
Jackson’s performance at tackle against the third overall pick in this draft, Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, in his first start demonstrated his ability to play at a high level.
“That was kind of exciting for me to get to see that and be like, ‘Yeah, that was the kind of athlete I really believed was under the hood,” says Adofo-Mensah. “We’re excited about the palette of the player we got.”
Jackson has a straightforward perspective on his position change, which came with some additional experience that should help him with his NFL transition.
“My main goal was to help the team win. It doesn’t matter what my goals are as long as the team wins and I set them aside,” Jackson said. “But what I learned from that was simply how to block various types of rushers. Guards fight in phone booths. When you’re a tackle, you’re going up against a guy with a slightly different body type.”
The Vikings did not pick again after Jackson until No. 102, a late third-round pick on Friday after trading down with Houston, but they added valuable depth with Maryland wide receiver Tai Felton.
Last season, he led the Big Ten with 96 catches and 1,124 receiving yards and ran the sixth-fastest 40-yard dash (4.37 seconds) among wide receivers at the NFL scouting combine. His vertical jump of 39.5 inches tied for fourth.
“Let me put the ball in my hands. “I’m going to make defenders miss, and my goal is to score,” Felton said.
He will also get a good look as a punt and kickoff returner.
“You could feel this player’s speed on film,” Ryan Grigson, senior vice president of player personnel, said. “He’s going to be able to do a lot of things for us in this offense.”
Georgia defensive tackle Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was the Vikings’ first pick on Saturday, returning to a talent-rich program that has produced a steady stream of NFL-ready prospects in recent years, including on the defensive line.
Ingram-Dawkins is a late bloomer who started as a senior for the Bulldogs, still raw but with an explosive first step off the line and the ability to change direction. He will be able to develop behind veterans Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, and Harrison Phillips in a position group that has been strengthened by the signings of Allen and Hargrave in free agency.
“Just trying to learn the ropes from them and hopefully be able to get a shot soon,” he told me. “I’ll just be waiting on my opportunity.”
The most significant development on Saturday was the acquisition of quarterback Sam Howell from Seattle, which involved a swap of fifth-round picks with the Seahawks. Howell began a full season for Washington in 2023, but he is only 24 years old and has plenty of time to develop under O’Connell while serving as a reliable backup to J.J. McCarthy in the event of an injury.
“If the season started today,” she said, “we’d be fired up about the guys in that room.”
Following some additional maneuvering, the Vikings acquired an extra pick and selected Penn State linebacker Kobe King (201st overall) and Pittsburgh tight end Gavin Bartholomew (202nd) in the sixth round.
King was widely projected as a mid-round pick, so the Vikings couldn’t pass him up despite already having Blake Cashman and Ivan Pace as starters on the inside.
“I watched him and I was like, ‘There’s no way he’ll be there when this projection says he will be,'” Adofo-Mensah explained. “Sometimes you get lucky.”