Vikings Coach Spills the Beans on Draft Pick
Up against theories that he might trade back on draft night four weeks ago, Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah refused such a strategy and picked Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson, completing his offensive line overhaul in the last two months.
The Vikings were destined to end up with Donovan Jackson in the draft. Why? Well, head coach Kevin O’Connell dreamt about it.
And in a recently-posted mini-draft documentary, Adofo-Mensah shared his mindset behind the Jackson selection, and the footage even revealed that head coach Kevin O’Connell dreamed about Jackson.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Behind the Scenes on Draft Strategy
In the documentary, Adofo-Mensah discussed the prospect of a trade or stick-and-pick at No. 24. He told his staff, “If it’s Donovan or that, we talked about these scenarios, but I just want to come back to you guys all beforehand and say same page or if you want to take the risk and go back.”
He later mentioned about Jackson, “If we go back, you got to treat it like he’s not going to be there.”
Adofo-Mensah also braced for his team’s foremost nemesis, the Green Bay Packers, to swipe Jackson at pick No. 23, one spot ahead of the Vikings.
“There’s a chance the Packers take Donovan. That’s like the big risk, so we just got to be ready,” Adofo-Mensah told the draft room.
The documentary clued onlookers in on the fact that Minnesota really had its heart set on Jackson, which explains no trade back from No. 24, a commonly predicted theory.
Kevin O’Connell Had a Dream about the Donovan Jackson Pick
Then, O’Connell spilled the beans.
He told the war room, “I had a dream last night we drafted him.”
In a 2023 draft documentary, very similar to the latest, O’Connell was seen urging his colleagues to stick-and-pick wide receiver Jordan Addison, resisting the urge to trade back during that draft. Addison turned out to be a stellar pick, and onlookers are already claiming that O’Connell might be on to something with Jackson.
If he was dreaming about the guy, it likely wasn’t a nightmare.
Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell on the Jackson Fit
After the Jackson pick, Adofo-Mensah said, “Donovan is a great kid, awesome to be around. He was up here for a top-30 visit, and I think he’s gonna fit the locker room really well. As a player, this guy is a three-year starter at left guard, had to move to left tackle this year. He’s big, tough, strong. He’s gonna fit in really well.”
O’Connell added, “Very excited to welcome him to the Minnesota Vikings. What are we getting? We’re getting a big, strong, physical player that comes from a national championship team. Started over 40 games at Ohio State, incredibly fitting for the group we’ve put together on the offensive line.”
A New Vikings OL Fivesome
What situation will Jackson walk into this summer? A pretty fantastic one. Adofo-Mensah said sayonara to Ed Ingram, Dalton Risner, and Garrett Bradbury this offseason, drafting Jackson and signing two interior linemen from the Indianapolis Colts, center Ryan Kelly and guard Will Fries.
After allowing nine sacks in the playoffs to the Los Angeles Rams — a sad NFL playoff record — the Vikings completely retooled the offensive line, building the trenches in a manner fans have asked for over the last decade.
From right to left, Minnesota will now showcase Brian O’Neill, Will Fries, Ryan Kelly, Donovan Jackson, and Christian Darrisaw in the trenches. On paper, it might be the best offensive line for the Vikings in 25+ years.
Vikings.com on Jackson
Following the Jackson draft selection, Vikings.com’s Rob Kleifeld shed some light on the selection.
He wrote, “After the pick, Adofo-Mensah said Jackson was on his radar as far back as the 2023 season, when he contemplated early entry to the NFL Draft, and noted there was year-over-year improvement, particularly in terms of his reactiveness and athleticism, which was especially evident going against and battling with No. 3 overall selection Abdul Carter in Jackson’s first college start at left tackle in early November.”
“There’s two aspects of the mid-season shift to left tackle that Jackson made in his final college campaign that are stunning: Firstly, his coaches asked him — and let him decide — to fill in after 32nd overall pick Josh Simmons and Simmons’ backup suffered injuries; Jackson weighed his coaches’ honesty and a spiel from his agent, that essentially outlined the risks and rewards of changing to a position he hadn’t played since high school. Ultimately, in a matter of two days, Jackson said his mind was made up.”
Jackson’s Buckeyes also won the National Championship in January.
Kleifeld added, “The second aspect that shouldn’t be forgotten is Jackson is capable of doing both at a high level — i.e. playing inside and blocking defenders in a phone booth, or stymying longer, more athletic edge players.”
On the whole, the guy O’Connell dreamt about became a reality. Jackson will begin his journey to a starter’s job in less than one week at organized team activities (OTAs) in Eagan.
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