Vikings May Have Drafted a 10-Year Starter
The time may have arrived — you know, when the Minnesota Vikings, alas, solve their longstanding offensive guard woes.
With Donovan Jackson selected in Round 1 two months ago, the Vikings may have landed a 10-year starter.
Minnesota drafted Donovan Jackson from Ohio State in April, a guard who could start as early as Week 1. Fans greeted the draft selection with nearly universal approval, as the offensive trenches have agitated onlookers for almost a decade.
And according to one insider, Minnesota might’ve landed a “10-year starter” in Jackson, which would be music to the ears of Vikings loyalists.
Unnamed Coordinator Sends Donovan Jackson Hype Train Forward
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler published an article this week, analyzing the NFL’s most significant offseason moves, and while Jackson to Minnesota wasn’t formally listed, the former Buckeye received some love in a side-note blurb.
Fowler quoted an anonymous NFL coordinator as saying about Jackson: “You know why I really like this pick? He’s going to be a solid 10-year starter. Not sure he’s elite, but he will make a few Pro Bowls and be a really good player for a long time.”
To which fans say: “We will take it.”
Vikings’ Guard Woes since Steve Hutchinson’s Departure
Minnesota acquired Hall of Fame offensive guard Steve Hutchinson in 2006, and he stuck around until the end of the 2012 campaign before retiring. Believe it or not, since his departure — yes, 13 years ago — the purple team has struggled to nail down the guard spot on the depth chart.
At times, the club will employ a decent guard or two, but never anyone remotely of Hutchinson’s caliber. Furthermore, sometimes that guard play has proven to be downright awful, especially from 2018 to 2021.
Jackson is the big hope to fix the OG woes and return to the glory of the Hutchinson days. The ESPN nugget is encouraging evidence.
Donovan Jackson Trending as a Week 1 Starter
Thankfully, Jackson is also trending to start out of the gate. In recent memory, Minnesota has drafted players from Round 1 who do not see the field right away — or at all — with safety Lewis Cine as the in-your-face example.
Since Jackson became Minnesota’s Round 1 draft choice, it’s just been kind of assumed that he would start in September, and dealings at organized team activities and mandatory minicamp have done nothing to shoot down the theory.
In line with the unnamed coordinator’s observation, Jackson is on track to start against the Chicago Bears at left guard in Week 1.
The Full Offensive Line Group
Barring injury, head coach Kevin O’Connell will floss this offensive line fivesome in 2025:
— LT: Christian Darrisaw
— LG: Donovan Jackson
— C: Ryan Kelly
— RG: Will Fries
— RT: Brian O’Neill
On paper, it’s Minnesota’s best offensive line unit in years and might end up mimicking some of the dazzling versions from the 1990s and 2000s.
Janik Eckardt on Donovan Jackson
Our own Janik Eckardt recently wrote about Jackson, “A player who shouldn’t have to fear cutdown day whatsoever is offensive guard Donovan Jackson, Minnesota’s 24th overall pick and promising candidate to be the long-term solution at the left guard position.”
“Despite his draft status as a rare first-round guard — in fact, he is the first guard the Vikings selected since Randall McDaniel in 1988 — he still has to dethrone a veteran to take a starting spot. At this time of the year, however, it’s more about acclimating to the new teammates and the NFL level rather than competing with them. One nugget: Donovan Jackson is already running with the top offensive line.”
Minnesota’s offensive line actually played quite well, on the whole, last season, before crumbling when it mattered the most in Week 18 and in the playoffs. The disappearing act prompted the emphasis on the trenches this offseason via free agency and the draft.
“Whether he will ultimately lose his job to Jackson in time for Week 1 remains to be seen,” Eckardt noted on last year’s starter, Blake Brandel.
“The rookie surely has the talent to challenge him early in his Vikings tenure. Jackson started 40 games at Ohio State. Of those were the first 31 at left guard and the last nine at left tackle to compensate for the season-ending knee injury of actual left tackle Josh Simmons. The 22-year-old paired with Fries has a chance to form the best guard duo the club has had in a very long time.”
A 10-year starter with a few Pro Bowls would represent an unabashed success for a general manager (Adofo-Mensah) who needs some unabashed draft success stories.
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