Strange Name Picked for Vikings’ Building Block of the Future
Justin Jefferson? Christian Darrisaw? Think those men are the Minnesota Vikings’ building blocks for the future? Not according to Bleacher Report. Per that website, rookie guard Donovan Jackson is Minnesota’s chief asset to build around, a bittersweet assessment as most fans would’ve picked someone else.
Jackson looks like a long-term guard solution, but building-block labels usually go to true cornerstones, not interior linemen.
BR’s Brag Gagnon named one building block of the future for each NFL team this week, and Jackson got the nod for the Vikings.
National Praise Lands on an Unusual Candidate for Vikings
It’s some high praise for the Vikings’ 1st-Round rookie.
BR Tabs Jackson as Chief Building Block
It was quite the shoutout from Gagnon for Jackson.
He wrote on Wednesday, “The first-round pick has been a reliable presence in the interior offensive line all season, even though he might not be fully healthy. The team’s only top-100 draft choice appears to be on track to play a major role for years to come.”
The Vikings used their 1st-Round pick on Jackson last April, even after the most glaring roster need seemed to be a cornerback or defensive tackle.
For the most part, Jackson has lived up to the draft placement.
What about … the Others?
While it’s fantastic that Jackson got his flowers from Bleacher Report, one must wonder why others were omitted.
The obvious names were mentioned at the top of this article: Jefferson and Darrisaw. Jefferson will turn 27 in the summer, so he has many productive years left, especially given his talent and overall durability.
Darrisaw hasn’t quite healed from a nagging ACL tear, but he’s connected to the Vikings through the end of the 2029 campaign and is one of the NFL’s best left tackles. He’s more of a building block than Jackson, if one assumes his knee stabilizes this offseason.
And outside linebacker Dallas Turner turned the corner this season into a promising and electric pass rusher, showing everyone why general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah traded ample draft capital to get him.
Jackson’s Rookie Campaign
Pro Football Focus doesn’t love Jackson just yet, assigning him a 59.1 grade through 17 weeks. Notably, Jackson has allowed just two sacks, so he has that stat to claim throughout the next several months.
The rookie has also shown toughness, battling through a couple of injuries this season, even having surgery on his wrist way back in September. Jackson played through the injury, flew to Los Angeles the next day for surgery, and was back in his starting position within a couple of weeks.
The Viking Age‘s Ryan O’Leary wrote about Jackson a few weeks ago, “The Vikings’ front office took a slight gamble during April’s draft. Holding only four total selections entering Day 1, most analysts felt the right approach would be to trade back, acquire some needed capital, and target either a defensive back or defensive tackle for Brian Flores’ defense.”
“Adofo-Mensah’s decision to hold firm at pick No. 24 overall and select guard Donovan Jackson is proving to be a major win for a franchise in dire need of infusing its roster with young talent (and rookie-scale contracts). Jackson was arguably the Vikings’ best player in Sunday’s brutal loss at home to the Chicago Bears.”
Jackson’s two best games of 2025 occurred against the Bears, an encouraging sign for the future.
O’Leary continued, “Per Pro Football Focus, he posted a clean sheet over 18 true pass-blocking reps and was solid in the run game. Jackson has been locking down Minnesota’s left guard spot for a few weeks now, proving he’s fully back from the wrist injury that forced him to miss two games earlier in the season.”
“His rapid development is a great sign for the Vikings, who currently have one of the NFL’s older starting lineups and needed to land at least one impact starter in April’s draft; that the rookie is shining alongside a converted, first-time center in Blake Brandel is an added feather in his cap.”
Guard Problem Finally Solved?
The Vikings struggled to find productive — or even average — guards for years under the previous leadership regime. In fact, it just became a way of life for fans. Minnesota would sign bottom-of-the-barrel guards, and the offensive line would suffer.
No one within the front office seemed to realize that these solutions were half-measured:
- Alex Boone
- Austin Schlottman
- Brandon Fusco
- Dakota Dozier
- Danny Isidora
- Dru Samia
- Ed Ingram
- Mike Harris
- Mike Remmers
- Nick Easton
- Oli Udoh
- Pat Elflein
- Wyatt Davis
Recently, though, Minnesota used Dalton Risner for a couple of seasons and drafted Jackson last April. The outlook at guard has changed — so much that Bleacher Report believes the newest one is the team’s chief building block.
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