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D seems harsh since they only had 4 picks. I love drafting guard but they should have taken the deal Houston took behind us (picking up two 3rds to slide to 34). I like picking up Howell as a young guy with his own upside to go with experience. The Georgia DT is interesting. Started just 10 games in four years, with just 4 sacks, but an athletic freak? I’m intrigued.
Aren't most 5th and 6th rounders out of the league within 4 years?
Yes but my point is that the Vikings seem to more often draft developmental guys that neither develop nor contribute at all. So you end up where they are now - a very shallow roster.
Based on what?
purpleptsd.com
www.fantasylife.com
S Emmanwori had been projected as a possibility and was there at 34. I see other DT/OL I'm not as familiar with. I'm not familiar enough to suggest who was a good target in the 3rd, but that pick could be leveraged in any number of ways to accumulate more picks. Same with the 2026 3rd.
Well he raves about Jackson saying he was Thors top guard of the draft.
I saw him discuss on the Purple Daily podcast but here's his write-up.
2025 NFL Draft Grades: The Browns Get an A, The Lions Get an F
Thor Nystrom hands out his NFL draft grades for all 32 teams
Minnesota Vikings | Draft Grade: D
Last spring’s trades that ultimately led to EDGE Dallas Turner were largely built with equity from this draft. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah entered with a league-low four picks and a league-low in total draft equity.
We saw this manifest early with the pick of OG Donovan Jackson. I saw Jackson as a late first-rounder, others saw him as an early second-rounder. But with the consensus top-three OTs, Tyler Booker and Grey Zabel, and the class’ consensus top-4 DTs all off the board before 1.24, the board had fallen poorly for the Vikings.
Adofo-Mensah had no choice but to stick-and-pick the last sure-thing trench option for immediate help. He appeared to be vindicated minutes later when Hosuton bailed out of its slot, presumably because Jackson was no longer available.
In my opinion, Jackson is the best pure guard in this class above Tyler Booker. He will start immediately at LG. Jackson has a premium combination of length—with the longest wingspan in the iOL class—and power in an athletic package. He’s a hammer in the run game.
Jackson deserves huge credit for sacrificing for the team and shifting from LG to LT to replace injured LT Josh Simmons in October. He was sensational in the College Football Playoff, allowing zero sacks and two pressures over four games, including a date with stud Tennessee EDGE James Pearce.
Donovan Jackson is the infinity stone to the top-3 NFL offensive line that the Vikings now boast, capping a stunning offseason transformation of an interior offensive line that had been problematic for years
After Jackson, the Vikings didn’t pick again until 3.97. They traded that pick along with No. 187 to the Houston Texans for Nos. 102 and 142. The Vikings chose Maryland WR Tai Felton at 3.102 – a nod to the team’s precarious receiver depth with a suspension for WR Jordan Addison looming.
Felton has 4.37 speed and both YAC juice and the ability to get downtown. He’s stick-thin, though, and lacks play strength – he will need to prove he can get off the line against press-cover bullies, and he needs to clean up his ball skills. Felton dropped eight balls last year, and particularly seemed to have an issue when jostled at the catch point.
There’s long-term starter ceiling in Felton’s profile, but it comes with risk. The same could be said of fourth-round EDGE Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. Ingram-Dawkins is an eye-of-the-beholder ball of play. He’s young, he’s athletic, and he has a rangy frame. If you squint, you can see a long-term starting 3-4 defensive end. If you want to see the glass half-empty, you’ll perceive him as an unfinished product with a tweener profile – two years away from being two years away.
The Vikings traded back from their fifth-round pick, multiplying it into Nos. 201 and 202 via trade with the Rams. With the first of those picks, Minnesota took LB Kobe King, who I ranked closer to the slot they had traded down from. Quietly, the Vikings had a lack of linebacker depth, with little on the roster proven behind the starters. King should provide quality depth.
The Vikings’ depth at the TE position was also precarious, so it wasn’t a surprise that the other selection was used on a tight end. I think it was a mistake to take Pittsburgh’s Gavin Bartholomew over Nebraska’s Thomas Fidone II, who went shortly thereafter.
Adofo-Mensah told the media over the weekend that, in the circumstance that he was in, hitting it down the fairway was the best course of action. That’s what he did, adding an immediate starter at LG while fleshing out the roster’s depth.
Is be interested to know if that was actually in the table for them. Or if the Texans only traded out because the Vikings took Jackson.
Emmanwori is not a good tackler and may have not fit the defense.
Agreed, would be interesting to know what they had available. Logic suggests the Giant's interest/willingness to trade up to 25 with Texans for QB Dart was also presented to the Vikings. Hard to imagine that interest began at pick 25, but who knows.
I mean, if it is your impression this team can't ever do anything but pick G to keep me happy, I'm not sure what to tell you. They already did replace Bradbury at C, which was my main grievance. They went a step further and made a huge investment in Fries, which is also awesome. I viewed those moves as great progress, and thought 2025 was largely a Best Player Available draft. I've expressed hope that BPA would best be a trench player, but also expressed hope they could get more picks trading down.
As far as trading down perhaps that was some other posters here who didn't like Spielman trading a quarter for 3 dime type deals but the one that pans out (if one does) isn't a very good starter.
Thank you for sharing. Definitely an upbeat take. I also agree with these guys saying this is not an analytical GM or game theory GM pick. I think they view that as a positive. I’m not sure it is. Still, it’s a safe pick at a position that could pay dividends in 2025.
Right well there are a lot of different ways to look at it.
