Vikings choose guard Donovan Jackson of Ohio State in the first round of the NFL draft

Rather than trading back in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night, the Vikings stayed at No. 24, making their third high-profile addition of the offseason to the position that Kevin O’Connell pointedly said they needed to upgrade after their playoff loss to the Rams.

They took Ohio State offensive lineman Donovan Jackson, making the 22-year-old the latest piece of an overhaul that began with signing former Colts center Ryan Kelly and guard Will Fries in free agency. Jackson made 31 starts at left guard in his college career, before shifting to left tackle when Josh Simmons was lost for the season because of an injury. The Buckeyes won the national title with the 6-4 Jackson playing tackle.

”Just love everything about his play style,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “He’s got length, he’s got power. And then, the little things that jump out at you about a player’s willingness to jump over to left tackle, and the next week, he’s blocking the third pick [Penn State’s Abdul Carter] in tonight’s draft. He didn’t necessarily need to do that in a year where he was going to be evaluated and drafted the way he was. The idea of Donovan walking into that O-line room that now has some pretty impactful players across the board, that’s something that was a goal. I think tonight really put a stamp on a plan that we set out to accomplish.”

Jackson’s ability, and willingness, to switch positions in the middle of Ohio State’s championship run stuck out to the Vikings, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said Thursday night. They had scouted Jackson in 2024, believing he might decide to leave school early. This year, they brought him to Minnesota on a top-30 prospect visit, where Jackson said he watched film with O’Connell.

“We turned on the tape, and he basically asked me my reasoning between my plays,” Jackson said. “Whether it was good, bad or in between, he just wanted to hear my thought process and how I saw the game. We just talked over ball, so he could see how I could verbalize knowledge back to him.”

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On Thursday, the Vikings took Jackson instead of consummating any of the trades they were offered.

The Texans and Rams, the two teams picking after the Vikings, traded their picks to the Giants and Falcons, respectively. Adofo-Mensah said talks heated up right before they picked. Instead of dealing back, they stayed at No. 24 to make Jackson the fifth offensive linemen they’ve taken in the first two rounds since 2018.

”I think the mindset is, ‘If the play is to hit the ball down the fairway, let’s go do that,” Adofo-Mensah said. “If it’s gonna be four picks of four positions that we really want, four great character people, or skill sets we require, let’s go do that and we’ll figure everything else out.”

While tackles Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw are signed to long-term contracts, the Vikings’ interior offensive line merited revisiting. They traded 2022 second-rounder Ed Ingram to Houston this offseason, and released 2019 first-round pick Garrett Bradbury after six seasons, following their deal with Kelly.

At the NFL owners’ meetings last month, coach Kevin O’Connell alluded to the possibility the Vikings would bring in competition for Blake Brandel at left guard; the fact they used their first-round pick on a guard for the first time since they selected Randall McDaniel in 1988 would suggest Jackson might not have to wait long to start.

The Rams overwhelmed the middle of the Vikings’ line in their 27-9 wild-card win on Jan. 13, sacking Sam Darnold nine times to tie an NFL playoff record. After the game, O’Connell didn’t mince words, saying, “There’s no question that we got to be able to find a way to give a quarterback [time].

“Especially with players like Jordan [Addison], Justin [Jefferson], T.J. [Hockenson], we got to find a way to solidify the interior of the pocket, first and foremost.”

The Vikings paid nearly $88 million for Fries, who had interest from multiple teams, after signing Kelly to replace Bradbury. The price of the guard market indicated the value at the position, Adofo-Mensah said, especially as teams look for ways to counter dynamic interior pass rushers.

The decision to stay and pick Jackson on Thursday night indicated how committed the Vikings were to finishing the offensive line overhaul. With second-year J.J. McCarthy likely to start at quarterback for the first time in his NFL career, the Vikings will give their young passer an offensive front they hope is significantly upgraded from the one that contributed to their playoff loss in January.

“I mean, I think that’s important,” Adofo-Mensah said. “When we go into these meetings, ‘When in doubt, support the young quarterback’ is not something we talk about. But also, great offensive lines are team lifters. You know, they control the ball, they keep your defense fresh. They establish a play style, a demeanor, that we want to be about. The quarterback is always something you [think about]. You should be a quarterback-driven organization. That’s something you should think about. But it’s also other things.”

O’Connell said the plan to rework the offensive line wasn’t a direct reaction to the playoff loss, and there were indications during the 2024 season the Vikings would pursue offensive line help regardless of how the year ended. If anything, though, the Rams game further underscored the need for changes on the front.

After years of minimal investments at guard, the Vikings spent $88 million to fix one spot and a first-round pick on the other. The prime directive of their offseason was as clear as ever on Thursday night.

“It’s exciting to draw routes up on a board, and come up with new ideas; that stuff’s been great, and we’ve done a lot of really good things here,” O’Connell said. “But time and time again, you continue to think about the ability to get that yard, the ability to go be physical in every game you play, regardless of the opponent. The ability to have a collection of five guys up front, playing as one, with the type of skill sets and physical ability we have now, gives me really good feelings about what we can be, not only this year, but beyond.”

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