The Minnesota Vikings raised eyebrows in the 2025 NFL Draft, as they used the No. 24 overall pick on a player that very few prognosticators had being selected in the first round in Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson. So far, Jackson has been making the haters eat their words.
Jackson, who is projected by many to eventually earn the starting left guard job next to Christian Darrisaw, has taken advantage of injuries to earn a good chunk of first-team reps. Writers close to the team seem to hint at Jackson eventually taking ownership of a starting job and refusing to relinquish it.
According to Kevin Seifert of ESPN, "there is every reason to believe Jackson has the inside track to emerge from training camp" as one of the starters on JJ McCarthy's offensive line. The coaches aren't making any declarative statements so far, but they sound impressed with Jackson.
"It does give you some real beneficial options to see guys progress through the learning phase," said head coach Kevin O'Connell, "and all of a sudden you've got three or four guys that maybe are a little more versatile than we thought."
Minnesota Vikings rookie guard Donovan Jackson impressing at summer workouts
Jackson is a former 5-star recruit with experience at both guard and tackle in college. After fellow first-round pick Josh Simmons went down with an injury, Jackson did a fantastic job filling in for him. Minnesota was not going to let his national championship-winning performance go unrewarded.
Jackson should be an immediate improvement as a run-blocker, even if there are some questions about his overall athletic ability when dropping into true pass sets. Playing inside as a guard might help mitigate those concerns and make him a quality starter relatively early in his career.
Donovan Jackson could start for the Vikings as a rookie
The Vikings will have totally remade the interior of the offensive line in the last few months. Not only did they draft Jackson to be their left guard of the future, but they plundered two-fifths of the Indianapolis Colts' starting unit by signing center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries to big contracts.
There's nothing better for a young quarterback than a solid offensive line, and a strong showing in the early going from Jackson could be all that O'Connell needs to see to thrust him right into the starting lineup.
