2025 Draft Grades
Ya ya, I know. Takes at least 3 years to grade a draft. This first one comes from Thor Nystrom. Echoes a lot of my thoughts which I’ll put together at some point.
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.
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
Shakespeare
It's a better draft when you factor in Dallas Turner as part of it and Sam Howell. I think under the circumstances coming away with a likely day 1 starter that rounds out the offensive line overhaul and turns a weakness into a strength is a win. As hard as I am on Kwesi, I give him credit for learning from prior mistakes and not duplicating them. Games are won in the trenches and we were out physicalled in the games we lost with an obvious disperity. I think he could have easily gotten into the "I need to add picks" at the expense of taking a really good player and he didn't do that. He stuck and took a player who can start and make a difference from day 1. I think that's all you could really ask for out of this draft
Grades handed out immediately after the draft are just so stupid. Because I mean, what the hell are you grading? How you personally feel about it? How closely a draft followed consensus?
That said, very unSEXY draft. IOL in the 1st, whom I loved, but still. Then we get jumped for Sai'vion Jones (convince me otherwise) and took a player not many were familiar with at a position not many felt we needed. Felton looks like he's got some real juice and Speedy's in a contract year, so you can see the wisdom there. But after Jackson this was a sister kisser of a draft. Sometimes those end up being the best ones so we'll have to see.
If Donovan Jackson starts day one and makes us recall the days of Randall McDaniel, and if Tai Felton becomes an early contributor, I think we'll like this draft a year from now.
JustInTime wrote:
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.
I don't think they would've taken Booker even if he were there. Same with Grant.
Was talking to Matthew Coller about this. He said Jackson was a bit of a reach because Arif Hasan's well researched consensus board had him at 40. But I suspect Arif uses too many boards and who knows where they come from and how old they are. I think most recent mocks had Jackson going in the late 20s. Some as early as 18. By far the most likely destination was Houston at 25 and we now know they would've taken him if we didn't.
I thought it was a good draft to be honest. IMO the best G in the class. He wouldn't have made it past 25 and I firmly believe that. Felton is a baller and a player the Vikings and KOC really wanted. We got our wish. Kobe King was a MLB that I liked a ton. He is a beast and will be all over the ball carrier. The draft went well for the limited picks we had. I am a little surprised with no RB. The real issue I had, no DT when they were there for the taking. That part baffles me. It got me thinking, are we building to strictly to go for the SB on JJs rookie deal? Almost seems that way. If that is the case, I am fine with it.
People are weird. They aren't better than anyone that works in the NFL. This isn't Madden. Sometimes things are just a waste of my time.
With so few picks and the big gap between 24 and 97... I think we did fine. If Jackson is as good as the Vikings and draft analysts think he is and he solidifies a top 5 OL for JJ McCarthy, this was a good draft.
I wasn't expecting much without a 2nd rounder and we didn't dip into our early picks next year. I think this year is all about evaluating JJ and giving him the best chance to succeed out of the gate. Majorly upgraded OL, added a power RB, fortified the defensive line, and added another young WR to a strong room.
BOOM
MAD GAINZ wrote:
With so few picks and the big gap between 24 and 97... I think we did fine. If Jackson is as good as the Vikings and draft analysts think he is and he solidifies a top 5 OL for JJ McCarthy, this was a good draft.I wasn't expecting much without a 2nd rounder and we didn't dip into our early picks next year. I think this year is all about evaluating JJ and giving him the best chance to succeed out of the gate. Majorly upgraded OL, added a power RB, fortified the defensive line, and added another young WR to a strong room.
BOOM
Yeah, no matter what anyone's opinion is about our free agency class, our draft, positions missed or ignored, one thing you can't argue with is the fact that the Vikings have built the best god damn line we've seen in decades.
Even the best Vikings OLs have had weaknesses. Mid 70s was strong on the right with Ed White and Ron Yary, but weak on the left. Early 90s boasted McDaniel and Zimmerman on the left, but Todd Kalis at right guard. 2009 had McKinnie and Hutchinson on the left, but Anthony Herrera at right guard. Always a chance that Donovan Jackson is a flat out bust, but if he plays like I think he will, Vikings may have their best ever offensive line.
MAD GAINZ wrote:
With so few picks and the big gap between 24 and 97... I think we did fine. If Jackson is as good as the Vikings and draft analysts think he is and he solidifies a top 5 OL for JJ McCarthy, this was a good draft.I wasn't expecting much without a 2nd rounder and we didn't dip into our early picks next year. I think this year is all about evaluating JJ and giving him the best chance to succeed out of the gate. Majorly upgraded OL, added a power RB, fortified the defensive line, and added another young WR to a strong room.
BOOM
I like Supa's take re: how Turner could be included in the final, future eval of this draft..
With so few picks and most of them late, I had little expectation beyond maybe depth. Getting a starting OG is a nice prize that absolutely solidifies things for JJM.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
All things considered, I am thinking it's a B draft. I am very pleased with the Jackson and Felton picks. Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins parents just might be GOT fans. Ingram-Dawkins and Kobe King are solid choices. Bartholomew could be helpful, we need more TE help. Of the best OL picks, I thought Jackson was the one to target. I watched Felton in college and liked what I saw. Adding DL and LB will make BFlo happy too.
You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it. — Robin Williams
I think you have to add Turner in this draft class. At the end of the day, we got Turner to move up. The same way I would have been okay doing the same for a guy they really wanted this year. They didn't do it. Maybe Kwesi didn't want to do it two years in a row. I think Kwesi did a good job this year, looks as though KOC got his guys however. After seeing how the board fell, Jackson was even a better pick than people seem to realize. We wouldn't have gotten anyone if we didn't take our shot there for Jackson.
I feel that secondary was our biggest area of need going into the draft, more so than OL and was really disappointed we did not address it at all. Do not think we have that great cover CB that you need and think our safety spot is lacking speed. Think Bynum is going to be a big loss and Harry is declining. Do not see Metellus as a replacement for Bynum, he has been more that hybrid role. I really like Jackson at guard and think he will be great, just think we had better guard options than secondary and also it is a position that is easier to fill later in the draft than secondary.
I usually think in terms of "offseason" because I actually put more stock in Free agency than the draft. These are "known commodities" in the league so in terms of free-agency I think we rocked it - A
With regard to the DRAFT - Keep in mind, we came away with six players (Howell included) from only four selections, WITHOUT pillaging next year's draft stock - not a bad haul given the value in this draft was rounds 2-5 - B
My take.
General Thoughts: As I have previously mentioned, after Booker, Zabel, Harmon, and Barron were off the board, the draft lost a lot of lustre for me. Booker reuniting with JJ was just a massive karma groove. Really wanted Harmon as I've wanted a replacement for Kevin Williams forever. This guy has Chris Jones type traits. The Steelers have previously drafted my man crushes, Keanu Benton and Payton Wilson in recent years so what's one more theft by the...Stealers. Zabel was my next highest want simply because I didn't think Barron would be available.
My hope was to come out of the draft with either an impact trench guy or a legit CB1 that would allow BFlo the ability to mix in more man coverage. I wouldn't have hated Henderson at 24 but I think value wise Harvey was a better balance of draft capital cost and potential production. Definitely thought iLB was a lot closer to a need than most. TE was a no brainer simply based on current roster configuration. WR was no where on my radar so I spent very little time review this class save for Savion Williams.
So, that's my starting point for this review. My prism if you will that will obviously impact my take on the 2025 class.
Donovan Jackson. Again for transparency I didn't give Jackson much of a review pre-draft as I locked in on Booker and Zabel a good 2 months ago. Post draft I dug in. Came away impressed with all the elements you want in a good guard, had the triangle numbers, production, position flexibility, played in a top conference, and had an excellent run in the college football playoffs. Got to see his first start at LT and thought Abdul Carter would have a field day. Jackson held his own and over the next 800 or so snaps at LT had some in the scouting community stating he might be a better LT prospect than guard.
Upside: Completes the interior OL rebuild that could eventually lead to year over year Super Bowl contention. Pairing him with Darrisaw should lead to a dominant left side for many years. Should be a solid to very good LG for the next decade. He's not John Hannah or Randall McDaniel, but if you squint hard enough you might get a Vikings version of Steve Hutchinson.
Downside: It's a fucking G! Highly fungible position. Brandel was solid to good with Darrisaw to his left and a mediocre at best Bradbury to his right. My assumption was with a return of Darrisaw and a much better Kelly flanking him, he would return to early season form. Plus with another year starting he could turn into a very good player.
Opportunity Cost: There were a couple better options that we could have explored. I won't get into speculating that we could have traded up for a more impact player (Harmon) simply because we didn't have the ammo. The two safeties that went after Jackson are directly tied to the Ravens organization. Starks went to Baltimore and Emmanwori went to Seattle who is coached by the former Baltimore DC. When you consider that Harry is done after this year, Jackson has little experience and Mettellus is a FA not addressing safety was extremely shortsighted. When looking at the pick from a value and roster continuity perspective it's a below average return. But, if these leads to deep playoff runs year over year, then...its a fucking safety..
(I'll be much briefer going forward)
Tai Felton. I like what I've seen so far. Looks to have some really good run after the catch ability. Little on the light side but that can be fixed. Not stout in contested catch situations but seems to have decent traits in other faucets of the game. Returned 8 kicks in college, but I believe we will try him there.
My big problem with the pick is Nailor and Powell combined for 52 targets last year. Ill assume WR3 targets will decrease in an offense destined to run more. This was a really poor use of draft capital. I would have gone with Bhaysul Tuten. He'd be the heir apparent to Aaron Jones and is a helluva kick returner. Took two to the house his junior year and averaged nearly 29 a return. At best Felton is WR3 for the next 3 or 4 years. The only upside is the massive karma as former slender Terrapins have fared well. This pick doesn't hold up to minimal scrutiny. Yuck.
Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. First of his name, lord of the arm over and double handed swipe. Traits galore. Fastest 10 yard split at the combine. He'll compete for Edge4 with a couple guys, Ritcher and Murphy, who are pretty much polar opposites. This will be an interesting camp competition. Good use of our limited draft capital.
Kobe King. The one guy in this class that I mocked at least once. Definitely a position of need as we didn't fare well when Cashman and Pace missed time. I would have preferred an iLB like Demetrius Knight who went much earlier. King is a larger Ivan Pace with maybe slightly better coverage ability. Meh.
Gavin Bartholomew. Based solely on numbers he's likely to get more meaningful snaps than anyone not named Jackson or Felton. Very short arms for a 6-5 guy. Try hard blocker who'll need time in the weight room. One of several team captains we drafted.
Final analysis: In a couple ways this draft had a look and feel similar to Kwesi's first draft. Lots of guys with high RAS scores and team captains. I believe the similarities end there. Jesus I hope it does. Final judgement will pretty much rest on the impact of Jackson. If he turns LG into a strength and is the last cog to the Maul of America™ it will be a ringing success. Anything short of that the opportunity costs sacrificed and the absolute waste of drafting Felton when better and more impactful prospects were available will be greatly amplified. Grade: D+ to a B
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
Shakespeare
JustInTime wrote:
My take.General Thoughts: As I have previously mentioned, after Booker, Zabel, Harmon, and Barron were off the board, the draft lost a lot of lustre for me. Booker reuniting with JJ was just a massive karma groove. Really wanted Harmon as I've wanted a replacement for Kevin Williams forever. This guy has Chris Jones type traits. The Steelers have previously drafted my man crushes, Keanu Benton and Payton Wilson in recent years so what's one more theft by the...Stealers. Zabel was my next highest want simply because I didn't think Barron would be available.
My hope was to come out of the draft with either an impact trench guy or a legit CB1 that would allow BFlo the ability to mix in more man coverage. I wouldn't have hated Henderson at 24 but I think value wise Harvey was a better balance of draft capital cost and potential production. Definitely thought iLB was a lot closer to a need than most. TE was a no brainer simply based on current roster configuration. WR was no where on my radar so I spent very little time review this class save for Savion Williams.
So, that's my starting point for this review. My prism if you will that will obviously impact my take on the 2025 class.
Donovan Jackson. Again for transparency I didn't give Jackson much of a review pre-draft as I locked in on Booker and Zabel a good 2 months ago. Post draft I dug in. Came away impressed with all the elements you want in a good guard, had the triangle numbers, production, position flexibility, played in a top conference, and had an excellent run in the college football playoffs. Got to see his first start at LT and thought Abdul Carter would have a field day. Jackson held his own and over the next 800 or so snaps at LT had some in the scouting community stating he might be a better LT prospect than guard.
Upside: Completes the interior OL rebuild that could eventually lead to year over year Super Bowl contention. Pairing him with Darrisaw should lead to a dominant left side for many years. Should be a solid to very good LG for the next decade. He's not John Hannah or Randall McDaniel, but if you squint hard enough you might get a Vikings version of Steve Hutchinson.
Downside: It's a fucking G! Highly fungible position. Brandel was solid to good with Darrisaw to his left and a mediocre at best Bradbury to his right. My assumption was with a return of Darrisaw and a much better Kelly flanking him, he would return to early season form. Plus with another year starting he could turn into a very good player.
Opportunity Cost: There were a couple better options that we could have explored. I won't get into speculating that we could have traded up for a more impact player (Harmon) simply because we didn't have the ammo. The two safeties that went after Jackson are directly tied to the Ravens organization. Starks went to Baltimore and Emmanwori went to Seattle who is coached by the former Baltimore DC. When you consider that Harry is done after this year, Jackson has little experience and Mettellus is a FA not addressing safety was extremely shortsighted. When looking at the pick from a value and roster continuity perspective it's a below average return. But, if these leads to deep playoff runs year over year, then...its a fucking safety..
(I'll be much briefer going forward)
Tai Felton. I like what I've seen so far. Looks to have some really good run after the catch ability. Little on the light side but that can be fixed. Not stout in contested catch situations but seems to have decent traits in other faucets of the game. Returned 8 kicks in college, but I believe we will try him there.
My big problem with the pick is Nailor and Powell combined for 52 targets last year. Ill assume WR3 targets will decrease in an offense destined to run more. This was a really poor use of draft capital. I would have gone with Bhaysul Tuten. He'd be the heir apparent to Aaron Jones and is a helluva kick returner. Took two to the house his junior year and averaged nearly 29 a return. At best Felton is WR3 for the next 3 or 4 years. The only upside is the massive karma as former slender Terrapins have fared well. This pick doesn't hold up to minimal scrutiny. Yuck.
Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. First of his name, lord of the arm over and double handed swipe. Traits galore. Fastest 10 yard split at the combine. He'll compete for Edge4 with a couple guys, Ritcher and Murphy, who are pretty much polar opposites. This will be an interesting camp competition. Good use of our limited draft capital.
Kobe King. The one guy in this class that I mocked at least once. Definitely a position of need as we didn't fare well when Cashman and Pace missed time. I would have preferred an iLB like Demetrius Knight who went much earlier. King is a larger Ivan Pace with maybe slightly better coverage ability. Meh.
Gavin Bartholomew. Based solely on numbers he's likely to get more meaningful snaps than anyone not named Jackson or Felton. Very short arms for a 6-5 guy. Try hard blocker who'll need time in the weight room. One of several team captains we drafted.
Final analysis: In a couple ways this draft had a look and feel similar to Kwesi's first draft. Lots of guys with high RAS scores and team captains. I believe the similarities end there. Jesus I hope it does. Final judgement will pretty much rest on the impact of Jackson. If he turns LG into a strength and is the last cog to the Maul of America™ it will be a ringing success. Anything short of that the opportunity costs sacrificed and the absolute waste of drafting Felton when better and more impactful prospects were available will be greatly amplified. Grade: D+ to a B
I really like the Jackson pick, but yah, board fell terrible for the Vikings rd1 of this draft. I think they go Harmon over Jackson if they had the choice, but we'll never know.
Water over the dam now.
The D got little loving...A young IDL or solid DB would have been my preference at some point as you noted.
I think your point on Fulton (especially) is an excellent one...They either loved his upside or are fearful of Addison suspension, maybe both.
I much rather would have dipped in the warm waters of a rich rb pool at that point. Like MB said elsewhere, we are one play away from Chandler being on the field.
I think I saw only one UDFA RB. Obviously not a team priority this season (shrug).
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
It's crazy the amount of players that were drafted from 16 to 23 were players I thought the Vikings would have high interest in. The cupboard was getting bare when we finally got on the clock at 24. The Steelers taking Harmon was a killer for me. Booker went earlier than expected to Dallas. I think we got the last of the big guys who could realistically come in and start right away. If everybody is healthy this is a top 5 offensive line.
Mattyman wrote:
Draft grades 24 hours after the draft are as important as power rankings
For real. Especially for insecure people that have been touched when they were little boys.
But for real though, draft grades right now mean absolutely nothing. No one knows. I think Jackson was an absolute amazing pick. Then you add in Turner from last year, and things look a lot different. I will give Kewsi credit for the last two years.
Canthony wrote:
For real. Especially for insecure people that have been touched when they were little boys.
But for real though, draft grades right now mean absolutely nothing. No one knows. I think Jackson was an absolute amazing pick. Then you add in Turner from last year, and things look a lot different. I will give Kewsi credit for the last two years.
Typically accusations are confessions. If true in this case it would A) explain a lot and B) Let me urge you to seek professional psychiatric counseling.
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
Shakespeare
Matt Miller at ESPN on his best round 6 value pick;
Miller: Kobe King, LB, Minnesota Vikings (No. 201). King is a run-and-chase linebacker who is tough for blockers to handle when he's crashing downhill in the run game. He was graded as a fourth-rounder on my board thanks to his between-the-tackles toughness, so the Vikings received exceptional value selecting him toward the end of Round 6.
Edit Post (mod action — author will see a notice)
Warn Poster
Suspend User (3 days)
The user will be suspended for 3 days and will receive an email with the reason and information about how to appeal.