The Vikings’ GM May Have Pulled it Off Yet Again
Shift back in time to 2023. The Vikings’ GM was working through some turmoil.
Most prominently, there were the quarterback injury issues. Kirk Cousins never got hurt until he did. The QB1 was lost in the Green Bay game and hasn’t played for Minnesota since. There were then Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall, and Joshua Dobbs. The first pair of names — Mullens and Hall — had to deal with injury problems and being benched due to poor performance while the final name — Dobbs — got benched due to poor performance. Making matters even worse was the hamstring injury to Justin Jefferson.
A positive from the season was the performance of receiver Jordan Addison and linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. Both became starters as rookies. Addison accomplishing that feat meant living up to expectations as a 1st-Round selection, someone chosen at No. 23. Pace accomplishing that feat meant obliterating expectations as an undrafted free agent, someone who (apparently) wasn’t promising enough to be among the 259 players who were selected by the NFL’s 32 franchises.
Are the Vikings seeing something similar occur in 2025?
The Vikings’ GM May Have Done it Yet Again
Start off with the highest selection: Donovan Jackson.
Picked at No. 24, the Ohio State guard became the immediate favorite to jump into the starting lineup. In fact, Kevin O’Connell didn’t do a ton to slow down the optimism, openly discussing the upside of choosing Jackson. The belief was that the new guard could be a Week 1 starter, something that has taken place.
Earlier on PurplePTSD, Janik Eckardt wrote about the Week 1 effort from Jackson.
Eckardt offered an optimistic assessment, one that uplifts positives aplenty from the young lineman. Particularly impressive is that Jackson offered his excellence without the help of Christian Darrisaw by his side, an elite left tackle. A summative statement about Jackson: “With all due respect to his predecessors, that’s a level of guard play that hadn’t been seen in the Twin Cities for a long time, and he did it in his first professional football game.”
Obviously, we’re dealing with a very small sample size.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah didn’t draft Jackson to get a single strong game. Rather, using a 1st-Round pick on a guard is about getting a decade of excellence. The No. 24 spot is very high for a guard, meaning there’s lots of belief in Eagan about how he can grow. The first signs are indeed positive. Jackson is not in Minnesota to be solid depth, but an impact starter who helps the team to go from the opening snap onward.
And then there’s one of the great surprises of the 2025 offseason competition: the emergence of Myles Price at punt returner.
For a little while, I’ve had some optimism about what Price could accomplish. On August 2nd, I wrote, “Myles Price does a good job of tracking the ball as both a receiver and punt returner. An issue arose when he seemingly had a pre-snap mental error in 11-on-11; coaches don’t have much patience for that sort of thing. Obvious talent but battling for a roster spot.”
Fast forward to August 9th. The argument: “Myles Price ends up making the roster battle difficult. He has great poise when catching the ball — both as a returner on specials and as a receiver for the offense. He leapfrogs Silas Bolden and even makes Rondale Moore skittish about the PR1 job and depth WR opening.”
So, some fascination but not exactly a full-throated defense of Price’s inevitable ascension to being the PR1, at least not in early August. Just some thoughts about someone who offers upside while nevertheless thinking that Moore would still be the option (he hadn’t yet suffered the season-ending injury).
In Week 1, Myles Price was fantastic. In total, Price had 11 special teams snaps. He touched the ball a half dozen times. The 4 punt returns went for a collective 68 yards for an impressive average sitting at 17 yards. His pair of kickoff returns went for 49 yards, working out to a more modest 24.5 yards per return. Nevertheless, a tremendous success.
The Vikings’ GM brought Price to town by offering him … $0 in guaranteed money. Clearly, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the rest of the front office didn’t make him a major priority even if signing him does indicate that there was some belief in his ability. The Vikings, apparently, didn’t yet realize how good Price could be.
Price showed off explosiveness, swagger, and compete in the preseason. He did little to dampen enthusiasm about his abilities while returning the ball in the open-air Soldier Field. Rather, Price proved himself to be someone who could — could — be a true weapon at PR1 and KR1 for a little while.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah isn’t a perfect GM. Far from it, in fact. He may have repeated his 2023 feat, though, by getting Year 1 impact players from the draft’s opening round while getting another within undrafted free agency.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
