5 Winners of the Vikings’ Draft
The NFL Draft always produces some losers. A few players on each team lose their jobs to rookies, while others are lucky because the franchise didn’t address their position. Let’s take a look at five Vikings who got lucky.
5 Winners of the Vikings’ Draft
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah entered the three-day event with only four draft picks and turned those into six players. Still, he couldn’t fill every hole.
1. Theo Jackson
Theo Jackson can be titled THE winner of Minnesota’s offseason. After three years of backup duties, he is finally slated to make the next step and enter the starting lineup. Adofo-Mensah passed on both Nick Emmanwori and Malaki Starks, who the mock draft community loved to match with the purple franchise.
Instead, barring any surprise move, it’s Jackson’s job in the secondary, next to Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus. Cam Bynum opened the door and headed to Indianapolis. The franchise re-signed Jackson, and here we are, two months later, expecting him to start.
Jackson has been solid whenever Brian Flores has asked him to step up.
2. Mekhi Blackmon
Another commonly addressed position in mock drafts, Minnesota entirely passed on cornerbacks in the draft and only added a pair of UDFAs. Byron Murphy Jr. is the unquestioned top guy in that room, and free agency newcomer Isaiah Rodgers is probably the second.
Mekhi Blackmon returns from his lost season due to a torn ACL, and the Vikings need him to be a reliable third option. The 2023 third-rounder showed some promise in his rookie season. Had the front office drafted a CB early, he might have been demoted to a reserve role.
3. Jalen Redmond
Jalen Redmond was a 2024 breakout player on a subpar defensive line. He went from the UFL to Minnesota’s practice squad and then to the 53-man roster, where he later played significant snaps and was a sneaky playmaker for the team within a few months.
Redmond would’ve been buried on the depth chart had the Vikings added another guy next to Harrison Phillips, Javon Hargrave, and Jonathan Allen. Now, he is the fourth linemen and will likely be a rotational defender once again.
4. Ryan Wright
Ryan Wright has been Minnesota’s punter since 2022. The undrafted player has beaten any competition so far. It was an option to draft a punter later in the draft because Wright hasn’t lived up to the standard he set in his debut season, but the Vikings only signed UDFA Oscar Chapman.
The rookie out of Auburn could still challenge Wright, but a drafted player would’ve been the favorite to win the competition.
5. Ty Chandler
Many expected the Vikes to add a running back at some point in the draft, but they didn’t and skipped the loaded RB class.
Instead, Tre Stewart, a productive but undersized runner from Jacksonville State, joined as an undrafted free agent. Ty Chandler lost his RB2 job in back-to-back seasons, but the Vikings still seem willing to give him a roster spot.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
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