6. Tarvaris Jackson – QB
Second Round (64th overall) – 2006
Despite already making three selections during the first two rounds of the 2006 NFL Draft, the Vikings had their eyes on a particular passing prospect and felt the need to move back into the second round to snag him.
Minnesota ended up trading their two third-round selections to the Pittsburgh Steelers to return to the second round and draft Alabama State quarterback Tarvaris Jackson.
Jackson was touted as the Vikings’ next great passer and he turned out to be far from it. He spent five seasons in Minnesota and he started more than five games in a year just once. Jackson also never finished a season with more than 1,915 passing yards or nine touchdowns.
In 2008, he started under center for the Vikings in their playoff matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles and he couldn’t have played worse. In Minnesota’s loss to the Eagles, Jackson completed just 42.9 percent of his passes for 164 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.
It didn’t take very long into his career for the Vikings to realize that Jackson was nothing close to the answer they were searching for under center.