When it comes down to it, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fired as the Minnesota Vikings' general manager due to failures in the draft. Everything else flowed from not getting enough from draft picks, with a spending spree in 2025 free agency, the proverbial crescendo.
If we're counting draft wins from Adofo-Mensah's tenure, 2025's first-round pick, guard Donovan Jackson, looks like one. He made 14 starts at left guard as a rookie and performed well enough to look like a potential long-term starter.
But guards, of course, aren't flashy first-round picks. It's also generally worth wondering if the Vikings could've filled that need at left guard with a later pick, and used that Round 1 capital on another position.
Minnesota Vikings make interesting pivot in 2025 NFL Draft redo
Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport recently pondered how the first round of the 2025 draft might look different with a year of hindsight evaluation.
Some teams wouldn't, and shouldn't, do anything different now. The Vikings, at No. 24 overall, are among the teams Davenport had making a different selection.
"Original Pick:Â OG Donovan Jackson, Ohio State
New Pick:Â TE Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green
"To be fair, Minnesota's original pick in the 2025 draft was just fine—Donovan Jackson started 14 games for the Vikings last season, allowing just two sacks in just under 800 snaps per Pro Football Focus.
But if Kyler Murray is at all capable of a Sam Darnold-esque career revival playing under Kevin O' Connell, then swapping out Jackson for tight end Harold Fannin Jr. could make an already potent Minnesota offense abjectly terrifying.
Fannin was a third-round steal by the Browns last year, making the leap from the MAC to the NFL with ease—he led the Browns in every major statistical receiving category last year, and his six touchdown grabs would have led the Vikings in 2025."
Davenport finished his thought by pointing to what likely would not have happened this offseason if the Vikings had drafted Fannin instead of Jackson.
"Forget T.J. Hockenson, who clearly isn't the player he once was. Add Fannin to a passing attack that already includes Jauan Jennings, Jordan Addison and some guy named Justin Jefferson, and opposing defenses are going to have a problem."
If Fannin had been the pick at No. 24 instead of Jackson, Hockenson surely would've been cut instead of back with a restructured contract this offseason.
Any concerns about the rest of the tight end depth chart simply would not have existed, as Minnesota's new clear-cut TE1 would have already been in place--and on a rookie contract to boot.
Jackson remained a first-round pick in Davenport's redo, going to the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 32 overall.
Add Fannin to the group of pass catchers, and the Vikings' offense would look incredibly dangerous right now. But would there be a significant hole at left guard?
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