The reasons behind the Minnesota Vikings' firing of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are wide-ranging, depending on what you read, but it really boiled down to one thing. Few teams in the league got less contribution from players out of their last four drafts, which then forced spending in free agency to fill those voids.
One season, in left guard Donovan Jackson, last year's first-round pick for the Vikings, looks like a rare hit on Adofo-Mensah's draft resume. He started 14 games as a rookie, missing three due to an injury, with a top-30 pass blocking grade among guards from PFF.
Drafting a guard in the first round will never excite a fanbase, but so far, so good when it comes to Jackson, and he could be a long-term fixture on the offensive line.
As we now move toward the 2026 NFL Draft, alongside mock drafts, we get some looks back at the 2025 draft via re-drafts. One year is not enough to unequivocally declare anything about what any player will or won't be, but some teams might like a hypothetical mulligan already if they can have one.
Minnesota Vikings offered 2025 re-draft pivot they wouldn't have actually taken
CBS Sports' Blake Brockermeyer recently did a re-do of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He offered some interesting picks, including for the Vikings at No. 24.
"TreVeyon Henderson was an explosive weapon for the Patriots, who, for some reason, got fewer and fewer touches as the season went on. The Vikings would have loved to have that problem, as their rushing attack was severely lacking."
It is true that the Vikings' ground game was again lacking last season, finishing 23rd in the league. But that was as much an issue of volume and commitment to it as anything, with the sixth-fewest attempts in the league despite being top-12 in yards per carry.
By the time the 2025 draft came, the Vikings had cast their backfield lot for the season by trading for Jordan Mason and re-signing Aaron Jones. Jones is a potential cut candidate this offseason, though, so Henderson would now be his clear-cut replacement if he had been the pick at No. 24 instead of Jackson.
With Jones moving toward being gone now, a backfield pairing of Henderson and Mason would be very interesting. But with Henderson lined up to start his career as the No. 3 running back if he had been drafted by the Vikings, it would be an unrealized vision.