During the last few weeks, the Minnesota Vikings have added multiple new players to their roster to help make the transition into a starting role as easy as possible for second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
This effort took off at the start of free agency in March when the Vikings signed guard Will Fries and center Ryan Kelly. Then, a few days later, Minnesota acquired running back Jordan Mason in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers to help improve a rushing attack that will hopefully be able to take some of the pressure off McCarthy next season.
So, with much of the Vikings' offseason action centered around making life easier for McCarthy this year, it seems a bit obvious who the team will select with its first pick in this week's NFL Draft.
Minnesota Vikings will use first pick in 2025 NFL Draft to help protect QB J.J. McCarthy
First, before we get into who Minnesota will select with its top pick in this year's NFL Draft, we have to figure out where they will actually be making that first selection.
With the Vikings entering the draft with a total of just four picks, there is a very good chance that they will be looking to trade back during Thursday's opening round to acquire some additional selections. So, with this in mind, let's just assume Minnesota agrees to a trade that moves them from the 24th overall pick to one of the first 10 selections in the second round.
Despite moving back into the second round, the Vikings will still have plenty of talented prospects to choose from when it finally comes time for them to make their first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Minnesota could easily choose to add a cornerback, safety, or defensive tackle with their top pick this year. However, there's a good chance that the Vikings will stick to their strategy of the 2025 offseason and select a prospect whose main job will be to protect McCarthy.
Looking at Minnesota's projected offensive line for next season, every starting position is settled except for the left guard spot. Blake Brandel started at left guard for the Vikings in 2024, but his performance wasn't good enough for the team not to replace him with someone from the 2025 NFL Draft pool.
Some believe former North Dakota State offensive lineman Grey Zabel could be a guy who could take over Brandel's job at left guard next season. But Zabel might be off the board after the first 20 selections of the opening round.
He's also from a small school, which would go against what the Vikings have done with their top picks since Kwesi Adofo-Mensah took over as the team's general manager in 2022
All four of Minnesota's first selections in the last three NFL Drafts have come from big-time college football programs (Georgia, USC, Michigan, Alabama), so it's safe to assume the same will be true for the team's top pick this year.
Which leads us to who seems like the obvious first selection for the Vikings in the 2025 NFL Draft. Some might have figured it out by now, but former Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson feels like a perfect fit for Minnesota this year based on everything that was mentioned above.
Jackson went to a powerhouse football school, there's a good chance that he will still be available if the Vikings' first opportunity to make a pick is in the early part of the second round, and he spent most of his college career starting at left guard.
Last season at Ohio State, he split time between starting at left guard and at left tackle. But in the previous two years with the Buckeyes, Jackson's entire time on the field was spent in the left guard spot, and he only allowed a total of three sacks in 892 pass-blocking snaps, according to data from PFF.
Of course, he has areas of his game that need improving, but it shouldn't be enough to prevent him from immediately taking over as Minnesota's starting left guard for the 2025 season.
Last year the Vikings made a big investment in McCarthy when they made him the first quarterback to ever be selected with a top-10 draft pick in the history of the franchise. This week, Minnesota will continue to look for ways to protect that investment.