After an offseason full of speculation and mocks, we have finally completed all three days of the 2025 draft. After entering with only four picks, many expected the Minnesota Vikings to trade down and accumulate more picks on Days 2 and 3.
Instead, the Vikings turned down a few teams looking to move up to their pick and took Donovan Jackson. On Day 2, the Vikings finally moved down, moving picks 97 and 187 to the Houston Texans for picks 102 and 142. However, they moved up in the fifth round instead of getting more picks.
They also added Sam Howell to their quarterback room, getting the 24-year-old play caller as a backup for the price of moving down just 30 spots in the fifth round. To complete a Day 3 filled with trades, they moved on from pick 172 for picks 201 and 202.
While most people were concerned with the quality of Minnesota’s draft picks, the front office seemed to prioritize quantity over quality, strategically selecting their guys and addressing what they believed to be their biggest draft needs.
Let’s look at the winners and losers from the Vikings draft.
Winners
J.J. McCarthy
The biggest winner from the offseason is the biggest winner of the draft. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell ensured their quarterback of the future will have all of the tools he needs to succeed.
Adding Donovan Jackson officially completes Minnesota’s retooling of its offensive line. They now have a left guard to the center, and the right guards they added in Ryan Kelly and Will Fries. The depth of Minnesota’s offensive line after the draft is an underrated aspect of Jackson’s selection. Justin Skule and Blake Brandel are borderline starting-level offensive linemen who will be on the bench.
McCarthy continued to win throughout the draft. At the end of the third round, the Vikings gave him another weapon in Tai Felton, a receiver from Maryland, adding him to a room with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Through free agency and the draft, Minnesota’s front office has done its best to give McCarthy the best situation possible to step into, and they continued to do that with the draft.
Theo Jackson
Another winner from this draft was Theo Jackson, who likely will face little to no competition for his newly minted starting safety spot. While safety was always a potential selection in the first round, safeties Malaki Starks and Nick Emmanwori were other players people mocked to the Vikings.
Even in the third round, it looked like Xavier Watts, the safety from Notre Dame, would be available at pick 97 for the Vikings. Instead, the Atlanta Falcons moved up and took him right above the Vikings, triggering them to trade back.
While fans would have liked to see the Vikings add to the safety room, it looks like Jackson will hold the job for the season.
Comp Picks in 2026
Another big winner from the draft is the comp picks Minnesota will retain in next year’s class. We all had assumed that part of the reason the Vikings seemed reluctant to bring in a quarterback behind McCarthy was due to the compensatory pick formula that this front office seems to pride itself on so carefully analyzing.
Well, through the draft, they let other teams play their hands and capitalize on the situations becoming more clear. After the Seattle Seahawks selected quarterback Jalen Milroe, it became evident that there was no longer a spot for Howell. Therefore, the Vikings could snap up Howell for pennies on the dollar and didn’t have to ruin their compensatory pick formula for next season.
Losers
Jalen Nailor/Rondale Moore
Minnesota’s selection of Tai Felton likely spells trouble for Nailor and Moore because he provides similar skillsets to both players. Much like Nailor and Moore, Felton is also a potential candidate to return kicks and punts next season, while providing upside in the receiving game.
Jalen Nailor is in the final year of his rookie contract. While he performed well at the spot, he will now have to compete with Felton. Minnesota invested a third-round pick in Felton, and he has three years of team control after the next season. Given all of this and how cap-strapped the Vikings are next season, it could make sense to move off Nailor next year.
Similarly, if Felton wins the punt return job, Rondale Moore will struggle to carve out a role for himself on this team. Given Felton, Nailor, and Moore’s overlapping skillsets and Moore and Nailor’s contract situations, we could see one of them gone in roster cuts and both with different teams next season.
Blake Brandel
With the selection of Donovan Jackson, Brandel now has an uphill battle to win the starting left guard spot he held all last season. While Brandel was good at the start of last season, he largely benefited from playing next to Christian Darrisaw. When Darrisaw went down, so did Brandel’s play.
Brandel will likely return to his spot as first man off the bench on the interior offensive line. While he’s one of the better interior offensive line backups in the NFL, he has an out in his contract next season, where the Vikings could cut him and only incur a minimal cap hit. Given Minnesota’s cap situation for 2026, there is a chance Brandel could be playing his last season in purple and gold.
Walter Rouse is another loser from the Jackson pick, who many thought would try to kick in at guard to challenge for the left guard spot. Now, he looks like the third man in a one-man race.
Secondary Depth
Entering the draft, most of us expected Minnesota’s secondary to add a few more members. They didn’t. They selected a guard, receiver, defensive lineman, linebacker, and tight end, but no corner or safety.
While this might be partly due to the long-speculated addition of Asante Samuel Jr., that is just speculation. Compared to the rest of the roster, the secondary looks like the unit with the most questions surrounding it.
