Vikings Message Board.Com

VikingsVictorious wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 9:17 am The draftniks, Kipers, and consensus big boards didn't have a clue about how the guards in this draft were valued. No way in hell could we have traded back and got Jackson. He was picked right about where he should be. A lot of people have him as the best guard in the draft and he could have easily gone before Booker and Zabel.

Field Yates picked Vikes/Jackson as the 4th best pick of the first round.
His criteria: "These aren't necessarily the best players taken in each round, but rather the best picks. I factored in value, fit and what the player will bring to the team, among other things."

psjordan wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 2:20 pm

VikingsVictorious wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 9:17 am The draftniks, Kipers, and consensus big boards didn't have a clue about how the guards in this draft were valued. No way in hell could we have traded back and got Jackson. He was picked right about where he should be. A lot of people have him as the best guard in the draft and he could have easily gone before Booker and Zabel.

Field Yates picked Vikes/Jackson as the 4th best pick of the first round.
His criteria: "These aren't necessarily the best players taken in each round, but rather the best picks. I factored in value, fit and what the player will bring to the team, among other things."

Great. I'm not sure how well Yates evaluations are, but like him I loved our selection of Jackson.

Mike Tice and his son Nate do draft OL reviews and his take on Jackson is he's a can't go wrong player. This was before the draft. The player I liked the best at G is Jonah Savaiinaea who the Phins traded up for in round 2. He reminds me of our old timer David Dixon who was a monster at G and Tice states the same. That's the type of player I like inside. But Tice said Dixon could move and we pulled him. His take on Savaiinaea is his movement is not the same and once he gets to the second level he struggles with movement and ends up on the ground. That's not good. Jackson is a top 30 prospect according to them.

One thing I do like about Jackson is the fact he volunteered to take over at LT when the Buckeye's starter at that position went out due to injury. He could have played it safe and stayed at LG, but he took a risk and moved over to play a pretty high profile position on a pretty high profile team the year he would enter the draft. Had he struggled doing that he could have hurt his draft stock, but he did very well and showed he had some versatility. He also showed he is a team player and willing to do what it takes to help his team succeed. I like his character and I think he will be a strong addition to the offensive line in terms of team chemistry.