First-round pick Donovan Jackson is progressing nicely at Vikings camp

Donovan Jackson has flown under the radar more than most first-round picks do during their rookie training camp. It makes sense, considering the Vikings' two first-rounders from last year — J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner — have commanded most of the hype. Jackson also plays left guard, which is an unglamorous position that's hard to evaluate in practices, especially those without pads.

The update on Jackson is that he's looked good and is progressing day by day. He's facing some major challenges in this camp, both in terms of mastering a complex offense and in going against former Pro Bowl defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. Within that context, the Vikings aren't expecting Jackson to be flawless — but they are expecting him to learn and grow.

"I think for Donovan, the perfect example would be day to day," Kevin O'Connell said this past weekend. "So, day one, there was a couple things. That was his first reps of full speed team — we jogged through in the spring. And there was a couple things Kup (Chris Kuper) hit him on, Keith (Carter) hit him on, talking to Ryan Kelly or even CD (Christian Darrisaw) sitting next to him in meetings. And you show back up the next day and he immediately fixes those things, whether it's fundamental recognition, hand usage, which I thought was really, really, really cool to see because that's what this position is all about inside."

The Vikings had opportunities to trade down from the 24th pick in this year's draft, but they stayed put and drafted Jackson because they believe he can be the final piece to their offensive line puzzle this year and beyond. On paper (and on tape), he's a well-rounded lineman with size, athleticism, tenacity, awareness, and everything else you want out of the position. He can pass protect, he can run block, and he's a high-character person off the field.

All of Jackson's physical and mental abilities are being put to the test in training camp. On Monday, in what was the first practice with pads on, there were some moments where Allen got him off balance. That happened earlier in camp, too. It'll probably continue to happen, given how talented and how experienced Allen is. What the Vikings are encouraged by is how Jackson is able to recover on plays where he gets beat, in order to salvage something out of the rep.

"The other thing that carried over was his ability to react and sustain through downs even when it wasn't perfect," O'Connell said. "I think that's what gets young players sometimes, is it's not the plays that you do your job and you get commended for it. It’s, 'hey, you do get beat quickly. Can you recover and not just make the total down a loss?' And there was a play that hits my mind, Jonathan Allen kind of got him off balance with a hump move that Jonathan's really good at as a strong, three technique rusher. And he was in less-than-ideal base, balance, body position, to fight this legitimate rush off. And he was able to anchor down and survive the down for J.J. (McCarthy) to get the ball thrown. So that right there was the types of things that I'm looking for and we're looking for as a staff."

Jackson has been working with the first-team offensive line dating back to spring practices. He looks like the clear favorite to be their Week 1 starter at left guard. Between now and then, the Vikings will want to see continued development, but the early returns have been encouraging.

"He's a really impressive rookie," said Kelly, the Vikings' new veteran center. "His athletic ability is obviously really great. He's a big guy, he can bend, strong, smart, he learns quickly. Doesn't talk too much as a rookie, which is a good thing. He refills the snacks and does all the good things you want rookies to do. He's great. This is not an easy offense, necessarily, to learn. You're kind of seeing it at its final iteration, where it's the McVay offense, it's the Shanahan, it's all this stuff. And now you're seeing four years of guys being in the same system, and code words, and you're like 'what does all this mean?' I think he's done a great job with all that. It's a lot to learn as a rookie coming in, and I think he's handled it really well and he's getting better every day."

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