Kevin O'Connell sends firm message about the Vikings' not trading down in NFL Draft

With just four picks in the NFL Draft , the Minnesota Vikings were viewed as a team primed to move down in the first round. The 24th overall pick looked to be prime real estate for a team looking to trade up for either a quarterback or an offensive tackle.

We ended up seeing the New York Giants trade up to the 25th overall pick for quarterback Jaxson Dart and the Atlanta Falcons moving all the way up from 45th overall to get the 26th pick from the Los Angeles Rams to select edge rusher James Pearce Jr.

Kevin O'Connell explains not trading down in NFL Draft

The questions remained after the NFL draft as to why the Vikings didn't trade down. Were they that sold on first-round pick Donovan Jackson in comparison to the rest of the NFL Draft class? 

Head coach Kevin O'Connell was asked just that during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show and gave a very candid answer about not trading down.

"I think Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) was doing a great job. And Rob (Brzezinski) and our folks in there, kind of, we kind of knew we'd be right in the mix there of potentially (a) team either want(ing) to come up and maybe select a quarterback, maybe another position. But we also have identified some players in a cluster there at certain spots, that if one of those guys were there, it was going to take a certain amount of capital via the trade to even be thinking about moving, and we fielded some calls. We had some conversations and some good dialogue. And ultimately decided to pull the card and draft Donovan Jackson. He was one of those players that we kind of went into (the NFL Draft) and hoping he would be there, and really see a role fit for him and our team that we're really excited about.

O'Connell was honest about the situation, and he also said what we've known teams to do often with a group of players they are comfortable taking at a certain spot. The really important aspect for O'Connell was that he emphasized it would take a certain amount of draft capital to move off of 24. It also says that a trade like the ones that the Giants and Falcons made (if they offered it) wasn't enough for the Vikings to do just that.

Now, was that a smart move to stick and pick, especially with Jackson having been 36th on the consensus board? Only time can give us that answer, but the Vikings have are the confidence in the world in Jackson to be a great professional football player.