EAGAN, Minn. — Donovan Jackson didn't let his phone out of his sight Thursday.

With a childhood dream of being drafted by an NFL team now in view, he wasn't about to take any chances of missing "the" call.

The Vikings helped Jackson realize that dream when they reached out just before the 24^th overall pick, letting him know they'd be using their first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft to bring him to Minnesota.

"On draft day, you know, your phone's always near you, I'm always fidgeting, I think a call's coming," Jackson laughed during a videoconference with Twin Cities media members. "But as soon as that call came through and I picked it up and it was [Vikings Head] Coach [Kevin] O'Connell, man, I couldn't help but feel, one, a gratitude for the process I've been through."

Having played football from 6 years old, Jackson noted the journey and the loved ones who helped him travel it.

"And then up until now, I look to my right and left, I see my mom, my grandmother, my family and friends, all those people who were the village that helped raise me into the man I am today," Jackson said. "And just feeling the relief and gratitude that all the hard work that they poured into me, I was able to just give a fraction back, saying, 'Hey, all that work that y'all put in has paid off.' "

Jackson's family has played a significant role in the player he is on and off the field, as Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah described a contrast between the two:

"Really good in pass protection, you know, recover quickness, all those great things you want — can anchor — and then in the run game, you know, for kind of a mild mannered, when he walks in your office … he turns into a different guy on the football field," Adofo-Mensah said.

Asked about that even-keeled demeanor away from the gridiron but intense game-day approach, Jackson smiled and, with zero hesitation, credited his parents.

"Growing up, they always said, 'If you're going to do something, you better do it to the best of your abilities, because we're paying for it,' " he quipped, prompting knowing grins from reporters on the call who also are parents. "So it was kind of that mentality growing up, whether it be in the classroom or [elsewhere]. Growing up in Houston, and especially on the football field, I was gonna do everything to the best of my ability, because I took pride in it."

That characteristic of Jackson's became especially evident to O'Connell during his Top 30 visit with the Vikings this spring.

O'Connell pointed out the willingness Jackson had to slide outside to left tackle five games into the 2024 season when Josh Simmons suffered a season-ending injury. Jackson finished out the season in that spot, helping the Buckeyes to a College Football Playoff National Championship.

And while Jackson could have resisted a move from a position he'd long thrived at, particularly during his final collegiate season and heading toward the NFL Draft, he embraced the opportunity to step up and help the team.

"[It confirms] a lot that you think about the player when he made the switch that he did. 'What was that like? Why did you do it?' And you hear some really good things about his teammates, about the big picture, about how much they all meant to him, and what the team needed is what he wanted to do to help win," O'Connell said. "And I think that's validating in a player being in the kind of year, such an important year for him, and to be willing to do that."

Jackson shined on the outside of the line, as well, even playing — in his first game at tackle last season — against Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, whom the Giants drafted No. 3 overall Thursday.

"We know [Carter] is a really special, and the ability to show up and compete the way he did, I just think it speaks about who he is, his makeup," O'Connell said.

Adofo-Mensah also identified value in Jackson's experience — and willingness — kicking outside to tackle:

"In terms of the tackle-guard, that dynamic, I think you just want football players who give you options at both," Adofo-Mensah said. "I think he was credible at tackle, which I think gives him even more ability to come back inside and be a really good player."

Jackson marks the third major addition Minnesota has made to its interior offensive line, joining free agent signees Will Fries and Ryan Kelly, who teamed together with the Colts.

"Ultimately, we're gonna show up and get our best five football players on the field," Adofo-Mensah said. "This is a competitive environment, as it always will be. So we're gonna line 'em up when they get here and see who's the best five and go from there."

O'Connell reiterated Adofo-Mensah's messaging on competition and shared that the team's effectiveness in recently signing free agents, including Kelly and Fries, identified as cultural and scheme fits has enabled it to attack the draft in a way that lands the Vikings impactful players in the short and long terms.

"With two really successful free agencies back-to-back now, that allowed us to really go and do this with a mindset of adding the best available player that just happened to be a player that fits a spot and gets into a competition now to really have a group that I think has a chance to be one of the better o-lines in football," O'Connell said.

And when that's the case, it can influence much more than a run or pass game.

"Great offensive lines are team-lifters," Adofo-Mensah said. "They control the ball, they keep your defense fresh, they establish a play style at the beginning that we want to be about."