Why the 2025 NFL Draft is Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's chance to shine
EAGAN, Minn. — How do you make the best decisions? Which information is important, and which isn't? Can you tilt the scales in such a way that leads you to the best answer? These are the types of questions that have consumed Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's professional life.
Long before he was the Minnesota Vikings' general manager, he traded commodities on Wall Street. The job revolved around forecasting. He sifted through hundreds of thousands of data points relating to energy and natural gas, tried to whittle away the noise from the signal and placed bets on the future.
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Some of them hit. Others missed. The results mattered to his bosses and larger companies, but so did his ability to understand the reasons behind the successes and failures.
It's not wildly different today. Adofo-Mensah must analyze every morsel of information about the NFL Draft — not just the numbers, but also the relevant opinions provided by coaches and evaluators with years of expertise — and make informed choices. Some will pan out. Others won't. The judging happens immediately.
Thursday night will present more of these opportunities. Adofo-Mensah will lead the Vikings' charge for the fourth time amid interesting circumstances. It's not just that Minnesota only has four picks, but Adofo-Mensah is also the rare general manager entering the final season of his initial contract without an extension.
Neither Adofo-Mensah nor Vikings owner Mark Wilf raised eyebrows in recent months when asked about the potential for a new deal. Adofo-Mensah said he wasn't worrying about it, while Wilf described conversations with Adofo-Mensah's representatives as 'very, very positive.' Until they come to terms, though, the situation is worth eyeing.
Are the Vikings willing to extend Adofo-Mensah for the same length as they did head coach Kevin O'Connell? If not, would Adofo-Mensah be willing to accept a discrepant timeline? Adofo-Mensah dismissed the idea that he'd operate differently in his role without being secured for the future, but will uncertainty naturally affect Minnesota's attempt at sustaining competitiveness for the long term?
These questions are both cumbersome and potentially franchise-altering. That they're all still prevalent as the team prepares for the draft — its final chance this offseason at dramatically strengthening the roster — is fascinating. Because if there's an obvious blemish on Adofo-Mensah's resume, it's this particular acquisition channel.
Adofo-Mensah has drafted 23 players since he got the job in 2022. Twelve remain on the roster. Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor and Will Reichard are the only proven starters. Comparing classes to those of other teams isn't a totally fair apples-to-apples assessment, but the Detroit Lions, for example, have eight proven starters from their selections over that same period.
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The Vikings-Lions contrast is worthwhile because it highlights some important aspects of Adofo-Mensah as a decision-maker. He, unlike Lions general manager Brad Holmes, did not rise through the NFL ranks as a scout. In San Francisco, he built simulations for the 49ers to assess which player qualities are most predictive of future success. In Cleveland, he pored through potential free agents, stacking the best fits for the Browns' scheme.
Before the Lions hired Holmes, his sole job was to assess college talent as the Los Angeles Rams' director of college scouting. This is not to absolve Adofo-Mensah of the Vikings' misses, nor is it to say he's satisfied with the previous outcomes.
'I'm pretty tough on myself,' Adofo-Mensah said last week. 'We all have that little voice that says we're good enough, and I'm not scared of questioning that voice every now and again.'
Live: GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah https://t.co/rdvUap7IyI
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) April 17, 2025
As part of his self-assessment, Adofo-Mensah has chided himself for shooting for the moon during his first go at the draft. He was clear-eyed in his approach. He viewed the salary-cap situation in 2022 as a major constraint and believed that if he could double the amount of premium picks, Minnesota could throw more darts at positions of need (safety, interior offensive line, linebacker and cornerback).
It's an arguable process in theory, but then you add in the layer of trading back 20 spots within the NFC North. And the lack of shared experience with O'Connell and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. And the emphasis on athleticism instead of aptitude. The end product became a further depleted roster and a steeper hill to climb.
Savvy additions and stellar coaching have saved Minnesota in the last couple of years. The Vikings scooped Theo Jackson from the scrap heap. Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. fell into their lap. Who knows how the 2024 season would have shaped up if not for the synergy between the personnel staff's visions for and the coaching staff's usage of players like Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman.
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Presiding over this success is a feather in Adofo-Mensah's cap. He also deserves credit for shepherding the Vikings' shift in how they view the optimal road to team-building: drafting a rookie quarterback and building around that contract. Adofo-Mensah embraced that change. And even though quarterback J.J. McCarthy tore his meniscus last year, the Vikings benefited with a 14-win season behind Sam Darnold.
Another free-agent flurry this spring provides optimism for 2025, but the veteran-laden roster must be supplemented by impactful young talent. The amount of draft capital traded for edge rusher Dallas Turner creates monstrous expectations for this fall. The four picks used over the next few days won't be a referendum on Adofo-Mensah's drafting ability, but instant production would help quell the skepticism out there.
Adofo-Mensah has learned by now that this is all part of the job. Criticism comes when there are high expectations, and high expectations exist when people care. What he knows to do amid it all is the same thing he knew to do when the natural gas market unexpectedly turned upside down. He'll review the information he had at the time he made the decision. He'll parse what he missed and what was out of his control. He'll move forward, then make another choice. And another. And another.
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