Christian Darrisaw taken by Vikings after trade with Jets for added draft pick

After trading down nine spots in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night, the Vikings picked the offensive tackle they'd targeted for much of the spring anyway.

The Vikings made a move to protect quarterback Kirk Cousins, selecting Christian Darrisaw of Virginia Tech with the 23rd pick they got from the Jets.

The Vikings also sent a fourth-round pick to the Jets and gained two more third-round picks. They now have four third-round picks and three fourth-rounders, giving them plenty of options should they choose to move back into the second round on Friday after trading their second-round pick to the Jaguars in the Yannick Ngakoue trade last August.

"That was critical, too," general manager Rick Spielman said. "If you're the second pick in the third round, it gives you opportunities to do a lot of things."

Spielman said the team was thinking about picking Darrisaw at No. 14, and admitted "we were a little tight" in the draft room about whether he would still be there at No. 23.

The Vikings traded down in the first round for the second year in a row. After they made the move, Spielman said, they talked about moving back up to make sure they got Darrisaw, but were unable to do so. In the end, he was still there for them at No. 23.

"I told him, 'Don't answer the phones anymore,' " coach Mike Zimmer said. "Darrisaw was a guy we did a lot of homework on. Rick, the scouts, the coaches all did a nice job of evaluating him. Once it got to 21, and we had three guys there that we liked, we knew we were in good shape."

Said Spielman: "All I can speak on is we were considering [Darrisaw] strongly at 14 and still able to get him where we got him. That was a great night for us."

The 6-5, 322-pound Darrisaw fits with their zone blocking scheme and will come in as a left tackle, Zimmer said.

"I hate to say 'instant starter;' this guy's got to come in and prove himself like everybody else does," Zimmer said. "But hopefully, that's what he is. It was important for us to get some more size for our offensive line. ... We feel like we're athletic, but you end up going up against some really big defensive linemen. That was one of the things we talked about."

The Vikings have now taken an offensive lineman in the first two rounds each of the past four years, adding Darrisaw to Brian O'Neill, Garrett Bradbury and Ezra Cleveland.

Darrisaw's first conversation with Spielman came Thursday night, when the general manager called to tell him the Vikings were taking him.

"I think I had one Zoom meeting with the Vikings and went over a few plays like an install, like getting to know each other," he said Thursday night. "It definitely was surprising, but I knew anything could happen. I knew this could be a possible situation I could be put into, and I'm just happy to be a Viking."

The Vikings also sent a fourth-round pick to the Jets and gained two more third-round picks. They now have four third-round picks and three fourth-rounders, giving them plenty of options should they choose to move back into the second round on Friday after trading their second-round pick to the Jaguars in the Yannick Ngakoue trade last August.

"That was critical, too," Spielman said. "If you're the second pick in the third round, it gives you opportunities to do a lot of things."

The Vikings entered the first round of the draft with holes on their offensive and defensive lines. They were without a left tackle with Riley Reiff now in Cincinnati, and starting guard Dakota Dozier has struggled in pass protection. Danielle Hunter's absence last year underscored the team's need for another pass rusher. Ngakoue, who played only six games for the Vikings, led the team in sacks last season with 5½.

Just before the Vikings went on the clock at No. 14, the Chargers selected offensive tackle Rashawn Slater of Northwestern, widely considered one of the top players at his position in the draft.

With the No. 14 pick, the Jets selected offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker, who played guard at Southern California.

This was the fourth time the Vikings have traded down in the first round since Spielman gained full control of the roster in 2012. They moved down a pick in 2012 and 2014 before taking Matt Kalil and Anthony Barr, respectively, and dropped six spots before taking Jeff Gladney with their second first-round pick last year.

The Vikings moved up for an additional first-round pick each year from 2012 to 2014 but haven't done so since then.