The loss of Khyree Jackson on a personal level is something that we at Vikings Wire cannot even begin to understand for his friends and family. We can only measure what the loss means to the Vikings team itself, which has proved to be all-in on the late cornerback. In discussing what could have been, as we will in this piece, we will be discussing only what high expectations there were for Jackson as a player and a person.
With that in mind, let’s discuss the excitement the Vikings staff had for Khyree Jackson.
In an interview with KFAN1003, Alec Lewis of The Athletic mentioned the team was looking forward to seeing him against the likes of Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson.
“I talked to a Vikings coach Saturday morning [during the NFL draft] who said they had texted him the day before about special teams work that they expected him to be doing. I think for training camp, there were a lot of staffers looking forward to seeing what he would do against some of the Vikings’ elite receivers.”
Despite being a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Jackson had the talent to be a day-one pick. His unique football journey caused him to drop in the draft, but putting in the work was never an issue for him.
He was ready to compete and could handle the pressure that would’ve come from working against the top talent in the NFL, sadly we will never get a chance to see it.