Vikings Receive Even More Praise for 2023 UDFA Class
The Minnesota Vikings, for the second consecutive year under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, had a draft class this spring that has left some a bit befuddled. There are even some calling it the worst draft class in the entire NFL.
It is a bit surprising that the Vikings didn’t spend more time focusing on their secondary in this draft, instead, using their only top-100 pick on wide receiver Jordan Addison. They originally had two such selections, but they traded the 87th overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers, acquiring the 102nd overall pick in the process and selecting CB Mekhi Blackmon.
However, while there may be differing draft grades for the six selections made by the Vikings this spring, it seems that just about everyone is in agreement on one thing from the draft weekend: Minnesota killed it with their undrafted free agent signings.
In all, Minnesota added 15 UDFAs after the conclusion of the draft, and we’ve seen the Vikings receive praise for these signings ever since. Recently, even more flowers have been thrown Minnesota’s way for this group of signings with Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic calling LB Ivan Pace Jr. his favorite UDFA signing.
Pace is my favorite undrafted signing. He’s only 5-10 and lacks overwhelming speed, but the guy is the definition of a “football player” in every way. He transferred into an already gritty Bearcats locker room in 2022 and became one of the toughest guys there despite his physical stature. The Vikings also added traits-heavy Army edge Andre Carter II.
Heading into this draft, linebacker was arguably one of the bigger needs on this Vikings roster. Minnesota cut ties with veteran Eric Kendricks back in March, and they look like they will rely heavily on a trio of Brian Asamoah, Jordan Hicks, and Troy Reeder this season.
Any added depth to this group should be considered a plus. Pace not only has a chance to make the roster this year, but he could see plenty of playing time between the defense and special teams considering how shallow the LB group is.
Over his collegiate career at Cincinnati, Pace was a tackle machine and an extremely aggressive player that anchored the Bearcats defense and brought a contagious intense mentality to the field every week. The Vikings signed Brian Flores as defensive coordinator to run an aggressive defense this season, and Pace’s combination of athleticism and toughness should be a great fit.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.
