Undrafted Vikings Defender Had a Splashy Day
The Minnesota Vikings have had a few training camp standouts. Of course, the most publicity will be targeted to rookie passer J.J. McCarthy, who has slowly but surely shown that he isn’t a raw signal-caller who needs a year or two to prepare for live game action. Jalen Nailor is turning heads and might be the answer to the vacant WR3 position.
Undrafted Vikings Defender Had a Splashy Day
On the defensive side of the line of scrimmage, third-year safety Theo Jackson seems to be coming into his own, earning some first-team reps on Friday. He will continue to be a backup in Minnesota’s outstanding safety room that features Harrison Smith, Camryn Bynum, and Josh Metellus, but could be more than that in future years.
On the front end of the unit, the Vikings have acquired a plethora of pass-rushers in the offseason, including free-agent signings Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, who compete with 17th overall pick Dallas Turner for the snaps on the edge.
Besides Turner, a fellow rookie has been making some noise in training camp. Undrafted first-year player Gabriel Murphy joined the Vikings after the draft, and folks immediately started to be excited about his arrival as draft pundits all over the place claimed that he should’ve been drafted.
On Friday, he reportedly had a big day. Will Ragatz, SI.com, described the attempt of the second-team offense led by McCarthy to complete a situational one-minute drill. It didn’t go very well, and Murphy was a big reason why.
After a few short completions, McCarthy took a sack from Gabriel Murphy in a spot where you can’t take a sack (the Vikings had already used their timeout). On the next play, his pass was tipped at the line by Murphy for an incompletion to end the session. It’s been a strong camp for the undrafted rookie OLB out of UCLA, who drew a shoutout from O’Connell earlier this week.
Will Ragatz
Murphy fell in the draft because of size limitations. His arm length and wingspan both rank in the zero percentile among 3-4 outside linebackers, according to mockdraftable. The good news is that he landed in an organization that doesn’t care about that. Ivan Pace’s emergence is proof of that.
His measurables didn’t stop him in college when he posted eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss in his second season at UCLA after spending his first three campaigns at North Texas, where he produced 4.5 sacks in only seven games during the shortened 2020 season and seven sacks in 2021. The elevated level of competition didn’t stop him from wreaking havoc on the opposite side of 2024 first-rounder Laiatu Latu.
Murphy will compete for a rotational depth role in Minnesota behind Greenard, Van Ginkel, and Turner. The top competitors are veteran Jihad Ward, who logged a career-high five sacks last season, and Patrick Jones, a fourth-year defender.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has been a specialist in putting his players in a position to thrive. Murphy possesses the explosiveness to contribute to the defensive front. His first chance to prove it on the field will be in the preseason next week.
Murphy will turn 24 in October and has a chance to be the next undrafted player to excel under Flores’ watch.
Editor’s Note: Information from Sports Reference CFB and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt