Vikings Pickup Good News on Injured Defender
The development won’t impact the Monday Night Football tilt against the Bears, but the Vikings’ update about Ivan Pace Jr. is still positive.
Kevin O’Connell met with the media over the weekend. There was some chatter about Stephon Gilmore — who is questionable — given that he could impact the MNF game. But then things came around to Pace. O’Connell had good things to say: “He’s doing really well. Probably ahead of the timeline we maybe initially thought. He’ll be ready to roll when he’s available to come off, I believe.”
Vikings Offer Update on Ivan Pace
Pace’s injury required a trip to the IR. Replacing him in the lineup has been Kamu Grugier-Hill as the LB2 and then recent addition Jamin Davis as the LB3.
The latter name, Mr. Davis, is a fascinating pickup. The 26-year-old defender stands at 6’3″ and weighs 234 pounds. Back in 2021, Davis was snagged at No. 19 overall in the draft, pointing toward someone with tremendous upside. His time with the Vikings has involved getting worked into the mix on defense for 13 snaps across two games and getting a sack in his limited chance.
Pace is very likely going to come off of the IR in a couple of weeks, so what happens to Davis?
Pace will step into his LB2 job once again. The sophomore has been involved in nine games in 2024. In his 363 defensive snaps, Pace has picked up 59 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 QB hits, 6 TFLs, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 touchdown. So, quite productive.
Brian Flores has sent him on a blitz 37 times, meaning Pace gets sent a bit more than 4 times per game. PFF gives the linebacker a sizzling 83.2 grade for his pass rushing efforts (3rd-best). Where there are more struggles are in pass coverage, where PFF insists that he’s the 81st-ranked linebacker with a 33.5 grade.
Playing on the second season of his UDFA contract, Ivan Pace has proven to be one of the best pickups of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s career. No team scooped him up in the draft and Minnesota benefited by being aggressive when courting UDFA talent. Pace is a legit starter in the NFL, someone who thrives when he’s allowed to come forward to attack runners and the quarterback.
The good news is that he should be back once his four games on the IR are over.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.