Pre-Free Agency Vikings Roster Evaluation: Who Partners with Ivan Pace at LB in 2024?
Josh Frey
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Free agency across the NFL officially gets started on Wednesday, March 13th.
Over the 11 days before free agency, we’ll be taking a bit of a deep dive into the Vikings roster to evaluate where each position group stands before the team can officially begin signing players on the open market. These evaluations will be broken up into the following topics:
- Quarterbacks
- Running Backs
- Wide Receivers
- Tight Ends
- Offensive Line
- Defensive Line
- Edge Rushers
- Linebackers
- Cornerbacks
- Safeties
- Special Teams
Today, the series continues by going over a position that ended up being one of the bigger surprises of the season for the Vikings: the linebackers.
Current Vikings Linebackers
Heading into free agency, the Vikings have four players on their roster at the position, and that is the exact number that they had on their initial 53-man roster heading into the 2023 season. Those players include Ivan Pace, Brian Asamoah, William Kwenkeu, and Abraham Beauplan.
The biggest name out of this group, of course, belongs to Pace. After being signed as an undrafted free agent last spring, the Cincinnati product burst onto the scene, not only making the final roster, an impressive feat in and of itself for an undrafted player, but also appearing in all 17 games and made 11 starts with the defense.
Pace finished the year with the 16th-best PFF grade among linebackers to play at least 500 snaps, and he contributed 102 tackles, two tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, a pair of passes defended, an interception, and a forced fumble and looks like a player to build around.
Meanwhile, the rest of the depth is far less proven at this point in time. Kwenkeu appeared in six games for the Vikings during 2022, but he missed the entire 2023 campaign due to injury. Beauplan, another undrafted free agent from last year’s class out of Marshall, spent training camp with the team before being waived in August with an injury designation. He was then brought back to the practice squad in January, but he never appeared in a game with the team.
Asamoah might be the biggest mystery of all heading into 2024, though. He was selected in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma, and the linebacker actually put together a solid rookie season for the Vikings. He recorded 17 tackles and a forced fumble in Minnesota’s pivotal Week 16 win over the New York Giants to seal the NFC North. Steadily, his snaps increased throughout the year, playing 20+ snaps in each of the three games from Weeks 15-17.
However, Asamoah did not garner nearly as much of a role with the team in 2023. In part due to the emergence of Pace, the second-year linebacker was held to just 36 defensive snaps throughout the year, recording seven total tackles. If the Vikings are going to head into the 2024 season with this group, Asamoah will be an X-factor this year for Minnesota’s defensive success.
Pending Free Agents
Jordan Hicks signed with the Vikings back in 2022, and he was a major reason for Minnesota’s defensive turnaround in 2023. A big reason for the linebacker’s success in 2023 was Brian Flores’ decision to utilize him more as a blitzer rather than simply dropping him back into coverage. Hicks tied a career-high by blitzing 89 times over the course of the season compared to a career-low 17 blitzes in 2022.
As a result, he finished the season with 107 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, five passes defended, an interception, and a forced fumble. As mentioned, the Vikings have some pretty massive question marks at the linebacker spot behind Pace, so it would not be surprising at all to see Hicks come back to Minnesota.
In addition to Hicks, names like Anthony Barr, Troy Dye, and Nick Vigil are set to hit free agency. Barr and Vigil were reunited in Minnesota after spending the 2021 season together. However, this time around, both players were deep down the depth chart. Vigil didn’t play a single snap with the defense while Barr appeared in just 49 defensive snaps.
Once again, Dye served as the main reserve LB for the Vikings, and when Hicks went on IR, he stepped into the starting lineup twice. Dye played 15 games for the Vikings, recording 17 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. He has spent each of his first four NFL seasons in Minnesota.
Potential Free Agency Targets
It likely would be rather easy for the Vikings to retain Jordan Hicks for a couple more years if they want to do. However, the veteran is set to turn 32 years old in June, and Minnesota may want to get younger at the position. If that is the case a number of intriguing options on the open market exist including, Devin Bush, Tyrel Dodson, Willie Gay, Patrick Queen, and Devin White.
Let’s focus on the 25-year-old Dodson for a second. He hasn’t garnered nearly as much limelight as some of the others on this list, but he is still a very serviceable player in the NFL.
Dodson never truly got a chance to shine in the Bills defense until the second half of the 2023 season. He took full advantage of it as well, totaling 74 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two passes defended, and a forced fumble.
The Bills linebacker was PFF’s second-highest graded linebacker in the entire league this season (90.2), coming in behind only Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers (90.3). Still, the linebacker remains a somewhat unproven commodity in the NFL and should be gettable for relatively cheap this offseason. Not too shabby for a player who won’t celebrate his 30th birthday until 2028.
A Thin Draft Class
There aren’t a ton of linebackers in this spring’s draft class who look like immediate contributors on an NFL roster. As a result, the Vikings are much more likely to pursue that type of talent in free agency, but they very well could look for a project in the draft as well to fill in some depth.
Ty’Ron Hopper out of Missouri offers a similar skillset to Pace at the position. Despite being undersized, Hopper is a ridiculous athlete, a vicious tackler, and offers tremendous upside as a blitzer. Sound familiar?
After transferring from Florida in 2022, Hopper has helped turn around the Missouri program over the past two seasons. He’s recorded 132 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, seven passes defended, and an interception throughout his career with the Tigers. If the Vikings want to take a stab at a player in the later rounds of the draft, Hopper is a prospect to keep an eye on.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, and Sports Reference CFB.
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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.