The Vikings’ Cinderella Story Comes to Life
Undrafted rookies have a long history in Minnesota. Mick Tingelhoff and John Randle are in the Hall of Fame. More recently, Adam Thielen — someone who found his name in the purple rumor mill once again — put a stamp on the franchise, as well. His story began with his participation in the rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, and he earned a roster spot. The rest is history.
The Vikings’ Cinderella Story Comes to Life
This year, one player has taken a similar route to the 53-man roster. Defender Elijah Williams made it.
Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported via social media, “Undrafted rookie defensive lineman Elijah Williams is expected to be part of the #Vikings 53-man roster, sources tell @CBSSports. The Morgan State product has gone from rookie minicamp tryout player to now being in line to be on Minnesota’s 53-man roster.”
Not many gave him a shot when he had his try-out in May, and that didn’t change when the team signed him to their offseason roster. Surely, that’s just a camp body.
He proved everyone wrong, however, earning his spot by performing well in training camp and the preseason.
In his preseason debut versus the Houston Texans, the newcomer registered a pair of tackles. PFF handed him the second-best grade of all 30 Vikings defenders who saw playing time on defense that day, only trailing Gabriel Murphy, who received surprising news on Tuesday.
According to the analytics company, Williams logged four QB pressures on only 15 pass-rush snaps, which is a rather crazy number. He also accumulated a couple of QB hits. Just a week later, versus the New England Patriots, he turned heads again, making five tackles. He had the second-best PFF grade of all Vikings defenders once again (this time trailing Travis Bell), and added three more QB pressures to his resume.
Williams even earned a couple of shoutouts from NFL analyst Brian Baldinger, who breaks down film in short clips. Here’s one of them.
In the preseason finale, Williams’ snap count dipped, as the Vikings wanted to get a good look at other depth players. He added another QB pressure to the mix. Through the preseason, Williams had the third-highest PFF grade among Vikings defenders.
So, who is this guy anyway? He spent his college career at Morgan State, suiting up for 42 games in the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) at the FCS level. Over that span, he racked up 216 tackles, 52 tackles for loss, and 31 sacks. The Vikings have him listed at 6’3” and 270 pounds, though he may have put on some extra weight since the draft as he battled for a spot on the interior defensive line and is no longer an edge defender.
The Vikings traded away veteran Harrison Phillips a few days ago, opening the defensive line room for depth players like Williams. Brian Flores will lean on starters Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave and Jalen Redmond might take over for Phillips. Rookie Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins has turned some heads, too. Levi Drake Rodriguez and Taki Taimani hope for some opportunities in their sophomore seasons.
Williams sticks around and he’s the latest unlikely Vikings player. It’s more evidence of the theory that if you can play, the NFL will find you, whether you’re a high draft pick or have to go the tryout-route coming out of Morgan State.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.