Vikings Linebackers Get Some Love
PFF has had some absolute stinkers lately when it comes to covering the Minnesota Vikings. It started when they gave the Vikings 16th in their defensive line rankings (yes, including edge rushers), and then they went and left reigning NFL AP Coach of the Year Kevin O’Connell off of their top 10 returning head coaches in 2025.
We will let the past be the past and look towards greener pastures alongside PFF, because this time, they threw the Vikings a bit of a bone in their recent rankings of all 32 teams’ linebacking corps.
Vikings Come 10th in PFF Linebacker Unit Rankings
Here’s the rationale from Dalton Wasserman, the craftsman of this article:
Minnesota doesn’t have any household names in its linebacker room, but it’s quietly a very productive group.
Blake Cashman has emerged as a legitimate starter, boasting an 80.3 PFF overall grade over the past two years. Ivan Pace Jr. is one of the better undrafted free agent finds in recent memory. He placed among the top 10 linebackers in PFF run-defense and pass-rush grades last season. Eric Wilson is a solid third option who earned a 64.3 PFF overall grade in Green Bay last season. Sixth-round rookie Kobe King could also provide value in run defense if needed.
Gotta respect it, even when Wasserman is going out of his way to mention Vikings’ 2025 sixth-rounder Kobe King out of Penn State.
We, of course, know the brilliance of Blake Cashman as a part of the Brian Flores defensive machine that has been in development since 2023, after the team called it quits with Ed Donatell in 2022 for obvious reasons.
Cashman has emerged as a legitimate mike-linebacker, the same one we imagined we could have next to Eric Kendricks when we all wanted the Eden Prairie native in the later rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was instead selected by the New York Jets, just five selections before the Vikings had another shot at him. Minnesota would still end up drafting a linebacker, Cameron Smith, out of USC.
Ivan Pace Jr. has been a highlight in the beginnings of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s general managing career in the Twin Cities, as he was a pretty obvious get when he somehow slipped out of the 2023 NFL Draft entirely. Eric Wilson has returned to Minnesota, where he spent the first four seasons of his career before he left in 2020. He has since spent time with the Eagles, Texans, Saints, and Packers.
2025 sixth-round selection Kobe King, the brother of Green Bay Packers’ CB Kalen King, rounds out the unit, having appeared in 46 games for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Across those 46 games, he racked up 200 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and four pass breakups. In 2024, he was named a captain and was awarded second-team All-Big 10 honors.
Vikings’ Most Likely 2026 Retirees
