Vikings May Have Drafted a New Hitman
Entering the draft, the entire nation was ready to send Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman to the Twin Cities with the 18th overall pick. The Vikings had other plans, however, passing on Harrison Smith’s replacement in favor of defensive tackle Caleb Banks.
Still, a safety had to arrive at some point. Acting GM Rob Brzezinski had to use one of his draft choices to bolster the position. He did just that with pick 98, a third-round selection acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in the trade that shipped Jonathan Greenard to the NFC East.
Miami’s Jakobe Thomas joined the club and will attempt to enter the lineup under Brian Flores’ watch. Of course, he can’t just replace legendary safety Smith, especially not as a rookie, but he can certainly remind folks of their vet in one area: Hitting people.
That’s what Mr. Thomas does. He is a certified hard-hitter.
Thomas started his college career at Middle Tennessee State before transferring to Tennessee in 2024, where he was a one-and-done. In his lone season at Miami, he was a crucial piece of the fantastic defense, registering 76 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and 5 interceptions.
His strength is in run defense, while his coverage remains a work in progress. Thomas profiles as a box safety rather than playing deep as a free safety. The good news is that Flores enjoys working with that kind of profile.
His role in his rookie campaign remains unclear, as too many questions persist. First and foremost, Smith has to make his decision. At 37, he is strongly considering retirement. He might, however, return for another season. If he does, it’ll be hard for Thomas to crack the starting lineup a year after Smith and Joshua Metellus dominated the safety snaps when healthy.
With Flores frequently deploying a third safety, Thomas would then compete with long-time backups Theo Jackson and Jay Ward for that third spot. They both played meaningful snaps last year and started games. Toward the end of the season, Ward snatched the starting role from Jackson and seemingly passed him on the depth chart. Training camp will show whether he is still ahead of his counterpart. Without Smith, two of Thomas, Ward, and Jackson would play a large number of defensive snaps.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said about the rookie after the draft, “His play style jumps off the tape. He’s a very, very highly intelligent player that we were able to really dive into. Jakobe’s a good blitzer, he’s a good tackler, and I know Flo’ (Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores) is incredibly excited about him as a communicator and his upside football I.Q.”
If Smith eventually retires, the Vikings lose an all-time blitzing safety as well as one of the smartest defenders in all of football, who’s often calling the defensive plays and making audibles. Smith has been a true defensive quarterback under Flores.
Having the football I.Q. and the communication skills, as well as the blitzing prowess, could be why the Vikings felt good about adding Thomas to the group, hoping he could dveelop into a starter at some point.