Vikings Have an Under-the-Radar Draft Need
With the draft inching closer, most mock drafts view safety as the primary need. Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman has run away as the favorite for the 18th overall pick in those thought experiments. A few cornerbacks and defensive tackles are mixed in here and there.
But Bleacher Report pointed to another spot that needs some attention.
Alex Ballentine nominated one surprising need for each team and he thinks linebacker should be in play at some point in the draft.
He wrote, “The Vikings could completely ignore the off-ball linebacker position and be fine for the 2026 season. Blake Cashman, Eric Wilson and Ivan Pace Jr. are a good enough trio that Minnesota’s front office could use their draft resources elsewhere. But they would also be ignoring the reality that Cashman and Pace are both free agents in 2027 and Wilson is 31.”
No lies detected. Cashman and Wilson are a good linebacker duo, especially in the Brian Flores system. However, they will turn 30 and 32 this year. Furthermore, Cashman will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Pace Jr. started for a while, but lost his job a year ago and he’ll also hit free agency.
The roster lacks young talent at the position. Last year’s releases of Brian Asamoah, Kobe King, and Austin Keys didn’t help in this regard. On the bright side, the upcoming draft has a loaded linebacker class, with talented players not only in the first round but also later.
Ballentine named three targets: Jacob Rodriguez (Texas Tech), Taurean York (Texas A&M), and Harold Perkins Jr. (LSU).
He continued, “The good news is that Brian Flores does a good job of getting production out of linebackers who might not be prototypical size for the position. All three of these targets could be had later in the draft, but would make sense in the Vikings defensive scheme.”
Flores might be one of the few defensive coordinators that’s willing to overlook any size thresholds if a guy can play. He turned Pace Jr. into a star for a couple of years before benching him for Wilson, who’s also on the smaller side for a linebacker.
Rodriguez is mostly viewed as a Day 2 pick. The collegiate star is another undersized backer who could flourish under former LB coach Flores.
Ballentine concluded, “Rodriguez would be an especially fun fit given his knack for forcing turnovers in an already chaotic defensive system. ‘Jacob Rodriguez was hands-down the best linebacker in college football this season. The Butkus Award winner is a turnover machine with impressive instincts as a run defender. However, he lacks NFL length/size (listed at 6’1″, 235 pounds) and traits to be a high-level prospect in the 2026 draft class,’ B/R scout Matt Holder noted.”
In the last two seasons, the Texas Tech standout appeared in 27 games and logged a whopping 255 tackles, 6 sacks, 5 interceptions, and 10 forced fumbles.
Generating turnovers was a problem for the Vikings last year and inserting Rodriguez into the rotation could be an easy fix. He’s not the biggest and not the fastest player, but he has an understanding of the game and a playmaking ability that will make every coach fall in love with him.
Given the lack of young talent on the roster and the fact that linebacker is a strength of this year’s class, adding one at some point in the draft certainly makes sense.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.