What are realistic Year 1 expectations for Vikings draft picks?
Taking a look at what to expect from each player right away
By Matthew Coller
One of the common themes in reaction to the Minnesota Vikings draft is that a lot of the picks feel like they are going to have a bigger impact down the road than right away. Is that really true? Let’s have a look at each draft pick with projections from ESPN’s Mike Clay and dive into where they could fit…
DT, Caleb Banks
Clay projection: 582 snaps, 42 tackles, 3.0 sacks
The Vikings’ brass has not shied away from the idea that Banks is going to be more of a project than he is the type of player to plug and play. Brian Flores told us right after the draft that he was going to try to fit Banks into positions that he was comfortable with early on and then build from there.
But that doesn’t mean that we’re barely going to see Banks play.
Based on his college performance, Banks is more ready to rush the passer than he is to dominate in the run game, so we might see Levi Drake Rodriguez play a lot on early downs and Banks mix in as a 3-technique or at a 3-4 defensive end position in pass rushing situations or line up right over the center to plow forward if they have a favorable matchup.
The biggest question might be how much Banks can handle from a conditioning standpoint. It takes time for college players to get into NFL shape even if they had a normal 2025 season. Banks missed almost all of 2025 and topped out at 422 snaps in a single season at Florida.
Reaching 582 snaps would mean averaging 34 snaps per game. That’s probably on the high side. Only one rookie DT had more snaps than that in 2025 and he was a top-five pick.
If Banks played around 500 snaps, posted a few major highlight flashes, moved bodies with his size and strength for blitzers to succeed and improved along the way, it would be a huge win for Year 1.
LB, Jake Golday
Clay projection: 95 snaps, 13 tackles, 0.2 sacks
The Andrew Van Ginkel look-a-like is going to be drinking out of a firehose when he arrives in Minnesota because he’s going to have to be prepared for multiple roles. Of course, filling in for Van Ginkel if there’s an injury is a very real possibility but he could also end up getting the nod in a rotational role on passing downs as a defender who can effectively drop back into throwing lanes or blitz.
He’s also going to have to be ready to potentially play inside linebacker too. In each of the last two seasons, Blake Cashman’s hair-on-fire playing style has led to some injuries and Eric Wilson is over 30 years old. Not to mention that Brian Flores hasn’t seemed to have much desire to play Ivan Pace Jr. recently.
If everything goes perfectly from a health perspective, then 95 snaps is very possible for Golday. Since that’s unlikely to happen, we can probably expect to see him on the field a little more often than that. Not to mention he will likely have a key role on special teams.
In the best-case scenario, Golday is able to adapt quickly to whatever he’s called upon to do and then start to formulate where he’s going to fit into the future. That might be an AVG type spot or it might be inside linebacker.
DT, Domonique Orange
Clay projection: 318 snaps, 23 tackles, 1.3 sacks
It wouldn’t be a shock if Orange ends up playing a pretty significant role on defense right away. To make a comparison, 2025 Chargers third-round rookie nose tackle Jamaree Caldwell (6-foot-1, 340 pounds) played 492 snaps last year as L.A. leaned on him heavily to be a big-bodied presence on the interior lats year.
While nose tackle is a more complex position than people give it credit for, Orange has a ton of playing experience in college with over 1,500 snaps.
Another couple factors that make Orange’s projection straight forward are that his role is not dynamic. He can only really play in one type of way and he isn’t going to move any farther out than the 3-technique spot but will mostly be close to the center.
In the best-case scenario, he could push 500 snaps in 2026 and be an instant legitimate impact player against the run and occasionally create some pocket push on first downs.
OL, Caleb Tiernan
Clay projection: N/A
Tiernan was the most eyebrow-raising draft pick from a short-term perspective, especially with some decent wide receiver prospects on the field but that doesn’t mean he has no chance of playing in 2026.
It’s not clear if Tiernan or newcomer Ryan Van Demark would be in line to play on the right side if there was an injury but in two of the last three years, Brian O’Neill has played under 1,000 snaps (734 in 2025 and 884 in 2023) and it’s possible that Tiernan could be the next man up. Also he could be called upon to bump inside to guard if there’s an injury to right guard Will Fries or left guard Donovan Jackson. It will be interesting to see if he gets cross trained for both positions during training camp or if the stays strictly at tackle.
In the best-case scenario, Tiernan wouldn’t see the field much in his rookie year because that would mean that the offensive line was completely healthy. But it’s a very rare thing in the NFL to have a totally healthy O-line so we can probably expect him to see the field at some point and otherwise develop for the future.
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