UDFA Signings

Kmerry82 wrote:

They have a really good relationship with the WR coach. Maryland has been able to recruit athletic WR athletes but the school as a whole has just struggled so we have been able to get good talent at the position at a discount and get good information from the coach. Felton is the only one we effectively paid full price for and the coaches really like him. To the point they didn’t draft any competition.

Bingo. Not seeing this mentioned before....seems the board has given up on this guy already for some reason. Out of sight, out of mind I suppose. Jalen Nailor started his rookie season with 3 catches, just like Tai. Zero reasons to be bagging on a player that nobody has seen yet, this is his year to show up for WR3. I bet they sneak a vet into the room sometime before September 1st.

The Vikings are bringing in punter Bret Thorson to compete with newly aquired free-agent punter Johnny Hekker. Thorson was Georgia's punter for four seasons. He finished his career with 156 punts, a 45.6-yard average and 7,115 yards. He won the 2025 Ray Gay Award, as the nation's top punter, after he allowed just 15 return yards all season. He will have a strong chance to earn a roster spot.

Thorson is part of the International Player Pathway Program, meaning that if he doesn’t make the roster, the Vikings could keep him on the roster with an exemption.

NorseFeathers wrote:

The Vikings are bringing in punter Bret Thorson to compete with newly aquired free-agent punter Johnny Hekker. Thorson was Georgia's punter for four seasons. He finished his career with 156 punts, a 45.6-yard average and 7,115 yards. He won the 2025 Ray Gay Award, as the nation's top punter, after he allowed just 15 return yards all season. He will have a strong chance to earn a roster spot.

Possibly, but you need 2 punters to get you through OTAs/TC/early preseason. Let them compete.

WR Dillon Bell. At 6-foot, 210 pounds, he will add an interesting skill-set to Minnesota's wide receiver room. In four years at Georgia he showcased his versatility with 51 carries for 373 yards and five more touchdowns. His 4.5 40 time at the combine showed he has adequate speed, and he demonstrated his athleticism by recording a 39-inch vertical jump.

Bell drew comparisons to Deebo Samuel by his sophomore season at Georgia. While he won't go off the board in the second round like Samuel did, it's easy to see how an NFL front office could make the comparison and pounce on Bell.

2 spots left.

StickierBuns wrote:

Bingo. Not seeing this mentioned before....seems the board has given up on this guy already for some reason. Out of sight, out of mind I suppose. Jalen Nailor started his rookie season with 3 catches, just like Tai. Zero reasons to be bagging on a player that nobody has seen yet, this is his year to show up for WR3. I bet they sneak a vet into the room sometime before September 1st.

The prevailing wisdom is that since he couldn't get snaps behind Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor and Adam Thielen he must be a bust.

Who's the prize? Before dozing off last night I read that we paid one of these guys a pretty big contract. Anyone know who that was? Maybe I dreamt it.

NorseFeathers wrote:

WR Dillon Bell. At 6-foot, 210 pounds, he will add an interesting skill-set to Minnesota's wide receiver room. In four years at Georgia he showcased his versatility with 51 carries for 373 yards and five more touchdowns. His 4.5 40 time at the combine showed he has adequate speed, and he demonstrated his athleticism by recording a 39-inch vertical jump.
Bell drew comparisons to Deebo Samuel by his sophomore season at Georgia. While he won't go off the board in the second round like Samuel did, it's easy to see how an NFL front office could make the comparison and pounce on Bell.

The Georgia offense was awful. Incredible athlete, needs improvement in route running. Honestly I like the WR we got as udfa’s. Excellent athletes need a lot of refinement.

Kmerry82 wrote:

The Georgia offense was awful. Incredible athlete, needs improvement in route running. Honestly I like the WR we got as udfa’s. Excellent athletes need a lot of refinement.

I'm thinking kick returner more so than WR. Bell's size, speed and athleticism compares to Cordarrelle Patterson. Though Patterson never did much as a WR, he turned into a damn good kick returner.

MaroonBells wrote:

Who's the prize? Before dozing off last night I read that we paid one of these guys a pretty big contract. Anyone know who that was? Maybe I dreamt it.

Here it is...

doing a quick search on some top 400 lists I found some rated so I have added their placement;

(303) Tristan Leigh, OL, Clemson

(304) Scooby Williams, LB, Texas A&M

(333) Delby Lemieux, OL, Dartmouth

(348) Dillon Bell, WR, Georgia

(357) Marcus Allen, CB, North Carolina

(398) Cam'Ron Stewart, OLB, Temple

Brett Thorson*, P, Georgia Ray Guy award winner

Da'Veawn Armstead, CB, North Texas

Jordan Botelho, OLB, Notre Dame

Tyreek Chappell, CB, Texas A&M

Monkell Goodwine, DL, South Carolina

Shaleak Knotts, WR, Maryland

Keli Lawson, LB, UCF

Kejon Owens, RB, Florida International

Tomas Rimac, OL, Virginia Tech

Marcus Sanders, Jr., WR, Georgia Southern

Jacob Thomas, S, James Madison

Arden Walker, OLB, Colorado

Lyke Wysong, WR, Arizona

* International Player Pathway (IPP) participant

JustInTime wrote:

https://twitter.com/vikingzfanpage/status/2049174299089453229

That Steve Smith interview is pretty interesting. Basically said the horrendous QB play and dumbing down the offense makes it impossible to accurately judge what kind of player Bell is. Said once the ball is in his hands he is a heck of player, but everything else is a bit of a mess. He has the traits to be a really nice addition if he can round out his skills a bit. As a UDFA its well worth the risk. We have 2 WR lottery tickets in Dillon and Knotts. However if Jennings does sign will leave 1-2 roster openings for WR.

Wow.

"Tomas Rimac is a OG prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.97 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 7 out of 1898 OG from 1987 to 2026."

MaroonBells wrote:

Wow.
"Tomas Rimac is a OG prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.97 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 7 out of 1898 OG from 1987 to 2026."

All at 6'6 and 317 lbs... he's a freak, hopefully he can play.

https://packerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2026/02/01/unpacking-future-packers-no-80-virginia-tech-ol-tomas-rimac/88463757007/

I joked the other day that if RAS scores equaled NFL success we just had the greatest draft in the history of drafts. But Lewis Cine had an off the charts RAS score--they don't really mean anything other than the guy has good physical tools. If that's all it took, player acquisition would be easy.

comet52 wrote:

I joked the other day that if RAS scores equaled NFL success we just had the greatest draft in the history of drafts. But Lewis Cine had an off the charts RAS score--they don't really mean anything other than the guy has good physical tools. If that's all it took, player acquisition would be easy.

Yep, for sure. But its all we've got right now. Vikings have hit on UDFAs in the past so its interesting to ponder if any in this batch will break through.