Vikings Finally Add a Running Back
On the day after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepted the nomination for Vice President of the United States, the professional football team in Minnesota signed a former standout from the primary collegiate football team in Minnesota. Minnesota everything.
Vikings Finally Add a Running Back
After adding just one running back all offseason — Aaron Jones — Minnesota signed former Minnesota Golden Gophers standout RB Mohamed Ibrahim.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert tweeted, “Vikings are signing former Minnesota RB Mo Ibrahim, per Matt Leist of LAA.”
The Vikings will shave the 91-man roster to 53 in five days, so Ibrahim will hope to latch on as an RB3 or RB4 — or entertain a practice squad fate in 2024. And he’s the sixth running back on the current roster, with one preseason game left:
- Aaron Jones
- Ty Chandler
- Kene Nwangwu
- Myles Gaskin
- DeWayne McBride
- Mohamed Ibrahim
One month ago, KSTP’s Darren Wolfson precisely predicted Thursday’s transaction. He said on SKOR North in July, “Heck, maybe end up signing Mohamed Ibrahim, who apparently they’ve kicked the tires on.”
Ibrahim went undrafted in April 2023, latching onto the Lions’ 90-man roster from the UDFA wire last offseason. He was quite prolific at the University of Minnesota, though, tallying 4,668 rushing yards on 867 attempts (a 5.4 yards per carry average) with 53 touchdowns. Ibrahim appeared in 41 career games as a Gopher. But Ibrahim departed the Lions at the end of training camp and the preseason. He returned to Detroit, however, in October for a practice squad assignment.
The 26-year-old was a two-time First-Team All-Big Ten in 2020 and 2022 and probably would’ve earned the recognition in 2021 if not for injury. Ibrahim was also a Third-Team All-American in 2020 and the Ameche–Dayne Running Back of the Year in 2020.
Ibrahim is 5’8″ and 203 pounds with 4.5-forty speed. The only knock on the Vikings relationship is experience. He played in just one game for the 2023 Lions, earning no offensive snaps and, thus, no rushing attempts in the NFL. Ibrahim has returned one kick for 22 yards in his brief NFL career.
The Vikings have one former Gopher on the current roster — new linebacker Blake Cashman, a teammate of Ibrahim in 2018.
Minnesota ranked 27th per rushing DVOA in 2023. The club also finished 27th per the same metric in 2022 and pledged to improve in 2023. They did not. A few weeks ago, head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke with KFAN’s Dan Barreiro and claimed about his 2024 offense: “We’re gonna run the football, and we want to establish it.”
Minnesota held a Top 30 visit with Ibrahim during the build-up to the 2023 NFL Draft. He’s been on the radar for a while.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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