Vikings Draft Sleepers Are Starting to Pop
Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has taken a lot of heat for his terrible 2022 draft class, but all of a sudden, a handful of his mid- and late-round picks since are paying off on Sundays.
Underneath the Minnesota Vikings’ hard-fought 3-2 record through five games. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s late-round draft picks are standing off the page.
Men from the 4th Round and later are turning the corner and developing into credible NFL assets, and no better evidence exists than the season’s first five games.
Unsung Draft Picks Begin to Hit for Vikings
It’s about time, eh?
Levi Drake Rodriguez | DT
Rodriguez is the NFL’s 31st-best defensive tackle through five weeks of 2025, according to Pro Football Focus. That doesn’t mean he’s a star or future Pro Bowler, but as a 7th-Rounder from the 2024 NFL Draft, Rodriguez could reasonably be on a team’s practice squad, and no one would bat an eye.
Instead, he’s compiling a 69.8 PFF grade while playing 132 snaps, or about 40% of the time. He has 15 tackles for his troubles, including 4 tackles for losses on ball-carriers.
If something happens injury-wise to Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, or Jalen Redmond, Rodriguez’s snap count would skyrocket, and Brian Flores would trust him with an enhanced role.
Rodriguez, so far, is a resounding 7th-Round success story for a general manager who needs draft success stories.
Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins | DT
Minnesota found Ingram-Dawkins in Round 5 six months ago, a Georgia Bulldog for the defensive line’s interior. To date, he’s logged about 100 snaps on defense, which is noteworthy for a late-round rookie, especially on a team already stacked with DTs, including Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, Jalen Redmond, and the aforementioned Rodriguez.
Ingram-Dawkins banked the first sack of his career on Sunday, taking Browns rookie passer Dillon Gabriel to the ground. His PFF grade isn’t quite there yet — 56.3 — but the fact that he’s playing as a rookie suggests a positive trajectory, particularly with Brian Flores’ teaching.
Will Reichard | K
A 6th-Rounder chosen on the same day as Rodriguez, Reichard has returned to his early 2024 form after struggling with a quad injury recovery late in 2024.
Reichard tied a Soldier Field record with a 59-yard field goal in Week 1. Two weeks later, he hit a 62-yarder at U.S. Bank Stadium during a rout of the hapless Cincinnati Bengals, a Vikings franchise record. The guy is quietly setting franchise records left and right, and fans have grown accustomed to it because he’s just so good.
Last weekend, Reichard suffered his first field goal miss in London, though replay footage showed that his kick directly contacted a camera wire, careening the ball in a weird direction.
The Athletic‘s Alec Lewis and Jayna Bardahl on the camera wire incident: “NFL kickers are hitting their stride this season thanks to a new rule that allows them to practice with the same footballs they play with on Sundays. But the Minnesota Vikings’ Will Reichard might have a word of caution for his fellow kickers: watch out for the cameras.”
“Reichard’s perfect field goal record this season was spoiled on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. With 9:47 left in the fourth quarter and the Vikings trailing by 3 points, Reichard attempted a 51-yard kick that would have tied the game at 17. The kick appeared to be on line, but then took a sharp turn wide right.”
The camera wire ordeal is likely water under the bridge now, as Minnesota ultimately won.
Lewis and Bardahl added, “The kick was considered a miss, but two Vikings team sources are confident it hit the camera wire, which should have resulted in a rekick. Reichard had been 3-for-3 from 50-plus yards before the game, including a 62-yard make against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3. Luckily for the Vikings, they escaped with a 21-17 win, going 1-1 on their overseas road trip to Dublin and London.”
Jay Ward | S
Adofo-Mensah selected Ward in Round 4 of the 2023 NFL Draft, and mainly due to the fact that Minnesota always has “too many” safeties, Ward hardly found defensive playing time in 2023 or 2024.
Yet, with Harrison Smith out for the first couple of games this season, Ward received playing time and immediately cashed in. Ward has a 75.4 PFF grade this year in a limited sample, one of the best scores among Vikings defensive players.
Ward could be in line for a starter’s job in 2026 if Smith retires.
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