Vikings Meet with Shifty Rookie RB
The 2025 NFL Draft is already renowned for its running back depth.
Vikings Meet with Shifty Rookie RB
If your favorite football team has a long-term roster need at tailback, that franchise better exit April’s event with a rookie runner.
Accordingly, the Vikings are evidently doing homework on Brashard Smith, a running back from Southern Methodist University, according to Click2Houston.com.
Aaron Wilson wrote this week, “SMU running back Brashard Smith has a visit with the Texans in addition to the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys. An All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team selection, Smith rushed for 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. He caught 39 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns. He never fumbled in his college career.”
Who Is Brashard Smith?
Smith will be 22 when the draft rolls around in four weeks and is 5’10” and 195 pounds. He’s a dual-threat (rushing, receiving) Floridian who spent his first three college seasons at the University of Miami before transferring to SMU for more playing time in 2024.
The Draft Network‘s Keith Sanchez describes Smith: “As a runner, Smith demonstrates two distinct styles depending on the scheme — gap or zone. In a gap scheme, Smith showcases quick processing and excellent vision once he receives the handoff. He rapidly identifies lanes and creases in the line of scrimmage, using his lateral agility and jump cuts to reach the hole. Once he finds an opening, Smith accelerates through it with remarkable speed, consistently gaining positive yardage.”
“Upon transferring to SMU for the 2024 season, Smith seized the opportunity to become a lead back and emerged as one of the nation’s most productive running backs in one of the country’s top offenses. His performance was instrumental in helping the SMU Mustangs make their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. Smith is a dynamic running back who leverages his quickness and explosiveness to create big plays.”
Weaknesses include a small frame by some running back standards and the fact that Smith isn’t necessarily a power runner, which the Vikings have lacked since head coach Kevin O’Connell took over in 2022.
Where in the Draft?
Smith currently lives on the Consensus Big Board at No. 184. That placement suggests he should be gettable for Minnesota and 31 other teams in Round 6.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has just four picks entering the event: a 1st-Rounder, a 3rd-Round compensatory selection, a 5th-Rounder, and a 6th-Round pick.
Perhaps one of the 5th- or 6th-Round selections could be used on Smith if the Vikings enjoyed what they saw during the recent visit.
The Vikings’ RB Room
This is Minnesota’s RB unit as of late March:
- Aaron Jones
- Jordan Mason
- Ty Chandler
- Zavier Scott
Jones will take the RB1 baton in 2025, while Mason, who became a Viking via trade a week and a half ago, will snatch the RB2 workload. Chandler could be on the outside looking in at the 53-man roster late in the summer, and Scott is a practice squad contender.
In other words, Minnesota will probably draft a mid- or late-round tailback next month.
Other RBs if Not Brashard Smith
When Adofo-Mensah traded for Mason with the San Francisco 49ers, he might’ve ruled out his team from using a 1st- or 2nd-Rounder on a running back.
These men might’ve been on the purple team’s radar before the Mason trade:
- Omarion Hampton (North Carolina)
- TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State)
- Kaleb Johnson (Iowa)
- Quinshon Judkins (Ohio State)
- Cam Skattebo (Arizona State)
- Devin Neal (Kansas)
Now, though, the later-round allotment could feature these players:
- Dylan Sampson (Tennessee)
- D.J. Giddens (Kansas State)
- Bhayshul Tuten (Virginia Tech)
- Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State)
- Damien Martinez (Miami)
- R.J. Harvey Jr. (Central Florida)
- Trevor Etienne (Georgia)
- Jarquez Hunter (Auburn)
The NFL draft is 30 days away on the nose.
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 MIN 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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