With sufficient capital to do so, it felt like a lead-pipe lock that the Minnesota Vikings would draft a running back this year. And on Day 3, they did, moving back into the sixth round to get a guy they clearly coveted in Demond Claiborne out of Wake Forest.
Claiborne feels like a real threat to Aaron Jones' role in the Vikings' backfield as Jordan Mason's complement. While undersized (5-foot-9, 188 pounds), he has big-time speed, untapped versatility as a pass catcher, a nose for the end zone, and kickoff return ability to fortify his case for the RB3 role heading into the season.
At the very least, Claiborne seems to be envisioned as Jones' heir apparent come 2027. But it's worth remembering he was a sixth-round pick, and barely in the top-200 overall. Rookies of that ilk aren't promised anything.
Tyler Forness of AtoZ Sports left Claiborne off his Vikings' 53-man roster projection after the completion of offseason work, with Zavier Scott winning the RB3 spot instead.
Concerns about Minnesota Vikings rookie running back Demond Claiborne need more time to be proven or dismissed
Forness has since expanded on that thought.
"I don't have Demond Claiborne in here (the roster projection), and it's for one main reason. I don't think he's a running back-three capable player, in a way that the Vikings have prioritized running back-three."
Forness noted how Ty Chandler is no longer around in part because of his inconsistencies as a pass blocker, which led to fullback C.J. Ham seeing a lot of third-down snaps. Chandler also served as the personal protector on the punt team.
Another layer to why Ham got so much third-down work is Jones' shortcomings as a pass blocker. His career has been up and down in that regard, according to Pro Football Focus grades, but he earned a career-low mark of 35.6 last season and has earned a pass blocking grade below 52.0 in three of the last four seasons.
Scott, for what it's worth over a limited sample, earned a 74.3 pass blocking grade from PFF last year.
PFF was broadly not very complimentary of Claiborne's pass blocking work in college. But as a junior in 2024, when he had 159 of the 307 pass blocking snaps he had in his career, he earned a 66.2 grade.
The concerns Forness has about Claiborne's ability to do the things that will help him lock down a spot on the 53-man roster, most prominently blocking and multi-phase special teams utility, are absolutely valid.
At the same time, Jones has managed to function as a key part of the Vikings' offense while being mostly a detriment as a pass blocker. So there are ways to work around that. Claiborne can also be worked with to get better at it, while that improvement ship has sailed with the 31-year-old Jones.
The margins Forness cited may leave Claborne on the outside looking in when final roster cuts come in late August. But it's also too early, before he has even taken part in a padded NFL practice, to say he can't do (or be coached up to do) those things at a functional level.
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