While there wasn't an overly significant amount of surprises in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings certainly made one of the more shocking selections on Day 1 in Pittsburgh, using the No. 18 overall selection on Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks, who appeared in just three games for the Gators in 2025 due to a left foot injury and won't be able to participate in full football activities until at least June after reinjuring that same foot.
But Banks certainly wasn't the only surprise selection Minnesota made, as, after engaging in a trade with the Carolina Panthers to move back two spots in Round 2, the Vikings used the No. 51 overall selection on Cincinnati linebacker Jake Golday.
It's not where Golday was drafted that was the baffling part, as he was projected to go off the board in the mid-to-late second round or early in the third round at the latest. No, the baffling part was that the Vikings had more pressing needs at other positions.
But what's done is done, and while there are still plenty of people out there who disagree with the pick, the Bearcats' former director of player personnel, Jack Griffith, isn't one of them.
The Athletic's Alec Lewis recently asked coaches, executives, and staffers to opine on each of Minnesota's nine draft picks, and Griffith, who left Cincy at the end of this past season to become the assistant GM at Penn State, says Brian Flores is getting an all-around fantastic football player.
"He’s a unique athletic profile, and we had a unique defense. He was playing almost a nickel defender role. We played so many RPO-heavy teams, so we put him out in space, and he eliminated those passing windows with his length, athletic ability and football intelligence."
Jake Golday certainly offers the Minnesota Vikings versatility
Lewis also noted in his piece that an anonymous NFC executive loved Golday's versatility, intelligence, and grittiness, while another had concerns about exactly where the First-Team All-Big 12 selection would play.
Now, the beauty in the pick is that the first thing mentioned there answers that second part because Golday's versatility allows the Vikings to put him pretty much anywhere, as his 2025 campaign with Cincinnati saw him take 117 snaps on the defensive line at the edge, 248 snaps as a slot corner, and 314 snaps in the box.
Now, there's no getting around the fact that he's not the greatest pass rusher, but his 77.5 PFF coverage grade this past year ranked a highly respectable 70th among 809 qualifying linebackers, while his 90.6 run-defense mark ranked 17th.
So, at this point, one could pretty much say that Golday could be seen not only as a backup to Eric Wilson or Blake Cashman but also to Andrew Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner, and Tavierre Thomas as well.
Just that alone could very well turn this surprising pick into one of the Vikings' best decisions of this draft class.
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