Vikings add intriguing new pass rusher from France to 2023 roster

On Thursday, the Minnesota Vikings were awarded former SMU pass rusher Junior Aho to their roster as part of the NFL International Player Pathway Program.

The Minnesota Vikings roster is made up of players from all over the United States, but there are also a few members of the team that spent a portion of their life growing up outside of the country, including kicker Greg Joseph (South Africa) and linebacker William Kwenku (Cameroon).

Well, now the Vikings have added another international piece to their roster as former SMU pass rusher Junior Aho, a native of France, was awarded to Minnesota on Thursday as part of the NFL International Player Pathway Program.

Aho, who went undrafted this year, will now have the chance to make the Vikings' final 2023 roster. And even if he ends up not making Minnesota's final cuts, the team can still keep him on their practice squad without him counting against the 16-player limit for the practice squad that is allowed by the league.

New Minnesota Vikings pass rusher has the athletic tools to develop into something special

After leaving France in 2018, Aho spent a season playing football at the New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college. His performance ended up being good enough to draw the attention of some notable FBS schools, including Minnesota, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Nebraska, and SMU.

Aho eventually chose to attend SMU, which is where he spent the last three seasons of his college football career. In 2022, he accumulated 23 tackles (two for a loss) and two sacks in 13 games.

With his size (6-foot-2 and 260 pounds) and speed (4.59-second 40-yard dash time), Aho already has some elite traits that the Vikings can use to mold him into a solid pass rusher at the pro level.

It will be interesting to see how quickly he is able to pick up some of the things he will be asked to do in Minnesota's new defensive scheme under Brian Flores.