The Minnesota Vikings are prioritizing undrafted free agents more under general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah than they have been in previous seasons. Last season, the Vikings had three undrafted free agents make the roster in Andre Carter II, Ivan Pace Jr. and NaJee Thompson. This year, the undrafted free agent haul looks potentially as fruitful.
Fantasy Pros' Thor Nystrom is the foremost expert when it comes to undrafted free agency, a process that he calls the "dessert draft." He had the Vikings with the third-best undrafted free agent class, including four players with draftable grades from Nystrom.
Minnesota’s 2023 UDFA haul is a worthy follow-up to that class. The Vikings signed two of my top-10 overall UDFA – EDGE Gabriel Murphy and CB Dwight McGlothern – amongst a group that included four prospects with draftable grades on my board. In sum, Minnesota added 10 members of the Thor500 via UDFA.
EDGE Murphy is a skilled pass-rusher who the NFL bypassed for seven rounds because of arm length. It would be stunning if he does not make the team. The last three seasons, Murphy posted PFF pass-rushing grades of 90.4, 87.0, and 87.6, respectively, over a combined 921 pass-rushing snaps, with 18 sacks. He’s a one-trick pony – UCLA only dropped him into coverage on 29 snaps the past two years – but that trick is pretty neat, and one that is valued in DC Brian Flores’ hyper-aggressive scheme.
Murphy is the crown jewel of this class with his pass-rush prowess. Now, he does have 30.5" arms, which is likely why he fell. However, his Relative Athletic Score of 9.28 suggests that there is a profile to work with. If anyone can extract the talent from Murphy, it's defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
There are quite a few intriguing names on this list that could make the roster, which is both a good thing when it comes to value and potentially a worry with the roster being where it is currently.
