Just over a month ago, the team at PFF took a look at the NFL and named each team’s most underrated player. For the Minnesota Vikings, they landed on linebacker Ivan Pace Jr.
They’re not alone in thinking Pace is the most underrated player on the Vikings roster. This time, it’s Sports Illustrated senior writer Conor Orr. Orr looked at each team in the league and broke it up by conference. For the NFC, when he got to the Vikings, the choice was clear. Pace’s story is phenomenal, and he’s an exceptional player who has only just begun to scratch the surface of the player he can be. In Orr’s own words:
There is raw talent and there is supernatural instinct, the latter of which Pace seems to major in. Despite coming into the season at the bottom of the pecking order in a notoriously amoebic Brian Flores defense, Pace ended up not only being as good a blitzer as he was in college but a true off-ball linebacker who could handle just about any situation. Pace was up on the line of scrimmage for about 10% of his rookie-year snaps, which can help Minnesota diversify a tough unit even more in 2024. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him as part of the next generation of foundational leaders for this unit, which is being turned over under the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah regime.
Pace was a nice surprise story for the 2023 Vikings after entering the league as an undrafted free agent. In 2024, the team and Brian Flores will need Pace to expand upon that success. Flores’ scheme plays to Pace’s strengths, and Flores will be counting on that to continue building a defense that was much improved in 2023 but still has a lot of room to grow.
