Two-hundred-and-fifty-seven college football standouts realized life-long dreams last weekend.

In the days since the 2026 NFL Draft concluded, we've watched hundreds more join teams as undrafted free agents, including 19 on the Vikings. We've also observed initial report cards from external draftniks and noted brief assessments earlier this week of Minnesota investing twice in run-game reinforcements.

Another post-draft recap worth highlighting came out Wednesday: ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller's 100 best picks, fits and steals of the event — and to spoil the surprise, Minnesota was a recurring awardee.

The Vikings are one of five teams on Miller's sheet with five "favorite" selections last weekend, along with the Chargers, Colts, Jets — whose three first-round picks were ranked 5, 6 and 22 — and Ravens.

That's the majority of Minnesota's nine-player draft class, in case you hate math.

The team's fourth pick and first offensive player chosen this year, former Northwestern tackle Caleb Tiernan, appeared first for the Vikings at 34 in Miller's ranking. Tiernan was Miller's 61^st prospect available and was drafted 97^th overall, confirming Minnesota obtained great value in the third round.

Miller touted Tiernan as the potential "long-term plan at right tackle" considering starter Brian O'Neill will turn 31 years old in September; granted, O'Neill still is an exceptional player. Although Tiernan primarily played on the left side in college, Miller shared that scouts think he's equipped to man the right side or even switch to guard.

At 43, Miller applauded the Vikings top choice of former Florida defensive lineman Caleb Banks.

Miller wrote the following of the club's highest-drafted defensive lineman since Erasmus James in 2005:

The biggest surprise of Round 1 — more than [quarterback Ty] Simpson (drafted 13^th overall by the Rams) or [receiver Carnell] Tate (drafted 4^th by the Titans) — was Banks finding his way into the top 20. Foot injuries sidelined Banks throughout last season and in the pre-draft process, but he should be seen as an immediate starter when healthy with Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave being released this offseason. The middle of the Vikings line was low on talent, and Banks is easily the most traits-rich player on the roster. Based on value, this pick is a big reach, but it fills a massive need. And the high-end potential from Banks makes it understandable in a draft class that was low on starting-level defensive tackles.

Minnesota's other big addition to the defensive front, former Iowa State defensive tackle Domonique Orange, made the cut, too, popping up at 68 on Miller's list. Ironically, Orange was Miller's 68^th prospect.

Miller opined the Vikings were smart to circle back to their defensive line and take "Big Citrus," reasoning, "The return on investment will be huge if they can get two starting-level defensive tackles on rookie contracts." Like Banks, Miller added, Orange should have every opportunity to start in Week 1.

At 83 and 85, Miller spotlighted Minnesota's new backfield tandem, award-winning former Michigan fullback Max Bredeson (Miller's 126^th prospect, picked 159^th) and speed-possessed former Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne (Miller's 160^th prospect, picked 198^th). These choices are widely liked!

Miller explained Bredeson was "invaluable to the Michigan offense" because of his ability to align in different spots. Miller elaborated with an obvious excitement: "He had no peers in the class as a blocker. If there's going to be a power run game in Minnesota, Bredeson is the fullback you want kicking it off."

As for Claiborne, Miller sees him as "the lightning to the thunder of veteran Aaron Jones, Sr., and Bredeson," and he projects that Claiborne's pass-catching value on third down will be apparent quickly. Of course, Minnesota also has Jordan Mason, who played 16 games last season and had 159 carries for 758 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Miami is the only club with greater representation on Miller's list, garnering his stamp of approval six times: LB Jacob Rodriguez (Round 2-Pick 43 overall) at 14, WR Chris Bell (3-94) at 31, T Kaydyn Proctor (1-12) at 35, CB Chris Johnson (1-27) at 38, LB Kyle Louis (4-138) at 40 and edge rusher Max Llewellyn (7-237) at 93.

Click here to read Miller's entire article and decide for yourself which franchises perhaps aced the draft.

Draft pick confidential

The Athletic's Alec Lewis supplied perspective Thursday about each of Minnesota's draft picks.

With insights from college coaches and staffers, Lewis guided us from Banks, who former Florida head coach Billy Napier described as "a generational height, length, twitch and intelligence type of guy who also has a competitive streak that makes him different," to Day 3 center Gavin Gerhardt out of Cincinnati.

You can read Lewis' full story here, and we will share some of the most interesting intel below.

Starting in reverse order, Cincinnati's former director of player personnel Jack Griffith told Lewis that Gerhardt is "Probably the best servant leader I've ever been around," and added, "He could've left a few different times, but he was the linchpin who brought the cultures together between (Bearcats former head coach) Luke Fickell and (Head Coach) Scott Satterfield. He's the guy you trust to make all the calls."

Maybe the best quote in Lewis' piece is attributed to Bill O'Boyle, who was Tiernan's offensive line coach in 2024 at Northwestern. Boyle mentioned Tiernan overcomes shorter arm length with hip mobility, and he listened closely to him teaching the Wildcats linemen how to use independent hands in pass blocking.

Lewis stated that O'Boyle believes Tiernan's ceiling depends on opportunity.

"We could put in a screen game where we could get him on the perimeter in a way you couldn't with other tackles," O'Boyle relayed to Lewis. "Because he's that fast. He's got that sneaky, fat-man speed."

One other player worth mentioning is the fourth defender Minnesota picked in the Top 100 this year: safety Jakobe Thomas, who played under former Gophers defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman in the same role last season at Miami. Hetherman has studied Brian Flores' wizardry and identified overlap between what Thomas did for the Hurricanes and what he could potentially do for the Vikings.

"His style of play, and their style of loading the box and doing different things with the safeties and being multiple, is ideal," Hetherman told Lewis. "He was also a guy who didn't come in until August (after playing at Middle Tennessee State), and he picked it up quickly. So, you'd think he'd do the same there."

Canes safeties coach Will Harris, who helped coach Byron Murphy, Jr., at Washington, raved about Thomas' play style: "We always talked about enforcing your will on your opponent, and he did that."

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