If not before, Isaiah Rodgers is firmly on everyone's radar now.
Name recognition comes with the territory he pioneered this past Sunday, intercepting a pass and returning it 87 yards for a touchdown and forcing two fumbles, including one he picked up off the turf and took back 66 yards for another score. You can read all about the ins and outs of his historic day here.
Several "underrated" players, like Rodgers, have been instrumental to Minnesota's 2-1 start. Running back Jordan Mason has injected confidence in the ground game; Eric Wilson has subbed strongly for injured starter Blake Cashman as the Green Dot on the defense, forcing a fumble in back-to-back games; and kicker Will Reichard and punter Ryan Wright are in their bags as dependable, big-legged specialists.
Who else has impressed, though? Which other under-the-radar players deserve some shine?
Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated picked one out from each phase Wednesday and assessed via film review and advanced metrics how they've helped the Vikings succeed through the initial three games.
Up first, wide receiver Jalen "Speedy" Nailor, who currently is second on the team behind Justin Jefferson in receiving yards (97). Nailor has played 90 percent of the offensive snaps and is uncovering consistently. While his stats are modest, Head Coach Kevin O'Connell has raved about his performance.
To strengthen the case for Nailor, Ragatz shared a leaderboard from an analytics company, Fantasy Points, that utilizes a charting metric called Playing Time-Adjusted Average Separation Score (PASS). Nailor leads all players in that ranking (Jefferson is fourth, by the way) with a 15.5 score. The Top 5 is rounded out by Rams WR Davante Adams, Ravens WR Zay Flowers and Chargers WR Ladd McConkey.
Defensively, Ragatz pinpointed interior lineman Jalen Redmond, whose snap share has rocketed from 24 percent in 2024 to 55 percent this season. Redmond's twitchiness has stood out versus the run and pass.
In this instance, Ragatz highlighted an analysis of how defensive linemen across the NFL have fared in true pass sets. Redmond's pass rush win rate and pressure percentage puts him in the same company as Titans star Jeffery Simmons in this graph.
In Week 3, Redmond earned an 89.8 PFF grade with four quarterback hurries, two tackles and one forced fumble.
Check out Ragatz’s article to read more on both players, and discover his sleeper special-teamer.
Former Vikings nominated for Hall of Fame
Teammates on the field – and maybe in Canton?
The next Viking in line to join Jared Allen in football immortality could be his teammate for six years, defensive tackle Kevin Williams, who was a First-Team All-Pro selection in five of his first seven NFL seasons.
Part of the league's Team of the Decade for the 2000s, Williams was one of 128 modern-era players nominated Wednesday for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Other players linked to the Vikings on the list are quarterbacks Randall Cunningham, Rich Gannon and Donovan McNabb, as well as center Matt Birk and kicker Gary Anderson. Williams, however, may bring the strongest case to the table.
From his 9th overall drafting in 2003 out of Oklahoma State through 2013, Williams started all 171 games he played in Purple, tallying 465 tackles (104 for a loss), 60 sacks and 84 hits on the quarterback.
Williams finished fourth in The Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year race in 2003 and collected Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro honors in 2004 and 2006-09. He earned his sixth Pro Bowl nod at 30 years old in a 2010 campaign flush with pass deflections; he had 10 from his post in the trenches.
After a decade of dominance in Minnesota, in which Williams helped the Vikings rank in the top two against the run four years in a row (2006-09), the Arkadelphia, Arkansas, native spent a season apiece with Seattle and New Orleans, notching another three sacks and increasing his forced fumbles to nine.
Overall, Williams amassed an approximate value of 129 (tied for 162nd all-time regardless of position), according to pro-football-reference.com. His Hall of Fame monitor score on the same site, indicating his chances of election someday is 105.03, and is ninth in history among defensive tackles. For context, Vikings Ring of Honor and Pro Football Hall of Fame members Alan Page and John Randle compiled 142.38 and 136.28 scores. The player on the chart directly beneath Williams is Gold Jacket Cortez Kennedy, who retired in 2000 and was inducted in 2012.
Williams has not advanced, yet, to the semifinalist stage, entering his sixth year of eligibility.
Other defensive linemen included on this year's list of nominees are John Abraham (DE/LB), Geno Atkins (DT), Jurrell Casey (DT), Elvis Dumervil (DE), La'Roi Glover (DT/NT), Robert Mathis (DE), Haloti Ngata (DT), Jay Ratliff (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Justin Smith (DE), Ted Washington (NT/DT) and Vince Wilfork (DT/NT).
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