1 Vikings Rookie Stands Above the Rest
1 Vikings Rookie Stands Above the Rest https://t.co/H7LEntETa2 #Vikings #NFL #Skol
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1 Vikings Rookie Stands Above the Rest
The Vikings are a 1-0 football. There’s a single Vikings rookie who proved particularly helpful.
Back in April, fill-in GM Rob Brzezinski was running the show. The long-time executive pulled nine players out of the draft, a number that has already shrunk down to eight with the subtraction of 7th-Round center Gavin Gerhardt. In Week 1, a lot of those rookies got worked into the mix, but it was FB Max Bredeson who stole the show.
Vikings Rookie Max Bredeson Has a Nice Week 1
Prior to going too far, consider the snap count for all rookies. The list:
FB Max Bredeson: 24 + 10 = 34
DT Domonique Orange: 22 + 7 = 29
DT Caleb Banks: 16 + 7 = 24
LB Jake Golday: 0 + 10 = 10
CB Chuck Demmings: 0 + 5 = 5
S Jakobe Thomas: N/A
OT Caleb Tiernan: N/A
RB Demond Claiborne: N/A
Some may have cracked the code already, but some clarity. The initial number refers to the amount of plays on either offense or defense. Next up is the total for special teams. Adding the numbers together means figuring out the total snap allotment for the debut game for the Vikings rookies.
Oh, and remember that UDFA safety Jacob Thomas had a workload, snagging 10 snaps on defense alongside 19 on special teams.
Now, it’s important to pause to give some credit to Big Citrus.
Green Bay made a critical call to remove the field goal late to instead go for it on 4th down. Matt LaFleur is getting criticized for opting for that approach but he did the correct thing. His issue was in running into Mr. Orange, the rookie nose tackle who was up to the challenge in his first ever NFL game.
Lesson learned all around. The Packers need to respect Orange more; the Vikings can trust Orange in those moments.
But then there’s Max Bredeson. He had a nice day at the office.
The newcomer is a rugged thumper who got praise from Kevin O’Connell for playing like he’s got some “screws loose.” Bredeson was out there for both rushing touchdowns, proving instrumental in clearing enough room for the ground attack to get the ball across the goal line.
In Week 2, the Vikings are travelling to Chicago for a game against the Bears. Boasting a combo of QB Caleb Williams and HC Ben Johnson means being a threat to go nuclear on the scoreboard. Minnesota can avoid that outcome by running the ball well.
Indeed, the Vikings’ task is to control the clock. Grind out first downs to ensure that Williams can’t leave the bench. Even Williams can’t run amok on the final score if he’s not out there running the show.
Bredeson, 23, is listed at 6’2″ and 252 pounds. Look for him to keep being featured.
LIVE WELL ~ LOVE MUCH ~ LAUGH OFTEN
Interesting that after a huge camp Demmings didn't get any snaps on defense (did we play a dime at all and if so who was it). Also no defensive snaps for Golday is a surprise who I thought we would see as an edge rusher.
https://vikesnow.com/analysis/2026/didnt-waste-time-making-max-bredeson/
The Minnesota Vikings did not draft Max Bredeson to preserve a tradition. They drafted him because they believed a fullback could help reshape their offense.
That belief was visible Sunday against the Packers. Bredeson played 24 offensive snaps in his NFL debut, an unusually large workload for a fullback — especially a rookie. It was two snaps shy of C.J. Ham’s high in any game during Kevin O’Connell’s tenure. Ham reached 26 offensive snaps twice last season, against Washington and Detroit on Christmas Day.
For a team that once seemed unlikely to spend a draft pick on a fullback at all, Minnesota wasted no time making its newest one matter.
The fifth-round rookie was part of an offense that kept leaning on the running game despite a difficult first half, an early quarterback injury and a double-digit deficit. He was on the field for 24 of the Vikings’ 65 offensive plays and helped create the look that sprung Aaron Jones’ go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Bredeson’s box score will not make headlines. Fullbacks seldom have that luxury. But the Vikings did not need him to carry the ball or catch a touchdown pass to show why he was drafted. They required him to do the so-called dirty work: understand the assignment, get to the right place, and deliver a block.
He did.
“I thought he was really good,” O’Connell said Monday. “You’ve got to remind yourself he’s a rookie sometimes.”
That is meaningful praise coming from a coach who has asked plenty of his new fullback from the beginning. Bredeson is not simply lining up a few yards behind the quarterback and leading into an interior hole. The Vikings have used him in multiple alignments, moved him before the snap and included him in a run game designed to make defenses hesitate before they can react.
It is a lot to process for any rookie. It is even more demanding at a position where one missed front identification, one late adjustment or one poor angle can ruin a play before it begins. The former Michigan tight end had to learn that the hard way when he whiffed on a block early in the game.
Still, the head coach liked what he saw. O’Connell said Bredeson has the kind of football mind that makes the game slow down.
“He’s wildly intelligent,” O’Connell said. “When things start moving around, the game makes sense to him.”
That quality showed up on the touchdown that finally put Minnesota ahead.
With the Vikings trailing 22-17 in the fourth quarter, Bredeson began the play as an H-back behind left tackle Christian Darrisaw. He motioned across the formation, then worked back toward the left edge as the ball went to Jones on a wide-zone concept.
The play required several pieces to work together. Darrisaw got out in space. Receiver Jauan Jennings helped seal the edge. Bredeson’s movement and block helped give Jones the room to get outside and turn the corner for a 3-yard touchdown.
It was not a dramatic individual highlight. That is precisely the point.
The Vikings built the play around the idea that their 250-pound rookie could move defenders, understand the design and execute in a defining moment. Jones’ score gave Minnesota its first lead with 6:37 remaining. The Packers never recovered.
Bredeson’s work also came within the broader offensive decision that might have mattered most in the comeback. Minnesota’s revamped ground game did not produce much early. The Vikings ran five wide-zone plays for seven yards in the first half, according to the Star Tribune, and did not call one in the third quarter.
But O’Connell did not abandon it.
The Vikings returned to the concept late, and Jordan Mason ripped off a 28-yard gain behind Darrisaw and Bredeson on the go-ahead drive. Jones finished the possession. The sequence was a reminder that a run game does not need to dominate every early snap to become decisive in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we adjusted and got some things downhill and then were able to stick with it long enough,” O’Connell said. “Had a wide-zone pop there late for a good hit.”
Bredeson is a central piece of that patience. The Vikings can use tight ends in the backfield, as many NFL teams do, but they made the unusual choice to select a true fullback with the 159th pick. He was the only fullback drafted in 2026 and the highest-drafted player at the position since 2015.
The investment was about more than nostalgia for a position that has faded across the league. It was about the flexibility a fullback can create for an offense trying to become more physical without becoming predictable.
Bredeson can help Minnesota create an extra gap in the run game. He can motion and force a defense to declare its intentions, line up beside tight ends Josh Oliver and T.J. Hockenson, creating heavy personnel looks that still carry enough movement to challenge a defense horizontally. And he can help protect the quarterback when the call requires it.
His first game suggested the Vikings trust him in all of those areas.
Hockenson, who has worked beside Bredeson throughout camp and is one of the veterans most familiar with the demands of the offense, saw the same thing on Sunday.
“I think he killed it yesterday,” Hockenson said. “I think he was awesome.”
The tight end pointed to Bredeson’s ability to adjust when the defense changes the picture after the snap. That awareness is a skill that cannot be manufactured by simply asking a bigger player to stand in the backfield and block.
The Vikings will need more from Bredeson as the season goes along. They still have to find greater consistency in the run game, and the Bears will present another test Sunday in Chicago. The rookie will make mistakes, as every rookie does.
But Minnesota entered the season wanting a new identity up front. In Week 1, during the most important drive of the game, its new fullback was not watching from the sideline.
He was helping lead the way.
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