{"id":768445,"date":"2026-02-22T07:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768445\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T07:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:52:12","slug":"minnesota-vikings-predicted-to-draft-notre-dame-fighting-irish-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768445\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Vikings predicted to draft Notre Dame Fighting Irish star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 21, 2026, 8:08 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

What do the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> need to do to get back to the NFL playoffs following a disappointing 2025 season?<\/p>\n

Although the Vikings had a winning record, it wasn’t enough to make up for missing the postseason after going 14-3 in 2024. It also didn’t help Minnesota fans that their former quarterback, Sam Darnold, joined the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> and won the Super Bowl in his first season up in the northwest.<\/p>\n

While J.J. McCarthy is the projected starter for next season, it is not a guarantee by any means that he will be under center for the team’s opener to the regular season. The Vikings and head coach Kevin O’Connell have been adamant that they will bring in veteran competition to test the former Michigan Wolverine national champion in training camp.<\/p>\n

Could that mean Aaron Rodgers? Mac Jones? Daniel Jones?<\/p>\n

Regardless of who the Vikings have as their signal-caller for the new season, they’ll need to improve their offense.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

With the 18th pick in the upcoming NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, NFL.com analyst Charles Davis has Minnesota upgrading their attack by signing the best running back in college football: Notre Dame Fighting Irish star Jeremiyah Love.<\/p>\n

“Are teams undervaluing the running back position again?” Davies wrote in his mock draft<\/a>. “The Vikings cannot pass on a top-three talent in this year\u2019s draft. Head coach Kevin O’Connell will find plenty of plays for him.”<\/p>\n

The move for Love would give whoever the Vikings QB is at the start of next season a workhorse who can break tackles, an offense that needs a spark following a dull 2025.<\/p>\n

Love can also help the passing attack with his strong hands and receiving game, which could elevate the Vikings’ offense that already has a premium wideout room headlined by Justin Jefferson.<\/p>\n

If Love does fall to the Vikings, it is a perfect fit for a franchise looking for any attacking edge to push them forward in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 21, 2026, 8:08 p.m. ET What do the Minnesota Vikings need to do to get back to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[95878,7,6,15,99115,99116,96675,95882,95930,109096,96027,96015,99096,98267,95988,95896,95888,96683,95895,95899,96163,95977,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-768445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-nfl-draft","12":"tag-sstssportsnfltouchdown","13":"tag-sstsntouchdown","14":"tag-tagaaron-rodgers","15":"tag-tagamerican-football","16":"tag-tagbig-ten-conference-football","17":"tag-tagcharles-davis","18":"tag-tagcollege-sports","19":"tag-tagdaniel-jones","20":"tag-tagmac-jones","21":"tag-tagmichigan-wolverines","22":"tag-tagminnesota-vikings","23":"tag-tagnational-sports","24":"tag-tagnfl","25":"tag-tagnfl-draft","26":"tag-tagnfl-hub","27":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","28":"tag-tagsam-darnold","29":"tag-tagseattle-seahawks","30":"tag-tagsports-news","31":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116113201219270092","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}