![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2249815087-e1767728019326.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Vikings defensive coordiantor Brian Flores<\/p>\n
The Minnesota Vikings<\/a> are heading into the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> with nine total selections throughout the course of the event.<\/p>\n Round 1, Pick 18 There\u2019s no question that Minnesota must address some deficiencies all across the team. Defensive interior line, center, and secondary appear to be the most pressing needs.<\/p>\n Fortunately for these Vikings, an absolute phenomenon of an athlete at DT has arisen late in the 2026 draft process.<\/p>\n Vikings Eyeing Nigerian NFL Draft Prospect at Defensive Tackle Uar Bernard GettyINGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA \u2013 OCTOBER 23: Defensive coordinator Brian Flores of the Minnesota Vikings looks on against the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> at SoFi Stadium on October 23, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Bruce Feldman of\u00a0The Athletic<\/a> introduced Uar Bernard to the American football world.<\/p>\n \u201cJordan Luallen trained some of the most freakish athletes at the 2026 NFL<\/a> combine: A 245-pound edge rusher who vertical-jumped 41 inches, a jumbo wide receiver who ran a 4.3 40, and a 293-pound defensive tackle who ran 4.8. <\/p>\n But Luallen told The Athletic he\u2019s never seen an athlete like the one he\u2019s been training for the past 10 weeks for this year\u2019s NFL draft. Uar Bernard (pronounced \u201cooh-are\u201d) measured in earlier this week at the NFL\u2019s HBCU showcase at 6-4 1\/2, 306 pounds with 11-inch hands and almost 36-inch arms.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Ryan Fowler<\/a>, the Vikings are 1 of 6 NFL teams to show interest in Bernard. The Cowboys, 49ers, Eagles, Chiefs, and Commanders<\/a> are the other clubs to express interest in hosting Bernard for a visit.<\/p>\n Janik Eckhardt<\/a> of\u00a0PurplePTSD\u00a0and\u00a0Vikings Territory added some insight regarding the trajectory of Bernard in the NFL.<\/p>\n \u201cBernard is a project that will likely take years to provide a return on investment, if he ever can. Yet, teams often spend their later draft picks on players with potential rather than selecting pro-ready athletes and Bernard fits that mold, though perhaps a little more extreme than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n And another snipped from Feldman about Bernard\u2019s freakish athleticism:<\/p>\n \u201cOther people who have spent their lifetimes in football say Bernard looks like a Marvel creation. Bernard\u2019s body fat: 6 percent. He vertical-jumped 39 inches and broad-jumped 10-10, which was 14 inches more than any other defensive tackle did at this year\u2019s combine. His 40-yard dash: 4.63.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to predict where Uar Bernard will land in the 2026 NFL Draft. However, the Vikings may have some opportunities with their 5 selections in rounds 5-7.<\/p>\n J.J. McCarthy Gets Big Defense from Blake Corum GettyARLINGTON, TEXAS \u2013 DECEMBER 14: J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings reacts after his team defeated the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> at AT&T Stadium on December 14, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Bobby Kownack<\/a>, digital content producer for\u00a0NFL.com\u00a0recently shared some words of affirmation for McCarthy spoken by Corum<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ceiling is so high for J.J. You\u2019ve got to think, his rookie year, he went down with the injury. Last year, he had a bunch of injuries, as well, so he hasn\u2019t been on the field much. He hasn\u2019t really had a lot of playing time that quarterbacks need.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a lot different going from college to the NFL. J.J. is a field general. I think he\u2019s going to take the challenge that they\u2019ve given him, obviously bringing in\u00a0Kyler Murray<\/a>, there\u2019s gonna be a competition. That\u2019s going to light a fire under him. But he\u2019s just an overall good human being. He\u2019s a competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n Corum, a Michigan teammate of McCarthy for 3 seasons, didn\u2019t end his defense there.<\/p>\n \u201cI know he\u2019s no someone who\u2019s going to let naysayers or outsiders determine the type of player he\u2019s going to be. He still has the pencil in his own hand. He\u2019s still writing his story. I think this is going to be a great year for J.J., and I\u2019m super excited to see him prove everyone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n In technical terms, just because Kyler Murray is a Viking, it doesn\u2019t mean the Twin Cities have seen the last of J.J. McCarthy on the field.<\/p>\n Head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell has been very vocal in claiming there to be a\u00a0true competition this offseason for the starting QB job<\/a>. While it\u2019s quite unlikely to think it\u2019s a competition that McCarthy would win, there is a technical non-zero chance he wins the job that was supposed to be his to begin with.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tBrevan Bane<\/a> Brevan Bane is a sports scribe covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals. Brevan began his writing career by making a platform on Twitter and leveraging his presence into writing and content creation opportunities for outlets like PurplePTSD, Vikings Territory, The Noise, Hockey Wilderness, and the VikesNow YouTube channel. You can follow him on X @brevmanbane. More about Brevan Bane<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Vikings\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Vikings defensive coordiantor Brian Flores The Minnesota Vikings are heading into the 2026 NFL Draft with nine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-855888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116354527648624373","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855888","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=855888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nRound 2, Pick 49
\nRound 3, Pick 82
\nRound 3, Pick 97 (compensatory)
\nRound 5, Pick 163 (via\u00a0Eagles<\/a>)
\nRound 6, Pick 196 (via\u00a0Colts<\/a>)
\nRound 7, Pick 234
\nRound 7, Pick 235 (via\u00a0Panthers<\/a>)
\nRound 7, Pick 244 (via\u00a0Texans<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2243247275_8c07ab-e1768523057397.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2251940111.jpg\")
<\/p>\n