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Undrafted Free Agents 2023


gopherwrestler

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Take Metellus out of the equation.  Ivan Pace Jr's skillset is not that of a Sam/Star/Nickel defender to begin with.  He's an in the box player who mixes it up with OL players and shoots gaps.

Twitter post is nonsense.

Edited by RpMc
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The rookie class of linebackers doesn’t have a true stud halfway through 2023 — except a second-level defender who wasn’t drafted at all in Ian Pace. The blitzing extraordinaire has been too good for Minnesota to keep him off the field to begin his NFL career. He’s logged the third-most snaps among rookie linebackers and has easily been the most consistent in all phases of playing the position. Pace has registered nine pressures on 55 pass-rush snaps and has only missed two tackles. So much for being too small. 

CBS Sports

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  • 1 month later...

Ivan Pace had 13 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a QB hit, and a game-ending interception. Still think he’s too short to play off-ball linebacker?

https://vikingsterritory.com/2023/news/top_news/vikings-at-raiders-2?utm_source=dlvr.it

 

Ivan Pace, Jr., was all over the field, making tackle after tackle to start the game.

He also got two hands in on sealing Minnesota's 3-0 win Sunday. The undrafted rookie picked off Raiders rookie Aidan O'Connell's pass to Davante Adams with a diving catch at the Las Vegas 34-yard line with 1:52 remaining.

The interception — the first of Pace's career — allowed the Vikings to run off 1:45 before a pooch punt by Greg Joseph gave the ball back to Las Vegas with just seven seconds remaining.

Pace finished with a career-best 13 tackles, which included a sack. He also showed athleticism by backflipping in the end zone after nabbing the interception.

https://www.vikings.com/news/raiders-game-paces-pick-seals-win-mullens-sparks-offense?fbclid=IwAR2Nwg4X47qzA5XLrEFB6Bl_iiGAY7JlNuLbQxR4d5BlNXogIUgKEbXPdwY

Edited by vike daddy
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3 minutes ago, vike daddy said:

so what are your guys' thoughts on Andre Carter?

will we set a better version next season? did he get special team snaps so far? anything?

Needed a redshirt year just to bulk up and get NFL ready, IMO.  Already is great shape obviously coming from West Point, but two different demands to be be sure.

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On 4/29/2023 at 5:03 PM, Ozzy said:

Vikings got that dude? [Ian Pace]  Amazing, he could be a starting ILB for the team this season potentially.  Dude is amazing getting off blocks and attacking downhill.  What a pickup, loved the kid and he was just so good this past year!  20 TFLs and 9 sacks for a LB who is not a edge rusher, was freaking nuts and he had 13 TFLs and 4 sacks the year before that.  

Run and hit ILB, awesome signing!  At his Pro day he had 35" vertical and had 22 reps at 225 which is outstanding for a guy 5-10 1/2" 230.

Dude can fight and get off blocks, that is for sure.  

this whole thread is worthy of a read through, to see the excitement over Pace back in April, and to see how it's played out already this year still with games to go.

the Wizard of Ozzy nailed it from Day One.

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Ivan Pace Jr. knew the route that Davante Adams was going to run before he ran it. It was just about making the play when the ball came his way.

With the Vikings up 3-0 with 1:57 remaining and the Vegas Raiders attempting a late game-tying/winning drive, Pace Jr. picked off quarterback Aidan O’Connell on the opening play of the drive to put a bow on the grind-it-out victory. He did a backflip in the end zone celebrating the Minnesota Vikings’ first shutout since December 23, 2017 against the Green Bay Packers.

Besides his interception Pace Jr. finished the game with 13 tackles and a sack. He already entered the game as PFF’s No. 1 graded rookie linebacker — that grade just went up.

Pace: “I knew he was running the hitch. I knew he was going to throw it there."

“I got that dog in me man, that’s all I have to say, I haven’t ever been surprised, I know how good I am. I’ve been showing the world since I was young that I was good. Now I’m here in the league and still proving it. I don’t know if any of y’all saw but I said all y’all F’d up when they didn’t draft me, and I’m showing them."

SportsIllustarted.com 

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