Vikings’ DC continues praise for impressive fan favorite who has everything you could want
Elijah Williams is the latest UDFA to make noise for the Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings kept a whopping seven undrafted free agents on the initial 53-man roster. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had kept nine across the first three seasons of his tenure, and it’s been an impressive aspect of his resume.
Keeping seven this year was a big factor in two areas: they found some impressive talent, and the back end of the roster is weaker than in past years. One player who has shown out is defensive lineman Elijah Williams.
Brian Flores praises UDFA Elijah Williams
When you get signed out of rookie minicamp, it’s a sign that the organization believes in you quite a bit, especially since you had no fanfare going into the weekend, and half of the talent there had already earned contracts.
Throughout training camp, Williams was consistently praised across the board, and it was well deserved.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores was asked about Williams, who made the initial 53-man roster, and he continued that praise.
“Elijah really did a fantastic job all the way through, from the rookie tryout flashing there, and then getting into meetings and getting into walk-throughs and practice and flashing a little bit more in drills,” Flores said. “He really took advantage of his opportunities and did some really nice things. He just built all the way through training camp. It’s one of those things early on, like he’s making a couple of good plays, and maybe we have something here, or maybe it’s a practice squad, and then it’s like hold on a second. He just kind of built and built and built and did a lot of good things in preseason games. The movement, the quickness, the tenacity. And then you get him in the building, and you know what kind of person he is, what kind of worker he is. So there’s this feeling that he’s going to be able to develop even more so.
“At the same time, as a young guy, I feel like I have this conversation every year for those guys who make it, which we had several undrafted guys make it, hopefully that’s not the pinnacle of their career. They can take that goal that they’ve made a team, and then continue to attack every day the same way. You know, I think he’s done a good job of that.”
The Vikings kept six defensive linemen, and based on last year, Williams will likely see some playing time. Both Jalen Redmond and Taki Taimani got real playing time during the season.
It’s noteworthy that Williams continues to get attention across the board, and it’s worth continuing to keep an eye on him throughout the season.
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