Jake Golday NFL Draft 2026 Scouting Report for Minnesota Vikings LB

Matt HolderNov 20, 2025

The Minnesota Vikings selected Cincinnati LB Jake Golday with the No. 51 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

Jake Golday is a high-level athlete and a potential three-down linebacker in the NFL because of his size (6'4", 240 lbs), strength and athleticism. His biggest flaws can be chalked up to not having much experience playing off the ball.

Lightly recruited in the 2021 class, Golday was an unranked high school prospect whose college career began as an edge-defender at Central Arkansas, an FCS school. He spent three years with the Bears, redshirting as a true freshman and collecting 125 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in 26 games.

In 2024, the Arlington, Tennessee native transferred to Cincinnati and immediately became a starter, racking up 58 tackles, seven TFLs, 1.5 sacks, two passes defended and two forced fumbles. His performance was good enough for an honorable mention All-Big 12 bid.

In 2025, Golday experienced his breakout campaign with 105 tackles, 6 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, 3 PDs, 1 FF to earn a first-team All-Big 12 bid.

Also, Golday was listed at No. 48 on Bruce Feldman's list of exceptional athletes entering the season, highlighted by hitting 24 225-pound bench press reps and running over 22 miles per hour.

Matt Holder has been a part of B/R's Scouting Department for four seasons. He also writes about the Las Vegas Raiders and NFL draft for SB Nation's Silver and Black Pride, and co-hosts a YouTube Channel, Tape Don't Lie, providing film breakdowns and more draft prospect analysis.

Highlights

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Where He Wins

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AP Photo

- Golday has good size and length with room for growth. Also, he's a very good athlete for the linebacker position.

- Fluid hips and impressive speed to turn and run in coverage, allowing him to quickly get depth against play-action passes or carry vertical routes. Loose hips can also help him stay in phase or recover when playing man-coverage.

- Use his hands and gets physical in zone coverage to help force reroutes against wide receivers.

- Accelerates really well to be quite effective when closing in coverage.

- Against the run, Golday takes on blocks with his hands, plays physically and presents solid strength to get extension and escape from offensive linemen. He has little-to-no issues stacking and shedding against tight ends.

- Has some pop behind his pads when coming downhill.

- Plenty of speed for impressive sideline-to-sideline range.

- A sure-tackler who wraps up and rarely misses, while also being decent and breaking down when tackling in space.

- Offers value as a blitzer on third downs thanks to his background as an edge-rusher, with a repertoire to win with ghost, long-arm and stick moves.

Areas of Improvement

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- Golday's awareness in zone coverage is poor; he'll drift out of his zone and miss opportunities to help his teammates.

- Covers grass instead of adjusting to route concepts too often when playing in space.

- Gets caught with his eyes in the backfield as the hook defender and isn't good at reading the quarterback's eyes to anticipate throws and/or tighten windows.

- Instincts as a run-defender are subpar, as he's a tick slow to key and diagnose, making it difficult for him to beat offensive linemen to the spot.

- Could afford to add lower-body strength to anchor against bigger offensive linemen.