Jake Golday heard his name called in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday night, and the Minnesota Vikings got him after moving back two spots. The Vikings sent the No. 49 pick and the No. 196 pick to the Carolina Panthers for No. 51 and No. 159, then used the selection on the Cincinnati linebacker.
Golday was the fifth linebacker taken in the draft. He comes off a redshirt senior season in which he led Cincinnati with 105 total tackles, including 66 assisted stops, and added 3.5 sacks. He was listed at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, the kind of frame that helped him handle a heavy workload across the middle of the field.
That production capped a late rise for a player who was once an unranked recruit out of high school. Golday spent three seasons at Central Arkansas, where he developed from an edge rusher into a linebacker and eventually led the team with 84 tackles, 4.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss by his third season there. His game took another step after he moved to Cincinnati in 2024, when he posted 58 tackles in his first FBS season.
By 2025, the production had become impossible to miss. Golday matched his career high with 14 tackles against Bowling Green and finished with All-Big 12 honorable mention recognition. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the second-highest linebacker prospect with an 80.7 grade, while Dane Brugler placed him at No. 48 on his top 300 big board.
The Vikings are taking him with a clear need in mind. Golday transitioned from edge rusher at Central Arkansas to off-ball linebacker at Cincinnati, then became a slot specialist and a hybrid Mike linebacker fit. That matters because Minnesota still has major issues in the secondary, and Golday’s range gives the defense another piece who can operate in space as the roster is rebuilt around him.
Brugler described Golday as a player who was asked to cover a lot of ground in college and showed a gliding speed to chase the ball anywhere on the field. He said Golday’s processing improved in 2025, but also noted that false steps that worked in the Big 12 will be harder to survive in the NFL, where coverage recognition remains a work in progress. The Vikings are betting that the growth keeps coming now that he is on their clock.
