Former Cincinnati Bearcats linebackers and current Minnesota Vikings linebackers Jake Golday and Ivan Pace Jr. will be two huge impact players for the Vikings defense this upcoming season. Golday was drafted by the Vikings in the 2025 NFL Draft in the second round, No. 51 overall. Before coming to Cincinnati for his final 2 seasons, Golday played for the Central Arkansas Bears of the United Athletic Conference, as part of the FCS. The Vikings picked up Ivan Pace Jr. as an undrafted free agent even though he was an All-American at Cincinnati in 2022. Pace Jr. was a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, losing to Will Anderson Jr.
Pace's best season was in 2023, when he had 102 tackles, 62 of them solo. This past season, he had 62 total tackles, being used as a pass-coverage linebacker. Pace Jr. is expected to be used more as a run stopping linebacker this season, where he played as his best in 2023. Golday is expected to play in a similar role to that he played in while at Cincinnati where he posted 104 tackles, 38 of them solo, 3 pass deflections, 3.5 sacks and 1 forced fumble.
Golday has been having a good start to training camp, which started for the Vikings on August 1st. There have been clips circulating of Golday recording interceptions and playing with the first-team defense, and the defense trying to figure out how to use him in multiple ways. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has made it known that was his plan with Golday, saying, "They told me first thing when I got here they wanted me to be versatile, and play a lot of things, that's how I'm going to get on the field. I didn't take that lightly; I took that opportunity to study every single linebacker position."
The Minnesota Bearcats 🐾@GoldayJake @ivan_pacejr @EWIL23 pic.twitter.com/pmAXcFkNb3
— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) April 25, 2026
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