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The Minnesota Vikings made a move up the board in the 2023 NFL Draft, and they’ve once again addressed the defensive side of the football, adding some beef to the front seven. And, for the second time in this draft, they’ve doubled up on college teammates as well.
Jaquelin Roy
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Date of Birth: 22 October 2000 (22 years old)
College: Louisiana State University
Drafted: Round 5, #141 overall
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 305 pounds
Twitter handle: @d1roy1000
With the 141st pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings have selected defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy from Louisiana State University
Roy is a big body that should be able to contribute up front fairly quickly for a team that lost Dalvin Tomlinson this offseason. The Vikings really struggled against the run in 2022, and Roy is the sort of player that could help to remedy that sort of thing for Brian Flores’ new defense.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic has Roy as the #15 defensive tackle in this year’s draft class. Here’s what Brugler has to say about Roy:
A one-year starter at LSU, Roy played multiple alignments in defensive coordinator Matt House’s four-man front. A Baton Rouge native, he stayed home for his college ball and showed incremental improvements each season, including a strong junior campaign. Roy shows quality awareness to track and react to the football, relying on his hand usage and initial quickness to lead him to the football. He grew up and went to high school down the street from LSU’s campus and a change of scenery might yield unpredictable results. Roy is a complicated evaluation – he flashes promise because of his power, but his movement skills are average, and it will take time for him to adjust to pro blockers. He is a draft-and-develop tackle who can work his way into an NFL rotation as a rookie.
Well, he’s going to a place that’s going to give him every opportunity to work his way into that rotation. We’ll see how Brian Flores and company choose to deploy him early on.
Welcome to Minnesota, Jaquelin!
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