There were two major trends for the Minnesota Vikings in mock drafts leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft: drafting Dillon Thieneman in round one and taking a running back on day two. Minnesota could go Caleb Banks in round one, and wait until the sixth round to take a running back, taking Wake Forest product Demond Claiborne.
Given the current room of the Vikings, is there a chance Claiborne wins the starting job this season?
The first thing to take into consideration is salaries. Aaron Jones is accounting for $10.2 million in 2026, and Jordan Mason is hitting for $5.7 million, per Sportrac. If Claiborne performs well in training camp and in the preseason, there’s a chance one of these two could be made available or become a cut candidate, with the more likely being Jones with a bigger cap number.
Salaries aside, we now look at playstyle. Jones and Mason have similar playstyles to one another, while Claiborne is a polar opposite. Claiborne has pure speed to his game, able to make cuts at the drop of a dime, and excels in catching passes out of the backfield. Because of this, he could steal snaps on passing/third-down situations. Kevin O’Connell has not had a running back with as much juice as Claiborne has, and could look to utilize him early.
It should not surprise anyone if, by week six of the season, Claiborne is taking snaps from Jones or Mason and flashing on tape. His speed could be just what this offense needs out of the backfield and help elevate it to new heights.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Demond Claiborne poised to have a chance to earn the starting job