The Minnesota Vikings have made another selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, and with this pick, they have added another member to their offensive backfield after making a trade with New England.
Demond Claiborne
Date of Birth: 9 October 2003 (22 years old)
College: Wake Forest University
Drafted: Sixth round, #198 overall
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 190 pounds
Career Accomplishments: Second-Team All-ACC (2025), Third-Team All-ACC (2024)
With the 198th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Vikings have selected running back Demond Claiborne
from Wake Forest.
Claiborne is a running back who is capable of hitting a home run every time he touches the football. He’s a slashing type of back with outstanding vision and very good patience in setting up his blocks, and elite acceleration to get to the second level of the defense.
His downsides are what you would expect from any running back that checks in at under 200 pounds. He’s not great at breaking tackles and, even though he’s got the pass-catching skills to be a weapon on third downs, he’s not much as far as pass protection, at least at this point in time.
Claiborne isn’t a complete NFL back as things stand right now, but he definitely has the skill set to carve out a role in the Vikings’ offense if they’re willing to manufacture some touches for him, and he could potentially play a role in the return game as well.
After the trade, the Vikings now have just one more pick remaining in this year’s draft, and it will come at #235 overall in the seventh round.
Welcome to Minnesota, Demond Claiborne!
