It wasn’t long ago that Ivan Pace Jr. looked like one of the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive pillars. Now, the picture around him has changed fast.
Pace arrived in 2023 as an undrafted free agent and got on the field right away. As a rookie, he logged 706 defensive snaps and 249 special teams snaps, then backed that up with 102 combined tackles, 2.5 sacks, two pass defenses, and a fumble recovery. That kind of debut made it easy to think he’d carved out a lasting spot.
But the usage has slid year by year. In 2024, Pace went from playing 62 percent of possible defensive snaps to 59 percent, while his special teams workload fell from 249 snaps to 88. Last season, the drop became more obvious: he was down to 323 defensive snaps, or 30 percent of the possible total, while his special teams role jumped back up to 333 snaps.
The clearest sign of where things stood came in the starting lineup. Pace started 11 of 17 games as a rookie and then started 10 of 11 games in 2024.
That changed after veteran interior linebacker Eric Wilson arrived and pushed Pace out of the starting role last season. Wilson is now the full-time starter.
This year has made the trend even harder to ignore. After averaging 19 defensive snaps per game last season, Pace played only 10 on defense against the Packers in Week 1. For comparison, he played 47 defensive snaps against the Bears in last season’s opener.
Minnesota is still using him on special teams, though. Against Green Bay, Pace played 26 special teams snaps, matching his season high from last year, which came against the Bears in Week 10.
The numbers since Week 11 of the 2025 NFL season paint the same picture: Pace has played 39 defensive snaps and 172 special teams snaps. He’s still part of the roster equation, but his role in Brian Flores’ defense has been pared down significantly since last November.
That outlook looks even shakier after the Vikings took linebacker Jake Golday in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Golday is now another name threatening Pace’s defensive opportunities, both this season and beyond.
Pace is still just 25 and has already shown he can produce when given the chance. The question now is whether he can work his way back into Minnesota’s defensive plans, or whether the Vikings keep sliding him further toward the margins.
In Other News...
Vikings Offense Suddenly Has A Week 2 Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Vikings offense is heading into Week 2 with far less certainty than anyone around the building would have hoped after the opener. Minnesotas final injury report ahead of the Bears game confirmed Carson Wentz will start at quarterback in place of Kyler Murray, who is out because of a head injury, and the ripple effects do not stop there. Brian ONeill is listed as questionable, Alexander Mattison remains on injured reserve, and Jalen Jennings will miss the game for a personal matter, leaving the offense to piece together its plan across multiple spots.
For a unit that still needs to find its rhythm, the timing could hardly be worse. The Vikings have already had to shuffle the offensive line, rethink the backfield and adjust the receiver rotation before taking on Chicago, and every missing or limited piece only adds to the pressure on a group trying to stay on schedule. Week 2 was supposed to be a chance to settle in, but instead it has become an early test of depth and flexibility. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Oliver Is Suddenly A Vikings Concern At The Worst Time
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The concern comes in the area Minnesota can least afford to ignore right now. Pro Football Focus gave Oliver a 23.3 pass-block grade, a rough sign for a player the Vikings may need to lean on even more if the starting quarterback is unavailable. The coaching staff is expected to keep a close eye on that part of his game in the coming weeks, because in a season where protection already matters, tight end support in pass protection suddenly feels a lot bigger than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Collapse Is Suddenly Raising A Bigger NFC North Question
Green Bays latest slide has turned what once looked like a sturdy NFC North race into something far murkier, and that matters plenty for Minnesota. Since Micah Parsons tore his ACL in Week 15 of the 2025 season, the Packers have dropped six straight, with the kind of second-half collapses that change the feel of an entire division. The losses have piled up with blown leads, a brutal finish in the postseason and a growing sense that the Packers are struggling to close games when the pressure rises.
For a Vikings team watching from the other side of the rivalry, the bigger question is no longer just how Green Bay got here, but whether the slide says something deeper about the way Matt LaFleurs team handles fourth quarters and overtime. The Packers recent scoring issues in those moments have become impossible to ignore, and the longer they linger, the more the NFC North picture shifts from a one-team problem to a division-wide opening Minnesota will have every reason to study closely. [Read more 🡒]