The Vikings Play it Cautious with Young Speed Demon as Camp Gets Physical

Rookie running back Demond Claiborne is in town to put a fright into the opposition due to his blistering speed. Unfortunately, he’s sorting through some early bumps and bruises, leading to time away from the main action so he can return to full health.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN was among those to make note of the Vikings’ runner working off to the side: “Running back Demond Claiborne is in full pads but running on the rehab field during the early part of practice.”

Similarly, Warren Ludford of Daily Norseman noted that Claiborne was mostly off to the side, explaining, “Claiborne present but not participating – baseball cap on.”

On the most basic level, seeing the kid lose reps isn’t a great sign. What’s encouraging, though, is that he’s out there. Clearly, he can’t be hurting too much. Some work is better than no work. Consider, as well, that Minnesota just moved on from a depth runner before adding a corner. In all likelihood, the Vikings would have snagged some fresh legs if there was major concern inside TCO Performance Center for when the rookie could come back.

The Vikings Keep Young Fella Off to Side in 1st Padded Practice

Best guess as of early August is that Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason are going to get the meatiest portion of the workload. Mason, in particular, looks like somebody who could explode.

There’s then the presence of rookie fullback Max Bredeson, somebody who is inspiring a lot of optimism in the Twin Cities. The Vikings believe that the Michigan blocker can do good things early in his career. Quite possibly, the move will be to ask the rookie to line up in the backfield, inline as a tight end, and in the slot. He, too, is going to be a crucial piece of the puzzle for the ground attack, albeit as somebody who doesn’t carry the ball very often (if at all).

The Vikings are leaning on Claiborne to be a bolt of lightning, a quick flash to ignite the field as he chews up yards fast. He’ll need to get healthy to do so.

Last year, Claiborne offered the Wake Forest Demon Deacons some excellent football. His final stats show 179 carries for 907 yards and 10 touchdowns. The 5.1 yards-per-carry average is very healthy. Proving capable of replicating that level of production as a pro will mean that Claiborne has a long NFL career.

Claiborne’s job as a rookie is to function as the RB3. Can he turn a screen into an explosive gain? Maybe turn the corner on an outside toss?

But then there’s another path toward touching the football: as a kickoff returner. In college, Claiborne brought 22 kickoffs back for a total of 579 yards and 2 scores. Pretty tidy.

Kevin O’Connell keeps vowing that the Vikings are going to offer up a reinvigorated ground attack in 2026. In the past, the skipper has said something similar, so some skepticism is warranted. What’s clear is that the Vikings like the rookie runner, as evidenced by their willingness to trade up into the 6th to pick him. He has a path toward early touches, even if the workload is likely to be modest initially.

The Vikings tend to be careful with injury, preferring to play things pretty cautiously rather than rush somebody back. Look for Minnesota to try to thread the needle. Claiborne’s injury doesn’t appear too serious, so the hope is that he’ll get back in action sooner rather than later.

Claiborne, 22, can hopefully get going in practice before too long.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.