Jake
Golday.
Jake
Golday.
Cincinnati· 6'5"· 239 lb· 4.62s 40
"Long, angular WILL/SAM tweener whose FCS-to-Big 12 tape spikes on downhill triggers and a 39-inch vert; the call is whether his read-and-shoot speed holds up against NFL-tempo protections."Pre-draft read
This off-ball second-level defender aligns as an oversized WILL and rotates to SAM on early downs. His primary win trait is anticipation on inside runs; he reads guard hips, shoots the front-side A-gap before the pulling lineman can wrap, and finishes with a wrap-and-drive tackle from a squared-up base. He uses his length in short zones, extending off blocks with a stab-and-shed and closing on checkdowns with plus range.
His pass-rush package is limited to a straight-line bull and an occasional loop, with heavy hands but a thin arsenal. Coverages involve eyes on the QB, triggering late in curl-flat, and average performance when matched on tight ends up the seam. He demonstrates sideline-to-sideline chase and a plus-vertical burst, allowing him to play over the top of blockers.
Golday projects best as an inside linebacker in a hybrid 4-3 defense, leveraging his downhill trigger and chase range as an oversized WILL or rotating to SAM in early downs.
Immediate Year 1 contributor as a rotational WILL and special teams ace, with a ceiling to develop into a three-down starter who can anchor the second level of a defense.
A zero-blitz, all-out pressure scheme that asks its off-ball linebackers to win consistently with a diverse pass-rush arsenal, exposing his limited rush toolbox.
Golday's blend of length, athleticism, and downhill aggression makes him a compelling fit for a modern 4-3 scheme that emphasizes sideline-to-sideline pursuit and zone coverage responsibility.
Jake Golday Regular Season Highlights | 2025 Big 12 Football
Jake Golday (LB) 🔥 | FULL 2025 Cincinnati Highlights | Welcome to the Minnesota Vikings
Jake Golday | 2025 Cincinnati Highlights
Golday projects as a WILL linebacker whose primary role will be as an interior run defender with sideline-to-sideline range. His blend of length and burst, highlighted by a 39-inch vertical, suggests a player who can fill gaps quickly and disrupt plays both downhill and in pursuit. He offers a clear plan for teams seeking an athletic second-level player.
He was a three-year starter at Central Arkansas before transferring to Cincinnati, where he became a breakout player in his final redshirt senior season. Golday led the Bearcats with 105 tackles, 6 TFL, 3.5 sacks, and 3 PBUs, earning First-team All-Big 12 honors in 2025. This performance followed an initial year at Cincinnati where he showed flashes in a rotational role.
The main concerns revolved around his limited Power-5 sample size, with only nine Big 12 games of tape. Evaluators weighed his traits-based upside against a perceived Day-3 floor if his processing speed against NFL-level motion and RPO concepts did not translate. He was ultimately drafted in the second round, 51st overall, by the Minnesota Vikings.
- 01
Length at the position
Almost 6-foot-4-and-a-half with 31⅞-inch arms lets him stack blockers and still play over the top; rare frame for a WILL who can also survive as a SAM.
- 02
Downhill trigger
Reads guard hips a beat before the mesh point and shoots the front-side A-gap on inside zone; multiple negative-yardage stops on tape against Kansas State and Iowa State.
- 03
Vertical explosion
39-inch vert and 10-foot-5 broad translated to real film jumping passing lanes at the sticks and elevating on pull rushes; sits in the 90th percentile of LB testing.
- 04
Chase range
4.62 forty is legit at 240 pounds; strings out wide-zone runs to the sideline and closes on checkdowns without giving up horizontal ground before he attacks.
- 05
Football-first personality
Team captain and academic honoree at Central Arkansas; graduated before transferring; positional coaches at Cincinnati praised his install-day tempo and film habits.
- 01
Power-5 sample size
Twenty career FBS starts and only nine Big 12 games; large chunks of the projection lean on FCS tape at Central Arkansas that flattered his instincts.
- 02
Rush toolbox
Straight-line bull and an occasional loop is the whole plan; 3.5 college sacks came mostly on schemed pressure, so third-down snaps are questionable early.
- 03
Block deconstruction
Length is real but the shed is a stab-and-hope; second-level guards who reach him first can wall him off, and screens can drag him past the play.
- 04
RPO/read discretion
Eyes bounce between mesh and receiver on second-window plays; got caught leaning on a handful of glance routes vs. TCU and Utah that will show up faster in the NFL.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.62sp50
- Vertical
- 39inp50
- Broad jump
- 125inp50
- Three-cone
- 6.89sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.32sp50
- Bench
- 22repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Central Arkansas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Central Arkansas | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Central Arkansas | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Cincinnati | 12 | 57 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | Cincinnati | 12 | 95 | 3.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Career | — | 30 | 167 | 4.5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Long WILL with real vertical pop who wins on chase and coverage flexibility more than take-on strength.
Downhill A-gap trigger and 100-tackle range if the length lets him play through instead of around traffic.
Traits-plus core-four special-teamer who never solves the processing side against NFL-tempo protections.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
**Pre-draft context.** Golday arrived at Central Arkansas in 2021 as a lightly-recruited safety-to-linebacker convert out of Arlington (TN) High and grew into a three-year starter, capping his FCS run with 84 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2023. The Cincinnati transfer in 2024 was the leverage year — 58 tackles in a rotational role and Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors after his showing at UCF flashed that the length and burst translated up a level. The 2025 breakout — 105 tackles, First-team All-Big 12, a signature 12-tackle night in the November stretch that lifted Cincinnati into bowl contention — is what pushed him from Day-3 flyer to firm second-round consideration.
**NFL fit — Minnesota Vikings.** The Minnesota Vikings acquire a plus-length, high-vertical WILL to develop behind Blake Cashman and next to Ivan Pace Jr., with a clear special-teams runway from day one. The fit is clean: the defensive scheme wants length and disguise on the second level, and Golday's wired-in trigger downhill fits a system that asks LBs to fake pressure and bail. Rookie summer reports out of Eagan have him working as the No. 3 off-ball body and running with the core-four coverage units.
**Retrospective.** Too early to grade professionally — Golday has taken zero regular-season snaps as of late July 2026. The pick reads as a bet on a linebacker with favorable length and explosion whose bill of health is clean and whose ceiling depends on how quickly the NFL processing catches up to the traits. If he passes protections and pulling guards at NFL speed, he is a starter by 2027. If he doesn't, he is a valued sub-package and special-teams piece — which is still a hit at 51.