Abram Smith has some juice and he'll certainly be one of the players worth watching during Minnesota Vikings training camp in the coming days and weeks.
The Vikings signed Smith on Thursday after he apparently impressed the team enough during a private workout. That should come as no surprise for anyone familiar with his game since he was the first overall pick in last year's XFL rookie draft and wound up leading the XFL in rushing with 791 yards and seven touchdowns.
Smith played at Baylor in college from 2017 to 2021 but barely got on the field his first three seasons due to a torn ACL followed by redshirt years. But in 2021 he exploded with 1,601 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging an eye-popping 6.2 yards per carry.
That's not the craziest part of Smith's college journey. He actually switched from running back to linebacker in 2020 and was a giant success. He played in just five games but racked up 48 tackles, including five tackles for loss and one sack.
During that 2020 season Smith earned the starting job for the final four games and he led the team in tackles in each of those games, including a monster performance against Oklahoma when he finished with 12 tackles, four tackles for loss and a sack.
Smith wasn't drafted out of college but he quickly signed with the New Orleans Saints and was one of the final training camp cuts in 2022. That led to him being drafted first overall by the DC Defenders in the XFL, which led him to his newest chance with the Vikings.
If there was ever a team where he had a chance to make an impression, Minnesota is it because top running back Alexander Mattison is dealing with a minor ankle injury and all of the backups – Ty Chandler, Kene Nwangwu and DeWayne McBride – are all unproven at the NFL level.
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