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Vikings Working Out QB Jordan Ta'amu, the XFL Offensive Player of the Year

Ta'amu is getting a look from the Vikings after starring for the D.C. Defenders.

The Vikings are working out quarterback Jordan Ta'amu on Thursday, according to Jordan Schultz of the Score. Ta'amu was recently named the XFL Offensive Player of the Year with the D.C. Defenders.

Ta'amu, a 25-year-old Hawaii native, led the Defenders to a 9-1 record and a berth in the XFL championship game this spring, where they lost 35-26 to the Arlington Renegades. In the ten-game regular season, he completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,894 yards, 14 touchdowns, three interceptions, and four fumbles, also rushing for 298 yards and three scores. Ta'amu heated up as the season progressed, with just one touchdown pass in the season's first five games and multiple TD passes in each of the final seven, including playoffs. However, Ta'amu did throw five interceptions in the Defenders' two postseason games after having just three in the regular season.

With the Defenders, Ta'amu's leading receiver was Western Kentucky product Lucky Jackson, who recently signed with the Vikings.

After high school in Pearl City, HI, Ta'amu began his college career at the New Mexico Military Institute, spending two seasons there. He then transferred to Ole Miss, where he started the final five games of 2017 and the entire 2018 season. Across 19 career games for the Rebels, Ta'amu completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 5,600 yards, 30 touchdowns, 12 INTs, 507 rushing yards, and 10 rushing TDs. He had over 300 passing yards in 12 of his 17 career starts. In a 2018 win over Arkansas, he threw for 387 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 141 yards and a score.

Listed at 6'3", 214 pounds, Ta'amu earned a 6.68 RAS in 2019, including a 4.77 40-yard dash. He has been the definition of a football journeyman since going undrafted this year, spending time in the XFL, the USFL, and on five different NFL rosters. He hasn't taken a regular season NFL snap. Ta'amu led the USFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns in 2022 with the Tampa Bay Bandits.

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The Vikings have three quarterbacks already on their roster in Kirk Cousins, Nick Mullens, and fifth-round rookie Jaren Hall. It seems unlikely that Ta'amu would supplant either Mullens or Hall on the roster, but he could potentially be signed a fourth QB for training camp.

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