Here's the Minnesota Vikings' Entire 9-Man 2026 NFL Draft Class

The Vikings wrapped up their 2026 class with Cincinnati center Gavin Gerhardt in round seven.

Sep 17, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats offensive lineman Gavin Gerhardt (53) snaps the ball against the Miami Redhawks in the second half at Paycor Stadium. | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Vikings wrapped up their 2026 NFL draft class by selecting Cincinnati center Gavin Gerhardt with the 235th overall pick in the seventh round.

💪💪💪 @GavinGerhardt pic.twitter.com/jRUH4V2ze6

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) April 25, 2026

Gerhardt is 6'4" and 309 pounds, with 32-inch arms. He spent five seasons at Cincinnati and played in 53 games, starting 49 of them. He was a three-year team captain for the Bearcats. Gerhardt allowed just seven pressures as a senior, according to PFF, earning a 75.2 pass blocking grade. He played over 3,300 snaps at center in his career and benched 27 reps at Cincinnati's pro day.

This is a pick that adds some depth to the center position for the Vikings. In the wake of Ryan Kelly's retirement, Minnesota's projected starter is Blake Brandel, who has been a utility backup for much of his career and moved to center for the first time last season. The Vikings also have 2024 seventh-round pick Michael Jurgens entering his third year. Gerhardt seems unlikely to realistically contend for a starting role as a seventh-round rookie, but who knows?

With Brandel being fairly unproven at the center position, many thought the Vikings would draft a potential starter at that spot as early as the third round. Instead, they waited until round seven to take a player who was outside of the top 600 on the consensus board and ranked as Dane Brugler's 24th-best center in this class.

Vikings' complete 2026 class

Click the link on each player to see our instant grade of the pick when it happened.

Round 1, Pick 18: Caleb Banks, DT, Florida
Round 2, Pick 51: Jake Golday, LB, Cincinnati
Round 3, Pick 82: Domonique Orange, DT, Iowa State
Round 3, Pick 97: Caleb Tiernan, OT, Northwestern
Round 3, Pick 98: Jakobe Thomas, S, Miami
Round 5, Pick 159: Max Bredeson, FB, Michigan
Round 5, Pick 163: Charles Demmings, CB, Stephen F. Austin
Round 6, Pick 198: Demond Claiborne, RB, Wake Forest
Round 7, Pick 235: Gavin Gerhardt, C, Cincinnati

The class ended up somewhat balanced with five defensive players and four on offense, but it leans heavily toward defense when you weight the draft capital used. Four of the first five picks were on defense, and five of the first seven.

The most notable positions the Vikings did not address in this draft are wide receiver and tight end. Look for them to add some players at those positions in their UDFA class. They also didn't take a true edge rusher, but Golday is a LB/EDGE hybrid who the Vikings believe has some similar traits to Andrew Van Ginkel.