Player
Ivan Pace Jr.
LB · Vikings
Ivan Pace Jr.: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Undrafted out of Cincinnati — 92 combined tackles as a rookie, started 9 games for a Brian Flores defense.
TrendPace Jr. by season (regular season)
| Season | G | Solo T | Asst | Sacks | QBH | TFL | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 16 | 53 | 39 | 2.5 | 9 | 2 | 2 |
| 2024 | 11 | 39 | 39 | 3.0 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| 2025 | 15 | 30 | 28 | 1.0 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
UDFAs aren't supposed to put up 92 combined tackles, 9 QB hits, and 2.5 sacks in year one — but Pace's combination of short-area twitch and Flores's blitz-heavy scheme turned him into a starter inside the first month.
The 2024 season showed the disruption side of the profile: 9 TFL and 3 sacks across just 11 games. He hits like he weighs 250 (he's 235) and the per-game pace was on track for a much louder year before injury truncated it.
Solo tackles by season
| Season | Solo tackles |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 53 |
| 2024 | 39 |
| 2025 | 30 |
22 career QB hits in 42 games — top-tier blitz-down production for an off-ball linebacker.
RarePace has generated 22 QB hits across 42 regular-season games (0.52 per game). For an off-ball LB — not an edge rusher — that's a real number. It's the byproduct of Flores asking him to attack downhill on early downs and to be the primary inside blitzer on long-yardage.
The ceiling year was 2023: 9 QB hits in 16 games. Across his career, Pace has more QB hits than pass deflections (22 vs. 3) — the inverse of a typical Mike LB profile, and a tell that Minnesota is using him as a pseudo-edge in pass-rush packages.
6.5 career sacks at 235 pounds — the kind of pass-rush rate teams pay top-half money for.
SplitPressure production by season
| Season | G | Sacks | QBH | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 16 | 2.5 | 9 | 2 |
| 2024 | 11 | 3.0 | 7 | 9 |
| 2025 | 15 | 1.0 | 6 | 2 |
6.5 sacks across 3 seasons is solid but not eye-popping on its own — the context is that he hit 3.0 in just 11 games in 2024, a 4.4-sack-per-17 pace. The 2025 number has cooled (1 sack across 15 games), but the QB hit rate hasn't (6 in 15), which usually predicts a sack regression upward.
The TFL spike in 2024 (9 in 11 games) is the line that says "this guy attacks the run from the second level better than his size suggests."
TFL per season
| Season | TFL |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 |
| 2024 | 9 |
| 2025 | 2 |
Goes undrafted at 5-10⅞, 235 — then leads the Vikings in pressures inside the first 10 weeks of his rookie year.
AnomalyThe reason Pace went undrafted is on the measurement card: 5-10⅞, 70 inches even. Off-ball LBs that small almost never get drafted because they're seen as scheme-dependent. The reason it didn't matter: Flores's defense rewards short-area burst and downhill aggression, and Pace has both at near-elite levels.
UDFA → 16-game contributor with 9 QB hits and 2.5 sacks as a rookie is one of the loudest UDFA defensive seasons of the 2020s.
218 combined tackles in 42 career games — 5.2 per game, comparable to Flores's previous off-ball LBs in Miami.
ComparisonPace's career-to-date — 122 solo + 106 assists = 228 combined tackles across 42 games (5.4/game) — sits right where you'd expect a productive inside backer in a Flores defense. The volume is real, but the disruption rate (career 22 QB hits, 13 TFL) is what separates him from a replaceable thumper.
The 2024 season — TFL spike, sack rate jump, slight tackle dip — was the player Minnesota wants long-term. The 2025 line so far has been steadier and quieter; the call is the 2024 ceiling is the real one.
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