A year after their experiment with a towering but raw offensive tackle from Poland fizzled out, the Vikings are eyeing up another international project.
Last Thursday, the Vikings were one of a bunch of NFL teams that got a look at German wide receiver Moritz Boehringer at Florida Atlantic's pro day, according to NFL.com. The league's website also reported that the Vikings were one of several teams that have scheduled a visit with Boehringer.
Boehringer, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, impressed at FAU's pro day. He reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds, recorded a vertical leap of 39 inches and a 10-foot-11 broad jump, and finished the three-cone drill in 6.65 seconds. He also pumped out 17 reps on the bench.
Had he been invited to the scouting combine and posted those numbers, he would have ranked among the top five wide receivers in all of those drills.
So he is a good athlete. But can he actually, you know, play football? NFL teams, including the Vikings, must quickly attempt to figure that out.
According to NFL.com, Boehringer started out with a German junior team in 2013 before joining the German Football League in 2015. He would win the GFL's Rookie of the Year award after catching 70 passes for 1,461 yards and 16 touchdowns for a team called the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns (really).
But the jump from a European pro league to the NFL is a massive leap.
Just ask Babatunde Aiyegbusi, the 6-foot-9 offensive tackle from Poland.
Aiyegbusi talked a big game upon arriving in the United States, saying that he looked forward to blocking Texans superstar defensive end J.J. Watt. But he stayed buried on the Vikings' depth chart throughout spring workouts and training camp and played sparingly during their five-game preseason.
Aiyegbusi was cut at the end of the preseason and was not offered a spot on the practice squad. He is now attempting to find fame in pro wrestling.
One important difference between Aiyegbusi and Boehringer, beyond their talent levels possibly, is that the Boehringer is 22 and draft-eligible, unlike Aiyegbusi, whom the Vikings signed as a free agent at the age of 26.
So if the Vikings do decide Boehringer is another international prospect worth experimenting with, they can make sure they get him by spending a draft pick on him before another team does. Or, if they deem him to be not worth a pick, they might be able to woo him as an undrafted free agent.
But considering they took that shot on Aiyegbusi, it will not be surprising if the Vikings got Boehringer into their training camp one way or another.
