While all of the focus around the NFL will be on the draft next week, teams still will be scrambling after the draft to sign college free agents who weren't selected.
And the Vikings of all teams know how important that is, considering that two of their best players, Adam Thielen and Anthony Harris, were both undrafted free agents.
Vikings great Harrison Smith said that when it comes to the development of fellow safety Harris, there was never any question about his determination to be great.
"It is one of those things where he's a guy that is working every day," Smith said. "So there's never one moment where you see it. It's a collective and a tribute to him as a person and as a player and as a competitor. He has always tried to do everything at the highest level since he has got here. Whether it is special teams, before anyone was talking about him, or whatever, that is why he's in the position that he's in."
The position that Harris now finds himself in is making $11.4 million in 2020 after receiving the franchise tag. That makes Harris the fifth-highest paid player on the team after going undrafted out of Virginia five years ago.
Smith, a 2012 first-round pick out of Notre Dame, was asked about an undrafted player becoming a star.
"There are so many different guys with different stories. Whether you were a high draft pick, undrafted, late round, whatever. At the end of the day, if you're not making any plays you are not going to stick around long," Smith said. "The guys that are late-round picks and (undrafted) free-agent guys, normally you just don't have as many chances. It doesn't mean you're not playing well. Those stories are normally cooler, just a little more to them."
Harris has quickly become one of the best safeties in the league, tying for the NFL lead last season with six interceptions and recording a career-high 60 tackles while starting 14 games.
Pro Football Focus rated him the NFL's best safety.
But just as important as his play is that Harris has started taking on a leadership role with other young defensive backs _ who could play big roles with the Vikings secondary so thin after free agency.
Kris Boyd, the cornerback out of Texas who was drafted in the seventh round in 2019 and recorded 20 tackles last season, said Harris was one of the most helpful mentors on the team.
"Anthony Harris sat me down, we came in for two weeks in a row and after the games we would come into the facility and we would sit down and watch film and he would break it down on how he watches film," Boyd recalled. "He would ask me how I watched it and he would give me advice and tips to look at when I'm watching film to help me."
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