Why the Slide?: Dominique Orange

Why the Slide Series

Dominique Orange, DT, Iowa State

Rnk: 92 Ovr: 82. C-

This series was created a number of years ago in response to questions about why certain well-known prospects went unselected in NFL drafts. For these articles, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player and/or the reasons other teams passed on that prospect. The positive response to “Why Undrafted” and questions from readers about why prospects were drafted lower than the media’s expectations led us to create the parallel series “Why the Slide?” and “Was it a Reach?”

The trio of series is back this year. Feel free to email me requests at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.

During the 2024 season and the fall of 2025, Dominique Orange created a buzz with evaluators as being a potential early-round prospect for the NFL. Orange was big, quick, and athletic at the point of attack with an impressive skill set for the next level. He was disruptive and showed a lot of upside to develop as a pro. Many thought he would go in the first few rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft; however, Orange slid to the third round.

Team sources say that character and makeup concerns caused Orange to be graded as a mid-rounder. Sources from other teams said that Orange is talented but they had him lower on their draft board because of poor work habits. Thus, they did not see a true slide for him in the 2026 NFL Draft and felt he was selected in a consensus range.

The Minnesota Vikings ended Orange’s slide, and that was a good landing spot for him. The Vikings jettisoned some high-priced and disappointing veterans in free agency, so Orange and first-round pick Caleb Banks should compete immediately for starting jobs. The Vikings do not have other good nose tackle options on the roster, so Orange has a great opportunity to earn that spot immediately. If he works hard and is dedicated to being the best pro he can possibly be, Orange could be on his way to a good pro career with Minnesota.