A year ago, we trailed Justin Jefferson for a story following his every move in practice. A week ago, we did the same with Kellen Mond. That was going to be it until selecting a new rookie next year for the same task.

But then subscriber Colin O. asked in the comments section for a similar type of piece on Ihmir Smith-Marsette, the fifth-round pick who has become the team’s most talked-about rookie thanks to his big plays on the field and his big personality off it. One hundred and fifty-seven of you liked the request for this story, so here we are.

At the second-to-last practice fully open to the media, one that happened to be the team’s first scrimmage, we followed Smith-Marsette’s every move. Here are the results.

1:17: Smith-Marsette is wearing a purple jersey, an odd sight given the Vikings’ offense generally wears white and the defense wears purple. It’s the first giveaway of the scrimmage that’s in store. Smith-Marsette’s purple team is comprised of the first-team defense and the second-team offense.

But that doesn’t stop the youngster from mingling during the ongoing warmups. He’s a rookie, a 21-year-old fresh out of the University of Iowa, but he doesn’t act like it. He jokes with stars Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen as the team stretches. Other receivers with his level of experience, like Whop Philyor and Myron Mitchell, quietly operate, best to be unseen than be noticed. But Smith-Marsette is different. On the second day of training camp, he was dancing with Jefferson. He hasn’t been the kind of rookie to defer to veterans.

1:21: Smith-Marsette is seemingly always moving. When it’s not his turn for a drill, he dances. Travis Scott’s “Highest in the Room” blares from the massive sideline speakers and Smith-Marsette is singing along. During rookie minicamp, he designated himself the team’s locker room DJ. Fine. Someone’s got to do it.

But when veterans reported for minicamp, Smith-Marsette returned for the aux cord. Veterans looked on confused. Rookies don’t get such precious duties. Smith-Marsette didn’t relent.

“I’m the vibe, man,” he said. “Whatever people are looking for, just come to me for the music.”

Said Kirk Cousins: “We all kind of looked at him like, ‘All right, whatever, you can have the music.’”

1:24: After stretching ends, most receivers head over to do individual drills with position coach Keenan McCardell. But Smith-Marsette heads the opposite direction. It’s time to practice returning kicks.

Along with Chad Beebe, KJ Osborn, Dede Westbrook and Ameer Abdullah, Smith-Marsette fields kicks from a machine and follows imaginary blockers. At one point, Smith-Marsette can be heard yelling in celebration after a juke move apparently beat the fictional would-be tackler chasing him.

It’s here that the Vikings want to see more from Smith-Marsette. He’s shined in practice as a receiver, exceeding expectations. But that doesn’t change the fact that he won’t see much playing time on offense given Minnesota’s reluctance to run formations with more than two receivers. So if Smith-Marsette is going to touch the ball, it’s probably going to be in the return game.

That’s why he spends time most days watching Devin Hester highlights on YouTube. “He’ll take it from the right side of the field, take it all the way back to the left,” Smith-Marsette said. “You’ve just got to have a feel for it.”

1:35: The preface to the team’s scrimmage is some special-teams work. So while the field goal unit practices, Smith-Marsette heads over to chat with Thielen, who is sitting out this practice due to the thigh bruise he suffered in Saturday’s preseason game. Thielen apparently wanted to see a better route from Smith-Marsette while he was warming up with Cousins. Thielen is an animated talker and his hands are flying as he demonstrates how Smith-Marsette should run his next route.

1:43: The scrimmage starts after Jake Browning wins the opening coin toss. He elects to receive. The second-team offense is up. On the kickoff, Smith-Marsette has to sprint 15 yards to field a short kick, then speeds to the 30-yard line before being pushed out of bounds.

On the first possession, Browning tries to hit Smith-Marsette for a big gain downfield, but Harrison Hand breaks it up. The offense punts.

1:49: Smith-Marsette stands on the sideline about 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage as the Vikings’ first-team offense and first-team defense duel. He seems to dissect routes with Christian Jones, the team’s assistant wide receivers coach. The drive ends with Justin Jefferson easily shaking free from Patrick Peterson for a 2-yard touchdown reception in the corner of the end zone. Even Smith-Marsette, on the opposite team for this scrimmage, is impressed by the move.

2:00: After the third-team offense plays a series, it’s back to Smith-Marsette’s group. After two plays, they face third-and-4. Smith-Marsette lines up out wide. The play calls for him to run a go route, streaking deep down the field.

But when Smith-Marsette lines up, he realizes cornerback Cam Dantzler doesn’t have safety help and is playing soft coverage, leaving plenty of space between him and Smith-Marsette so as not to get beaten deep. Smith-Marsette has an option in his route to come back toward the sideline after 15 yards for a back-shoulder throw. When he breaks from the line and realizes he isn’t going to beat Dantzler deep, he sticks his feet into the ground and makes a quick pivot in the other direction. The ball has already been released from Browning’s hand and lands in Smith-Marsette’s gloves before Dantzler has time to make a play.

“It wasn’t even a comeback,” Smith-Marsette said after practice. “That’s a straight go ball. But he (Browning) liked the matchup, and when you get a certain style of defense, there’s certain ways the quarterback can throw the ball. So he has my outside shoulder and hit me right there. That’s just repetition going with Browning and talking with him about those types of plays.”

Those are also the types of plays that can look embarrassing when the quarterback and receiver aren’t on the same wavelength, potentially resulting in an interception if Browning throws a deep ball while Smith-Marsette breaks off his route.

“A lot of people don’t know what’s going on (when watching from afar), but when we’re out here working on stuff like that, it all comes together,” Smith-Marsette said. “That was one play where it came together.”

2:10: Smith-Marsette has quickly become a favorite target of Browning. Five of Browning’s first seven passes on this day head in Smith-Marsette’s direction. He notches three catches and draws one pass-interference penalty on the five targets. It’s a testament to the trust he has built with his quarterbacks.

“He can improve,” Cousins said. “He knows that and he’s going to work at that. But he can run a post, he can make things happen, he can make big plays. I think he’s going to do that. In preseason games and practice, you will see and have seen that he’s a guy that can bring some juice.”

2:14: Vikings receivers get called out in their meetings if they’re caught not blocking downfield. This is, after all, a team that still loves to run the ball. On one play, Smith-Marsette gets caught in a crowd of people and a teammate accidentally steps on his calf, drawing blood. “Nothing major,” Smith-Marsette later said. But it sends him to the sideline to get taped up.

While there, Browning hits Shane Zylstra for a 51-yard touchdown, one of only two scores by the offense in the scrimmage, and Smith-Marsette tosses his arms up and jumps before the taping is completed. “Put it on the scoreboard!” he yells.

He runs to the edge of the sideline and starts yelling at the opposite sideline where McCardell, Thielen, and Jefferson are standing. He wants to make sure they saw that his team just scored. It doesn’t seem to matter to him that he’s talking trash to the team’s two best receivers and his own position coach.

“I told them all day it was going to be like that,” Smith-Marsette said. “That stuff makes the day fun. I’m one of those people that likes to have fun with it, so I’m going to talk trash to ’em because we’re all one team and we’re going to laugh about it at the end of the day.”

2:21: A successful scrimmage for Smith-Marsette to this point takes a turn. With Kellen Mond now at quarterback, Smith-Marsette runs a slant route. The pass is a bit behind Smith-Marsette, but it’s certainly catchable. Instead, the pass bounces off Smith-Marsette’s back shoulder, gets deflected by Chazz Surratt then Troy Dye, then lands back in Surratt’s hands for an interception.

For the first time all day, Smith-Marsette is quiet. He takes a knee on the sideline by himself.

“I’ve just got to make that catch,” he said.

2:27: Smith-Marsette returns the next possession and beats Dantzler off the line. He’s open deep, but Kellen Mond doesn’t throw the ball. On the next play, Mond fumbles and Armon Watts scoops it and scores for the defense.

2:38: The second-team offense is trying to score in the two-minute drill with Mond at quarterback. Smith-Marsette beats Dantzler deep again. Mond’s pass arrives a bit high and Smith-Marsette leaps to grab it, slipping and falling on the way down. Still, it’s a 35-yard gain. And it was one Smith-Marsette knew they had a chance of hitting from the beginning.

“The defense played zone and the play we ran was good against zone,” Smith-Marsette said. “Kellen found me in the hole and we connected.”

Smith-Marsette called it his favorite play of his day.

2:42: The scrimmage ends after an hour. Zimmer breaks things down with a team huddle, and players meander off the field.

Smith-Marsette remains. He asks an assistant to feed balls into a JUGS machine so he can work on catching passes. He had made some of the best plays of the scrimmage, but he’s still thinking about that dropped slant.

“I’ve just got to catch that,” he says for a second time.

(Top photo: Nick Wosika / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)