Minnesota’s Starting Safeties Have Incredible Versatility
K. Joudry
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When given the opportunity, Mike Zimmer is quite inventive on the defensive side of the ball. Last season really hindered our veteran coach’s ability to unleash his creativity. This was due to some dismal defense; the combination of youth and injury at d-line and in the secondary made life especially difficult. Thankfully, things look quite different heading into the 2021 season, and a large part of the reason is due to the Minnesota safety tandem.
While researching for a Harrison Smith article, I came across a wild breakdown on PFF of his snaps last year. According to PFF, Smith played 85 snaps at d-line, 355 in the box, 132 in the slot, 35 out wide, and 423 at free safety last season. That’s some serious versatility.
Now, I really don’t need to convince Vikings fans that Smith can do it all. We’ve known that for about ten years. Even still, it’s surprising to see him lined up at essentially every position on defense.
Smith’s partner in crime – Xavier Woods – also offers an amazing skill set. When we first responded to the Woods signing, we noted how Woods can essentially do it all: “It’s also worth noting that Woods has some impressive versatility. In 2020, Woods played 349 snaps at free safety, 382 in the box, 171 in the slot, and even 59 along the defensive line.”
What Minnesota has, then, are two veteran chess pieces, combining to form a top-tier safety tandem. Smith is elite; Woods is really good. They’re both highly intelligent. In other words, Zim is going to get creative on the back end of his defense. In theory, they’ll be mostly interchangeable. Opposing offenses will have a difficult time keeping track of those two. The pre-snap confusion should be at an all-time high for Minnesota’s opponents.
One of the main benefits of bringing in all that talent at corner – Patrick Peterson, Bashaud Breeland, and Mack Alexander – is that they won’t need the same help from the safeties as the young corners from last season. Every corner needs help, and Zim will surely be offering them assistance at various points. The key, though, is that Zim won’t continually need to. Therein lies the key.
Also, since Smith and Woods can play at or near the line of scrimmage, Minnesota will be able to get away with having merely two LBs on the field at a time. Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barry are going to get all the snaps they can handle.
Last offseason, Zimmer noted that safety is a relatively unimportant position. That’s still true. No one can conclude that having an elite safety is as valuable as having an elite corner or edge rusher. Having an elite safety tandem does make a massive difference, though, especially when partnered with the right talent throughout the rest of the lineup.
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