The Vikings Defense Has Been Transformative
Tom Woldum
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Let’s talk about this Minnesota Vikings defense. The “D” has been absolutely transformative in 2023, in more ways than one.
Transformative, in that their success is driven, in part, by several men who were not even part of the organization a year ago. Transformative, in that this was a one-dimensional let’s-see-how-far-our-dominant-passing-attack-can-take-us football team as recently as eight weeks ago; now it’s a one-dimensional let’s see-how-far-our-increasingly-dominant-defense-can-take-us football team. Transformative, in that this defense was an absolute doormat one year ago, now it is the Vikings’ state-of-the-art home security system.
The fact that we’re in a position to rave about this team’s defensive unit seems utterly shocking when looking through the lens of 2022. Last year’s squad finished with an NFL ranking of 28th in points allowed, 31st in yards allowed.
Their philosophy was “bend but don’t break”, which was a polite way of saying “hey, it could have been even worse”. Every game was a thriller, but the thrill was always about Minnesota somehow scoring one more time than the opposition. Last week’s 3-0 victory may have been a boring buzzkill to many, but can you imagine last year’s defense being involved in a 3-0 game? Much less coming out on top? To a Raider team who turned around and hung 63 points on the Chargers four days later?
What we were watching last year from the defense, versus what we’re seeing this year, is absolutely night and day. It’s worst-case transformed to best-case. It’s Ed Donatell becoming Brian Flores – the first and most important part of the Vikings’ defensive transformation in 2023.
Brian Flores, Jedi Master
That sub headline above seems like a whimsical stretch, but is it? It’s almost as if this man is standing on the sidelines, offering a simple wave of his hand, muttering “pay no attention to that extra man who appears to be backing away from the blitz”. The ball is snapped, the extra man reverses course and blitzes straight for the bewildered quarterback, whose eyes widen before prematurely throwing a ball just high enough for a cover man to regain the one step needed to break up the pass. It starts with the pressure, but peel back the layers and it’s dozens of other things, too.
Brian Flores was nothing short of a brilliant hire, replacing an aging and passive Donatell, who was apparently distracted / disinterested / less skilled than his resume suggested. Flores has been aggressive in every way possible, and not just with blitzing–which, as has been well-documented, the Vikings are doing far more than any other team in the NFL.
He patiently watched and learned through training camp and the early games of the new season, then started mixing and matching his personnel in new ways that aligned more closely with his own desire to be athletic, aggressive, deceptive and suffocating on offense. The trajectory of the defense began to change, by no mere coincidence, at about the time the Vikings began turning their 1-4 start into an impossible-to-predict 6-2 run.
The results have been impressive to say the least. Even with a slow start, the “D” has improved those 2022 rankings from 28th in points allowed to 5th, and elevated the yards/game ranking from 31st to 10th. Flores is a master strategist, a highly-respected manager of personnel, and a clear driver of the success in 2023. But it’s the players who have stepped up, grown up, and leveled up to the bar that Flores has set for them.
On the Vikings Defense, Youth Is Served
Flores deserves credit for surveying the landscape, understanding this team underwhelmed defensively in ’22, placing an expert eye on the practice field and the game film, and being decisive in elevating the players who deserved to be elevated. For some that meant increased playing time over more veteran players; for others, it meant more focused coaching, or both. It has been a group of rookies and relative youngsters who have held together the linebacking corps and elevated the secondary to among the best in the league.
Minnesota has a pair of legit Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates in linebacker Ivan Pace and Cornerback Mekhi Blackmon. Neither will win the award—Eagles Interior Lineman Jalen Carter appears a lock for that, but they’ve certainly been impressive this season.
Clearly, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knew what he was doing in drafting Blackmon in the third round out of this year’s draft, out of USC. Even more remarkable, Kwesi plucked Pace off the scrap heap as an undrafted free agent out of Cincinnati, where he had been a unanimous All-American and the AAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Undersized at 5’10”, the entire league whiffed on him during the draft, but Minnesota brought him in to compete for playing time and Pace has taken it from there, growing by leaps and bounds each week and playing a key role for his skill, his energy, his confidence, and his manic personality. Pace is all over the field, Blackmon is all over his coverage assignment, delivering shutdown defense. Together, they have grown into key roles on this squad. Pace is ranked by PFF 13th among 80 NFL linebackers; Blackmon 10th among 119 corners.
Add to the youth corps 2020 6th-rounder Josh Metellus and 2021 4th-round pick Camryn Bynum, and you’ve got four youngsters playing at an extremely high level. Both of these safeties have grown by leaps in bounds since Kevin O’Connell took over in 2022, and particularly since Flores’ arrival. Metellus currently holds a 75.1 PFF grade, placing him 15th among 91 NFL safeties, and Bynum is a Pro-Bowl candidate with a grade of 85.7, placing him #5 with the same group. These two ensure that the Vikings are in extremely good hands as Harrison Smith—still a strong contributor—ages out of the Vikings’ plans, potentially as early as next season.
The Vikings Defense Has a Leader at Each Level
But this transformation hasn’t been solely about youth. At each of the three levels of defense, there’s a rock who has been there and continues to do that. They clearly influence the game with their play, and influence the rest of the squad with their knowledge, abilities, and sense for the moment.
The aforementioned Harrison Smith is the fifth member of the secondary who grades out among the top 25% of the league’s players at his position. He’ll turn 35 before the Super Bowl, and continues to deliver quality plays all over the field. Jordan Hicks, currently out with a leg injury but expected to return in January, has been the Vikings’ leader in the middle of the linebacking group and another member of the PFF top-25% club, ranked 16 among 80 linebackers.
And Danielle Hunter, always a beast on the edge rush and a perennial top-25% member (he’s ranked 22 of 109 Edge rushers this season), is elevating his game in 2023 as he battles for the most sacks in all of football with 15.5. Of course, he’s always been a sack machine to varying degrees. Here is where he stands on the Vikings all-time sacks list:
- Carl Eller: 130.5
- Jim Marshall: 128.0
- John Randle: 114.0
- Alan Page: 108.5
- Chris Doleman: 96.5
- Danielle Hunter: 86.5
- Jared Allen: 85.5
- Everson Griffen: 79.5
And Danielle is still only 29! Eller, Randle, Page and Doleman are all NFL Hall of Famers; Marshall and Allen each should be. That’s select company. That’s the kind of company that the remainder of the Vikings defenders are keeping this year—both Hunter and Smith will be in the conversation for future entry into the Hall. How can the younger Viking defenders not be inspired by that kind of greatness? Just another reason why the Vikings are growing and transforming on defense in 2023.
Can the “D” earn this team a ticket to the Playoffs? Can they take them far once they get there? With Flores at the helm, a crop of precocious youngsters growing more confident each week and a sprinkle of veterans serving as anchors, it’s tough to bet against them.
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