5 Quick Thoughts after the Vikings Hire of Brian Flores
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings officially have their defensive coordinator going into the 2023 season after hiring Brian Flores to take over the reins of the defense. So, what exactly does that mean for Minnesota? Here are 5 quick thoughts in the immediate aftermath of the new hire.
Give the Vikings Leadership Credit
First and foremost, the Minnesota Vikings leadership group deserves a ton of credit for this hire. I wrote on Sunday that the jobs in Arizona and Denver probably made more sense for Flores considering the fact that the Cardinals would have given him full reign over the team, and the Broncos look like a much more solidified group on the defensive side of the ball.
It was going to take a big sales pitch from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell to lure a coordinator of that caliber to help rebuild Minnesota’s defense from the ground up, and at the end of the day, the group got it done. Kudos to them.
Brian Asamoah Should See an Increased Role
After this news, Brian Asamoah should be licking his chops. Flores defenses have a knack for utilizing young, athletic linebackers as blitzers. Think about Jerome Baker for the Dolphins. With Flores as Miami’s head coach from 2019-2021, Baker recorded 19 TFLs, 31 QB hits, and 14 sacks. He’s always going to be a plus-asset as a coverage linebacker, but Flores was able to extract some terrific blitzes for the Dolphins linebacker that led to numbers we didn’t see out of him in 2022.
Even if you aren’t totally sold on Asamoah being able to become an elite linebacker later on in his NFL career, we should have faith that Flores will be able to get every last ounce of production out of the young Vikings linebacker. Oh, and Asamoah seems to be pretty excited about the hire as well.
The Vikings Need a Lockdown Corner
With all the blitzing that appears to be headed to Minnesota in 2023, there’s now one need that the Vikings have that eclipses all others: a lockdown cornerback. The way that teams are going to be able to beat this defense is through throws over the top of all the blitzers.
Because of that, it’s imperative that the Vikings get at least one cornerback that can consistently win one-on-one battles in coverage. Perhaps either Patrick Peterson or Duke Shelley can be contributors, but this seems to further open the door to the idea of the Vikings selecting a corner in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Don’t Worry About Flores Being “One-and-Done”
The reason that some people initially had some doubts about Brian Flores joining the Vikings was because he’s always going to be part of the head coaching cycle, until he gets a head coaching job.
That means his tenure in Minnesota may be short, but it will only be short if the Vikings defense performs well. Ultimately, if Flores is a “one-and-done” coordinator, that likely means Minnesota played very well in 2023.
The Hitman Should Stick Around
Brian Asamoah should be ecstatic about this hire, but so should Harrison Smith. There have been theories floating around that the Hitman could be done in Minnesota after the 2022 campaign, but Flores’ hire should give renewed hope that Smith can still be a key contributor on this defense, again, because of his ability to blitz out of the secondary.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.