Vikings DC Ed Donatell Remains on the Coaching Staff as Kevin O’Connell Evaluates
K. Joudry
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During their press conference this afternoon, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and HC Kevin O’Connell fielded a question about whether Vikings DC Ed Donatell would be fired. O’Connell said that he’s still in the process of evaluating the situation and that he’s working through an “ongoing” process.
After noting how he met with all the players, O’Connell transitioned to how he’s still looking at the coaching staff. “I’m doing the same thing with my entire coaching staff” O’Connell explained, “I’m in evaluation mode of everything that we did.” He goes on to indicate that he’s “taking a look at every aspect of our football team and our coaching staff.”
Though the team finished with a strong 13-4 record, the defense didn’t perform up to standard. There was considerable optimism going into the season that fans would see a defense that took a noticeable step forward. The final years of Mike Zimmer’s time – an average of 29.7 points against per game in 2020 and then 25.1 points against per game in 2021 – didn’t go well, so a change was applauded by many.
Unfortunately, Donatell couldn’t get the defense to live up to its potential.
Vikings DC Ed Donatell and a Disappointing Defense
The numbers are pretty ugly. For the second consecutive season, the Vikings allowed an average of 25.1 points against. The team allowed the second most yards against in the NFL, largely due to their poor pass defense.
For a little while, we’ve known that a change at defensive coordinator was a possibility. The team’s issues didn’t pop up out of nowhere toward the end the year. Rather, they were prominent from basically start to finish. The Week 1 Packers win was a good day for the defense, but things declined shortly thereafter.
We saw various low points throughout the season. Giving up 400+ yards of offense was a regular occurrence. At times, the pass rush was lacking even though the team employs Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith at edge rusher. High-priced vets appeared slow. Getting very little help from the recent draft class – where 5 of the initial 6 picks were used on defense – made things more challenging, but that excuse can only go so far.
In the end, the Vikings are still in the process of determining whether to move on from Donatell, thus leading to questions about the major defensive overhaul. Donatell could return in 2023.
Looking Ahead
Forced to guess, I’d say O’Connell opts for a defensive coordinator who can resurrect the 3-4 system. Perhaps that’ll be Ed Donatell; perhaps that’ll be someone else. Regardless, the scheme will likely be similar next year.
The issue isn’t merely a matter of going from a 3-4 to a 4-3. Don’t forget that the Vikings’ defense was very poor in 2020 and 2021, years when Zimmer’s 4-3 was in place.
Instead, the issue has more to do with how the scheme was executed.
Making matters even more uncertain is that several veterans could be facing a restructure or a cut. Eric Kendricks, for instance, could be cut for a cap savings of $9.5 million. Moving on from Za’Darius Smith would free up more than $13.6 million. Jordan Hicks would leave behind $1.5 million in dead money while freeing $5 million through a cut.
The point, folks, is merely that Minnesota’s GM is going to have some difficult decisions to make. One has to think that the defensive coordinator – Donatell or someone else – will get at least some input on the players who will be retained. After all, why have a particular DC if the team doesn’t value his input on what he could do with the players already in the building?
In the coming days, we’ll have plenty of rumors and analysis for what the next steps are for the defense, so be sure to keep swinging by PurplePTSD (and Vikings Territory!).
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.