The Brian Flores Wish List
Brian Flores has proven to be a great leader and excellent tactician. He is, without question, one of the NFL’s elite defensive minds.
The NFL expressed interest in promoting him to a head coaching position, but those open spots ended up getting filled by other candidates. The end result is that Flores — who has expressed how much he enjoys coaching in Minnesota — is returning for a third year as the Vikings’ DC. What kind of items are on the coordinator’s wish list as the player acquisition phase of the offseason is about to begin?
The Brian Flores Wish List
The Kevin O’Connell era began with a thud, at least if we’re shrinking things down to just the defense.
Ed Donatell was hired to coordinate the defense, a decision that ended up aging poorly very early on. Minnesota won the NFC North and posted a great record of 13-4. Keep in mind, though, that the defense finished at 28th in the NFL by allowing 25.1 points against per game.
In the playoffs, Daniel Jones led his Giants to victory at U.S. Bank Stadium. The former New York passer went 24/35 for 301 yards and 2 touchdowns. He added on 17 carries for 78 rushing yards. Ugly stuff from Minnesota’s once proud defense.
Change was needed, so that came in the form of firing Donatell while hiring Flores. The payoff was basically instant. Consider some of the basic defensive numbers over the three seasons with O’Connell leading the Vikings:
| Year | Points/Game | Yards/Game | Comp. % Allowed | Avg. Rush Yards Per Carry |
| 2022 – Donatell | 25.1 (28th) | 389 (31st) | 66.1% (24th) | 4.5 (t-19th) |
| 2023 – Flores | 21.3 (13th) | 333 (16th) | 70.3% (32nd) | 3.8 (t-4th) |
| 2024 – Flores | 19.5 (5th) | 335 (16th) | 65.1% (15th) | 4.1 (t-4th) |
Most crucially, Flores has shaved points off the total across his pair of seasons in charge of the defense. Going from 25.1 points per game down to 19.5 points per game means allowing an average of 5.6 less points per game. That’s almost a touchdown better, folks.
The improvement is encouraging, but there’s still plenty of room to keep growing. Brian Flores would surely agree with that stance, so don’t expect to find a complacent DC at TCO Performance Center. Rather, Flores is going to be someone who wants to push his group much higher.
Perhaps the best way to allow Flores to get the defense to perform better is to equip him with better talent.
Begin at the back end of the defense. The secondary, quite possibly, could lose all of Harrison Smith, Camryn Bynum, Byron Murphy Jr., Stephon Gilmore, Shaq Griffin, and Fabian Moreau. That’s two starting safeties and the top four corners.
Might the defensive coordinator welcome some help in the secondary? Retaining just Smith and Murphy would be an excellent place to start. Doing so would help with the continuity while also keeping valuable veteran leadership in-house.
But then one wonders about landing a huge free agent like Jevon Holland, a safety with a connection to Flores from their shared time in Miami. Holland turns 25 today and has somehow already put up four seasons in the NFL. Maybe more importantly, Holland has a history of elite play and offers a lot of versatility. In his career, Holland has been a free safety for 2,222 snaps, in the box for 722 snaps, a slot corner for 401 snaps, along the d-line for 179 snaps, and a wide corner for 52 snaps.
Could be a perfect partner for Josh Metellus for several seasons.
And then one thinks of the defensive front.
The edge rusher spot is loaded and the linebacker position has a pair of starters who are capable of excellence. The area that really needs help is at defensive tackle, especially when it comes to rushing the passer.
For good reason, Flores is known as an aggressive play caller. What he’s really trying to be, though, is a disruptive play caller who makes life difficult for the offense. Flores wants to be unpredictable and capable of doing different things well. Sometimes, that means sending blitzers aplenty. Sometimes, that’s going to mean rushing less players while dropping more into coverage.
Being able to execute that unpredictable play calling with proficiency may be contingent on picking up better talent at defensive tackle. The huge name is Milton Williams, someone who has been connected to Minnesota numerous times. Does it make sense to add a pair of pass-rushing options at defensive tackle, though? If you’re looking for a bargain option, keep Teair Tart in mind.
Sitting on $63 million in cap space, the Vikings will have the ability to get aggressive when it comes to adding new talent to the roster. Needs exists in all three phases, but ticking some items off of Brian Flores’ wish list would be a nice way of using that open room.
Next Monday, NFL free agency will get going.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.