Vikings Addition Primed to Be This Year’s Andrew Van Ginkel
Last year, Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah delivered his magnum opus when he hired free agents for the 2024 campaign, including Pro Bowlers Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, and Sam Darnold, but also excellent signings and potential Pro Bowl snubs Aaron Jones and Blake Cashman.
Vikings Addition is Primed to Be This Year’s Andrew Van Ginkel
He once again spent money in March, adding some more talent to both the offensive and defensive lines. But who could be this year’s Van Ginkel? We’re looking for a player who signed a relatively cheap contract and isn’t a big-name player, but has a chance to have his breakout season.
The choice is pretty obvious. It is Isaiah Rodgers, the cornerback formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles. Like Van Ginkel, he had never been a full-time starter before joining, and he didn’t break the bank with his two-year deal worth $11 million. And like Van Ginkel, he was a guy defensive coordinator Brian Flores desperately wanted.
In April, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert wrote, “O’Connell said that Flores identified Rodgers as a possible target early in free agent evaluations and that Flores’ success rate on other suggestions in the past — including linebackers Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman — spurred action.”
Both Cashman and Van Ginkel showed promise before heading north, but once they (re-)united with Flores, they exploded into stardom.
In June, Flores spoke to the media and he said about his new defender.
“He’s been on my radar since he was at UMass, a fast playmaker,” Flores emphasised. “I think he’s one of these kind of late-round guys who found his way in the league in the kicking game. And got in some games and made some plays. I’ve always thought he was a good player and was ascending. And the opportunity presented itself that we could maybe acquire him, I was all in, and I’m happy we got him. He’s been a great addition. He’s got a great kind of football IQ and acumen. That’s something that we stressed, really, throughout the group, at all levels, secondary, second level, and obviously D line.”
Perhaps a little undersized at 5’10” and 180 lbs, he was drafted in the sixth round despite running a 4.28 40-yard dash, catching 11 interceptions in four seasons, and being a prolific returner in college. The Colts selected him in 2020 and he played there for three seasons. A gambling suspension sidelined him for the entire 2023 campaign and the Colts said “goodbye.”
Philadelphia signed him and he won the Super Bowl with them. In his four seasons in five years, he played in 60 contests (13 starts), tabulating a kick return touchdown, three picks, 116 tackles, and a pair of forced fumbles. He has 1,334 defensive snaps on his resume. Just for context, Murphy Jr. played 1,060 defensive snaps in 2024 alone.
In those opportunities, Rodgers earned respectable PFF grades:
2020: 85.6 (not eligible)
2021: 70.7 (25/116 eligible CBs)
2022: 82.1 (5th/118)
2024: 73.2 (24/116)
In training camp, Rodgers earned some praise because of his speed and his ball skills.
It’s not hard to envision Rodgers to make the necessary jump. Can he play at an All-Pro level like Van Ginkel? He probably can’t. Yet, he is primed for a breakout season and has shown enough flashes in the past but also in training camp to suggest that he can be a reliable CB and ultimately a steal for the Vikings.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.