After Two Weeks, the Vikings Secondary Acquistions Have Been Underwhelming
Josh Frey
|
Going into this season, the Minnesota Vikings were expected to be better for really one reason: their defense. After a season in which they were decimated by injuries and free agency losses, the Vikings went on a spending spree to revamp every level of their defense.
Obviously, it’s still way too early to decide whether or not the money spent was worth it. However, to this point, the pass rush has been significantly better than last year. This is mostly because of Danielle Hunter, who recorded three sacks against Arizona, but both Stephen Weatherly and Everson Griffen have made their presence known. Minnesota has eight sacks through two games, more than a third of the total they had in all of the 2020 season (23). The linebackers have seen a massive upgrade with the acquisition of Nick Vigil as well.
The one area that has not lived up to the hype is the secondary. Ironically, this is the area that Minnesota spent the most money on. After a season where rookie Cameron Dantzler went through a lot of growing pains at CB1, the Vikings spent much of their time and money to upgrade this group. They went out and got Patrick Peterson, Mackenzie Alexander, Bashaud Breeland, and Xavier Woods. With this group of veterans, the Vikings had a replacement for Anthony Harris when he left for Philly, and they relegated their former CB1 Dantzler down to CB5.
However, it’s not gone swimmingly to this point in the season. The only player really contributing is Xavier Woods, who had an interception last weekend and enters week three as PFF’s fifth ranked safety. Even his play has been overshadowed by the downward step Harrison Smith has taken after being one of the best safeties in the league in 2020.
The biggest concerns still lie at cornerback, though. The Vikings new group has been average at best throughout the season. Bashaud Breeland has been specifically bad over the course of two games. More than once he has been burned in one-on-one coverage. First, it was by rookie Ja’Marr Chase, and most recently, it was 33-year-old A.J. Green. These are two players that should not be getting the best of a CB2 on an elite defense, or at least one that we thought was elite.
Even Patrick Peterson has had his lapses thus far, most notably the 77-yard touchdown connection last weekend between Kyler Murray and Rondale Moore; both of whom absolutely torched the Vikings defense all afternoon. Still, Peterson leads the way among Vikings CB starters in PFF grade, sitting at 53.6. Breeland is bringing up the rear at 29.3.
These struggles from the defense are bringing about rumblings that perhaps Cameron Dantzler should be brought back into the starting lineup. To this point, the regular season sample size for Dantzler has been small. Coach Mike Zimmer seemed to ruffle some feathers on the young CB as well when he said he must get better on special teams. That said, Dantzler earned himself 16 defensive snaps in week two, and he certainly made the most of them. Particularly, he had a great red zone drive in which his pass breakups limited Arizona to a field goal.
Of course, there is still plenty of time for Minnesota to turn this thing around, but they need to do it fast with the Seahawks coming to town. The Vikings defense is currently ranked 26th against the pass, and both Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf could prove to be headaches for the defense if they aren’t ready to go. In the end, games against the Seahawks have never failed to be rollercoasters of emotions for the Vikings, and this one should be a thriller.