How The New Vikings Defense May Look – Part I
Henrique Gucciardi
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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two months, you know that the team is going through major changes. Changes in the front office and coaching staff were made to help push this team to the next level (a.k.a Super Bowl). Besides Kwesi as the new GM and O’Connell taking the HC position, a new member is flying under the radar with all of those changes. For the defensive coordinator position, O’Connell brought in Ed Donatell, a long-time Vic Fangio assistant.
KOC knows how good this system is, as he was with Brandon Staley in LA before the DC got the Chargers’ HC gig. Staley is also from Fangio’s coaching tree.
With Donatell, the team is moving towards a 3-4 scheme. Even with the new DC saying that it will be a hybrid system, the hirings of Mike Pettine, Mike Smith, and Chris Rumph for the coaching staff, all of them with 3-4 experience, indicates that the base of the defense is changing.
But now begs the question, “what will this defense look like?” Well, I won’t argue with Donatell’s statement that this will be a hybrid defense for several reasons. First, because he’s the coordinator. There’s no point in me arguing with him about his defense. But also because defenses operate in nickel packages most of the time, and the vast majority of the players are used to playing in a 4-3 scheme. In my humble opinion, it would be wise to mix the players’ experience with Donatell’s scheme.
To show what the defense may look like, taking into consideration Fangio’s scheme, preferences, and philosophy (again, Donatell spent more than 10 years with Fangio), I’m going to separate it into parts: front, blitzes, run fits, and secondary.
Front
The staple front of this defense is the 4-3 under. Yes, the most famous 3-4 defense of the last years uses a 4-3 front a lot. I’m going to link some other articles about this front because those who wrote them know a lot more than I do (Cody Alexander wrote a great analysis on Fangio’s defense). But, basically, a 4-3 under front consists of a nose tackle playing a 1-technique (right next to the center) on the strong side, with a defensive tackle as the 3-technique (between the guard and the tackle, more of a pass rush role) on the weak side. The edges can play just outside the tackle or outside a TE.
Important to note that, with nickel turning into the base defense, this front turns into a 4-2 most of the time. The focus on a front like this is to create mismatches, especially to the weak side, where you have two one-on-one situations. Thus, the importance of having a good pass-rushing defensive tackle, which Minnesota lacks.
Donatell may choose to put both Dalvin Tomlinson and newly-acquired Harrison Phillips on the field, but could also put only one of them and ask for the team to draft/sign someone more suited for the pass rush part. Regardless of who it is, he’ll see a ton of one-on-one situations, with protection focusing more on Hunter and his new partner in crime, Za’Darius Smith.
With the signing of Jordan Hicks, I think it’s fair to assume that the LB duo is set. Hicks and Kendricks, two great tacklers, should help the team be more effective against the run. Plus, with Hicks, Kendricks can focus a little more on defending the pass, something he’s really good at.
(Semi) Final Thoughts
I tried for a long time, but I don’t know who to put as the 3-tech. In my opinion, no one on the roster is suited for this role (or isn’t ready). Perhaps it’ll be Phillips, or maybe even James Lynch. Maybe the Vikings re-sign Sheldon Richardson, or maybe it’s a new face in town, but I think we’ll have to wait and see. The start of OTAs and camps should give us a clearer picture.
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