Sophomore DE Receives High Praise from Vikings Defensive Coordinator
K. Joudry
|
Seeing Danielle Hunter lost for the season was a major negative. It’s a brutal break for him personally and for the team. In Hunter’s absence, several players have received more opportunity. Sophomore defensive end Kenny Willekes is one of the players, and he had a strong game for the Vikings this past Sunday.
Take a peak at what co-defensive coordinator and d-line coach Andre Patterson had to say about Willekes:
You can see one of his best plays in this clip below. Willekes is lined up along the end of the line; he is #79:
As you can see, Kenny Willekes gave the Vikings a chance at a critical moment in the game. It’s 3rd & 13 with a mere 17 seconds left. In other words, it’s an obvious passing situation. Minnesota deploys Willekes along the outside, allowing him to pin his ears back as he takes on the tackle. He demonstrates great burst off the line of scrimmage, getting underneath the tackle’s pads. The end result is him forcing the OT backward, part of the reason why Lamar needs to step up in the pocket. What’s so impressive is how Willekes sticks with the play. He is able to get one arm on Baltimore’s elusive QB, slowing Lamar down as other d-linemen get home for the sack.
It’s a play that shows tremendous explosiveness, intelligence, and effort. Those are attributes that will allow someone to thrive in the NFL.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”897364″ player=”26281″ title=”Albert%20discusses%20Aaron%20Rodgers%20taking%20responsibility%20for%20vax%20status%20comments” duration=”288″ description=”Senior NFL writer Albert Breer joins Carolyn Manno to discuss the latest NFL headlines.” uploaddate=”2021-11-10″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/thumb/https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/snapshot/897305_s_1636503089342.png” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/897305/897305.m3u8″]
Recently, Willekes spoke about how great it was to get onto the field after missing all of 2020 to an injury:
“Something I’ve been working towards for a long time. Got the game taken away in 2020, had to sit back and watch from the sidelines, learn from the sidelines. To get that opportunity to go out there, it was a dream come true.”
And here is what Andre Patterson had to say about him last week:
“He plays with a lot of intensity. I think the biggest thing that’s changed for him, from when I first got him a year ago before he got hurt, is now he has technique. So he’s got technique to go along with the constant motor and the effort that he has. So that’s the thing that’s helped him, through these practices, make a ton of plays. Because he’s taken his effort, his want-to, his desire, and he’s learned technique to go along with it. So to me, I think that’s the biggest thing that impresses me about him. And I think if you talk to any of the players, offense or defense, and you ask them who’s been the most impressive guy out there in practice, I bet you his name would come up a lot.”
According to Pro Football Reference, Kenny Willekes played 41 snaps on defense for the Vikings this past Sunday. He also added 8 snaps on special teams. He got 7 tackles, 2 QB hits, and a half sack. That’s a fine game by almost anyone’s standards, especially since he’s still playing the minority of snaps. It’s worth noting that even though Willekes was chosen 225th overall, his PFF pre-draft ranking was 83rd. Clearly, there were some people out there who thought he could have a very productive NFL career.
Obviously, the season hasn’t been going like we hoped. One positive thing to keep an eye on is the young players. Kene Nwangwu had a tremendous impact on special teams, Cameron Dantzler continues to show promise, Christian Darrisaw has been solid, and Kenny Willekes had a strong game. Let’s hope the rookies and sophomores can continue showing what they can do.