Our 2020 Defense

Shamar Stephen is called the “Big Fundamental” by his Vikings position coach, co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson, which is a nod to former San Antonio Spurs superstar Tim Duncan and Stephen’s quiet proficiency at defensive tackle.

So, there is little surprise about how the Vikings’ plans have unfolded to replace nose tackle Michael Pierce, the prized free-agent signing who opted out of the season because of COVID-19 concerns. Stephen has been moved to nose tackle, and Jaleel Johnson is expected to replace him at defensive tackle.

Stephen, a 2014 seventh-round pick, moves back to where he started his NFL career, and where holding up multiple 300-pound offensive linemen can be a thankless job.

“If my job is to hold up a block or choke off a block, that’s what I’m gonna do,” Stephen said. “You see the snapper doesn’t get any credit, but he’s the most important thing for the ball to get kicked, right?”

To keep the field clear in front of All-Pro linebacker Eric Kendricks, head coach Mike Zimmer chose the line’s most experienced player in Stephen, who is tied with defensive end Danielle Hunter for most years in the system.

Stephen was re-signed in 2019 to play defensive tackle next to Linval Joseph, but replacing Joseph is a better fit, according to Zimmer. The Vikings originally drafted Stephen to compete as Joseph’s backup.

“Shamar has basically been a nose tackle most of his career,” Zimmer said. “That will be a better position for him, anyway.”

Replacing Joseph, a two-time Pro Bowl player who left for the Chargers in free agency, is easier said than done. Nose tackle is high on the priority list for Zimmer, who made Joseph the Vikings’ first big addition upon being named head coach in 2014 and, to replace Joseph, signed Pierce to a big deal.

Stephen may not be in the spotlight often, but he’s a figurative and literal center of the defense.

“We’re at the start of the ball. So, if anything happens to the nose, it’s down the middle of the field to the end zone,” Stephen said. “We all play a piece in the puzzle, and if we all do our job, we’ll be able to have a great defense this year.”

Stephen, in his seventh season, is also the elder statesman of Vikings defensive tackles. The rest have a combined five NFL starts, including four from presumptive starter Johnson. One of Johnson’s starts — a Nov. 10 victory at Dallas — gives coaches confidence after a Joseph-less defense surrendered just 2.4 yards per carry on Ezekiel Elliott’s 20 runs.

“We played that game with Shamar Stephen and Armon Watts and Jaleel Johnson,” Patterson said. “They played great that night. We have great competition in that room at that position, and I think we’re going to be just fine.”

The understated Stephen, in some ways, is an ideal backup plan for the Vikings. Setting up others for success is the job of a Vikings nose tackle, as Stephen and Joseph were often credited by coaches — and by Kendricks — for assisting the linebacker’s All-Pro 2019 season.

While other NFL defensive systems may turn loose defensive tackles to blow up plays in the backfield, the Vikings ask both defensive tackles — especially the nose — to clog the line and prevent offensive linemen from blocking linebackers. Not coincidentally, Stephen’s most frequent penalty is defensive holding.

But Stephen won’t necessarily be noticed if he is doing his job properly this season.

“Their number one job in their life is to not let anybody touch Eric,” Patterson said. “People write stuff about Shamar Stephen, and I get it because everybody just looks at stats. But if you watch film and you ask Eric Kendricks if he had to pick anybody to go to the game with that he’d make sure that guy was there, I guarantee he’d tell you it’s 93.”

For the first time in Zimmer’s Minnesota tenure, he oversaw a major shakeup on his defensive coaching staff with defensive coordinator George Edwards and defensive backs coach Jerry Gray finding new homes. Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer teamed up to co-coordinate the defense, while Dom Capers entered the picture as a defensive consultant with a focus on defensive backs.

With coaches taking different titles and responsibilities, the coaching staff is feeling out its new personnel much like the players are. Then again, every coaching staff around the league has been put through the wringer trying to navigate a global pandemic that upset the revered routines of the traditional offseason.

“I think it’s been really smooth,” Patterson said. “Adam and I have constant communication, so that’s been great. The only thing for me is that I’ve got more on my plate. My day is pretty busy from the time I walk in here … I go from one thing to another thing to another thing. It’s me getting used to all the different things I have to do throughout the course of the day.”

The Vikings lost some big personalities amidst their many offseason departures, leaving a handful of talented defenders with personalities on the subdued side. Coaches have not asked Hunter to try and duplicate Griffen’s over-the-top energy level — it wouldn’t be in character. Neither Smith nor Anthony Harris are particularly excitable, but they’ve been lauded for their leadership over the rookie-filled cornerback room. Kendricks seems to have accepted the torch as the defense’s vocal leader after his All-Pro 2019 campaign.

“It’s been a lot of fun having the older guys back, too,” Patterson said, “because it’s great to see them take those guys under their wings. That’s the beauty of our room, that we’re all in it together.

“I’ve been blessed that, like right now, you’ve got Danielle Hunter who pulls the young guys over and says, ‘Hey, man, this is what I was like when I came here; listen to Dre.’ You’ve got Jaleel [Johnson] that does the same thing with the young D-tackles, or Shamar Stephen. Before that, it was Everson and Linval and B-Rob (Brian Robison). Those guys all help me with that because they pull those guys over and say, ‘Listen, if you listen to him, this is what he’s going to do for you.’”

Zimmer’s defense was constantly evolving in his five or so years with mostly the same core. At its best, Zimmer’s unit was in a constant state of motion leading up to the snap, bringing disguised blitzes with safeties and nickels, sometimes dropping ends in coverage and moving linebackers in and out of every gap around the line of scrimmage. Logic says that Zimmer won’t be able to pull as many strings right now, not with such a limited time to lay a foundation. But it’s that creativity for which Zimmer is known that could help override the growing pains of the Vikings’ new starters. Capers was brought in just for that reason, to inject new ideas into a scheme that Zimmer seems to tweak every season to remain unpredictable.

“I just enjoy being around those conversations and getting to know the smaller intricacies of what the Vikings have done,” Capers said Tuesday. “Hopefully somewhere in there I’ll be able to add a little bit here or there, but Mike knows what he wants to do, and he’s done it extremely well.”

Capers’ influence could really be seen with the linebackers, where he’s specialized for many years as an aficionado of the 3-4 defensive scheme. Barr may be the recipient of some Capers-infused pressure packages.

“I think it’s very important to always evolve,” said Barr. “We can’t stay stagnant. The things that we did last year aren’t going to necessarily carry over. Some things will obviously, but there are some things that we look at it and we look at the tape and are like, ‘We need to tweak or change that.'”

With 10 full team practices under their belt, the Vikings have just six or seven left before they finalize the roster and begin preparing for the Green Bay Packers. At that point, there won’t be as much time to focus on the fundamentals. Those who aren’t prepared could get left behind — Aaron Rodgers won’t have mercy.


The most important constant is arguably the head coach. As the rudder of the defense for the last seven years, his ability to galvanize the players and coaching staff may determine how smoothly the early season goes. Zimmer said he’s been hard on the rookies to get them ready for when they have to get “chewed out” during the regular season. For some, it will be a baptism by fire.

Zimmer didn’t have to be as hard on the previous group towards the end. The current one? He might have to be. He doesn’t know yet. He, like his young starters, will be leaning on the vets.

“We’re very, very fortunate that we have two really smart safeties, three really smart linebackers, we’ve got a couple smart defensive linemen,” he said, “so these guys can make adjustments, checks, adjustments on plays. They’ve seen things. Barr and Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris, they’ve been around us for numbers of years now. Seven, some of them. Honestly, I feel pretty good about where we’re at.”

16. MINNESOTA VIKINGS

In my opinion, there isn’t a more intriguing defense this year than that of the Minnesota Vikings. Recent acquisition of Yannick Ngakoue will team up with Danielle Hunter, who is coming off a career year in which he was the seventh-highest-graded player at the position at 89.4. Ngakoue offers very little in run-support, but he has shown to be an effective pass-rusher, which matters far more. He’s had three-straight years of top-25 pass-rush grades and finished at an elite level in 2017.

The Vikings overhauled last year’s cornerback unit and drafted both Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler early in the 2020 NFL Draft to ensure this area doesn’t become a liability, like it was last year. We don't know how the Vikings depth chart will shake out with their outside and slot coverage, but we are operating under the assumption that Gladney and Mike Hughes will occupy the slot, with Holton Hill and Dantzler manning the outside starting spots.

We didn’t have Dantzler as a first-round talent by any means, but we did view him as a draft steal. He isn't a burner and is more slender than you’d like, but you can’t deny his ridiculous production against some of college football’s best wide receivers. In his three years at Mississippi State, Dantzler logged 697 cover snaps and allowed only 41 catches on 96 targets while combining for 20 pass breakups and interceptions and surrendering one score. In his matchups against NFL-caliber receivers at LSU and Alabama this past year, Dantzler played a combined 55 cover snaps and allowed only three catches for 21 yards (longest was 8 yards) with a pass breakup.

Having the best safety duo in the NFL in Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith as well as one of the best off-ball linebackers in Eric Kendricks won’t make this Minnesota defense much worse than average. But if they want to be anything more than that, that need the young players manning the cornerback spots to step up.