Z-Fense 2.0 - How To Fix The Defense in 2021 and Beyond
Jan 31, 2021 14:16:05 GMT -6
vikingpwr likes this
Post by Purple Pain on Jan 31, 2021 14:16:05 GMT -6
It's no secret, the defense was a huge problem in 2020. Getting Hunter and Pierce (and Kendricks and Barr) in the lineup will be key, but what else needs to happen?
A few things to get the discussion started:
How the Vikings season was lost: Everything that went wrong in 2020
theathletic.com/2289119/2020/12/29/vikings-missed-playoffs-offense-defense/
Zone Coverage: Who Will Benefit Most From Pierce and Hunter's Return?
zonecoverage.com/2020/minnesota-vikings-news/who-will-benefit-most-from-pierce-and-hunters-return/
Zone Coverage: The Run Defense Will Be Better Next Year
zonecoverage.com/2020/minnesota-vikings-news/the-run-defense-will-be-better-next-year/
Purple Insider:
...
purpleinsider.substack.com/p/takeaways-from-mike-zimmers-end-of
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A lot of moving parts here. But what do the Vikings need to do on defense to get back to playing winning football in 2021 and beyond?
A few things to get the discussion started:
How the Vikings season was lost: Everything that went wrong in 2020
To some extent, it shouldn’t surprise observers that the Vikings ended up eliminated from the playoff race with a week to go in the regular season. While Mike Zimmer’s down years are quite a bit better than the down years most teams see, they still have ended with his teams going home early.
Zimmer has an unfailing — and somewhat justified — faith in his defense. That fell apart in 2020 and the offense couldn’t keep up, all while the special teams unit had its worst year in recent memory — which is saying quite a lot for a Vikings group that often sees special teams failures mark its worst losses.
How did the Vikings go from playoff contenders last year and NFC championship contenders the year before to the disappointment this year? Let’s take a look.
Discontinuity on defense
Over the course of the Zimmer era, the Vikings developed one of the most complex defenses in the NFL, helping them maintain their standings atop the NFL’s points leaderboard. Between 2015 and 2019, the Vikings ranked second in points allowed, just behind the Patriots, and fifth in point differential and winning percentage despite starting six different quarterbacks (four of whom started more than 10 games).
That complexity requires chemistry, and that comes from constant communication and familiarity. The Vikings defense in that span of time only ever lost one or two starters from season to season, and often at positions that require less communication with teammates — moving on from one defensive tackle to another means less in terms of a potential breakdown than moving on from a starting cornerback, for instance.
The Vikings entered Friday’s Saints game with a substantially different defense than the one they had last year in the wild-card round, with seven starters in that game unavailable for this year’s regular-season matchup, along with a number of key depth players who rotated in that game that aren’t on the roster this year. The Vikings’ starters — in nickel or base defensive packages — at the beginning of 2019 and now at the end of 2020 only share three players: Anthony Harris, Harrison Smith and Shamar Stephen.
Some of the Vikings’ losses were intentional. They moved on from three starting cornerbacks mostly willingly and decided that Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph weren’t going to live up to their cap liabilities. Others were unexpected — losing Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr for substantial periods of time due to injury loosened up a run defense that already had questions, and their coverage impact over the middle can’t be overstated. Not only that, emerging star Danielle Hunter couldn’t suit up all year.
Their expected replacements couldn’t fill in the gaps, either. Joseph replacement Michael Pierce opted out of the season while Holton Hill and Mike Hughes started early before hitting injured reserve — and the Vikings eventually waived Hill. Though they can be happy with their rookie cornerbacks now, the rough start to the season is fairly expected for rookies, and it would have been nice to ease in that group more gradually.
That turnover on defense meant that the Vikings’ usual modus operandi — inscrutable coverages with high-level communication and disguise — wasn’t going to work. And it didn’t for the first few games, with blown assignments highlighting the defensive struggles to go along with a softer defensive interior that allowed for much better run blocking from their opponents.
Over the first four weeks, the Vikings ranked 21st in expected points allowed against the run and 29th in success rate allowed against the run. Against the pass, they were 24th in EPA and 20th in opposing pass success rate. Overall, their defense ranked 21st overall in EPA/play and 27th in success rate allowed.
The improvement of the young secondary couldn’t come in time to avoid the three early losses in the season and gave the Vikings no wiggle room to earn enough wins later on to squeak into the playoffs.
The losses at linebacker demonstrated these tight tolerances. The Vikings entered a point where they couldn’t have much else go wrong. Of course, that’s exactly what happened. Kendricks sustained a calf injury against Carolina in Week 12 and hasn’t appeared in a game since. One can look at the defensive revival after the first four weeks as one where Zimmer took better advantage of the talent while Kendricks’ injury was the moment where even the best scheme couldn’t account for the lack of quality players on the field.
The Vikings got to the point where the value they gave up on the ground by the end of the year — 0.155 points per rush attempt — was identical to the value any above-average passing offense put together when throwing the ball, meaning it was just as efficient for opponents to run the ball as it was for them to throw it.
Through 16 weeks, the Vikings’ defense gave up the third-highest scoring rate on drives, though only 15th in touchdown rate because of their excellent red-zone performance. That has made them 11th-worst in points given up per drive.
Defensive deficiencies
The Vikings’ struggles were not just a product of a lack of chemistry. They simply lacked talent on the defense, and it’s one reason that they couldn’t sustain losses — their depth at key positions was severely lacking.
The cupboard looks especially bare when looking at the defensive line. Perhaps nothing captures the state of the unit better than the fact that the Vikings’ sack leader only has five. He also plays for the Baltimore Ravens and has for most of the season.
The Yannick Ngakoue trade — initially meant to supercharge a pass-rush that could take advantage of substantial edge pressure — came to represent all the struggles on the defense. Initially full of promise, the unknowns were more appealing than the early outcomes. Despite some flashes, Ngakoue didn’t live up to his potential, Minnesota started 1-5 and the Vikings decided that was enough to move on. He didn’t exactly get better in Baltimore, but it’s easy to have seller’s remorse as the Vikings turned out to need some pass-rushing help as they made a surprising push for the playoffs.
At edge rusher, the Vikings were left with — in order of the number of pass-rushing snaps they had — Ifeadi Odenigbo, Jalyn Holmes, D.J. Wonnum and Hercules Mata’afa. All with pressure rates of 10 percent or lower, they rank 43rd, 97th, 61st and 47th (of 119), respectively, when compared to other edge rushers.
It is not particularly bad for a starting defensive line to feature an edge rusher who ranks 43rd in pressure production, but it is crippling if that player is the best pass-rusher.
They fared better as run defenders, but it’s notable that the record is mixed more than it is useful. One measure, stop rate, tells us how often players tackled runners near the line of scrimmage — before they could gain yardage helpful for the offense. In stop rate, those four players ranked 116th, 25th, 69th and ninth, respectively.
They also missed a high rate of tackles in the run game. None of them ranked in the top 45 in lowest missed-tackle rate, either.
Things look even bleaker at defensive tackle. The Vikings were remarkably thin at the position, forced to play a primary rotation of three players — Stephen, Jaleel Johnson and Armon Watts.
They couldn’t account for their intended starter at the position opting out of the season, of course, but they also did very little to add relevant players who could consistently challenge for a starting spot, especially at the understaffed three-technique position, meant to rush the passer. All three players the Vikings employed at tackle are generally regarded as nose tackles and aren’t considered to have pass-rush upside. They didn’t impress at either job.
Out of 152 qualifying defensive tackles, the Vikings’ corps looked bleak. Johnson’s 2.0-percent pressure rate would rank second-to-last if we were more stringent about qualifiers — 76th of 77 defensive tackles with 200 pass-rushing snaps. Stephen ranked 75th.
The Vikings are absolutely insistent that Stephen played a big role in Kendricks’ huge season last year. Be that as it may, the tradeoff is still probably not worth it if the end result is absolutely no interior pressure.
At linebacker, coverage is difficult to completely capture statistically. If good coverage results in a completion because of unerring accuracy by a quarterback, and then goes for 80 yards, that’s more a failure of tackling by the whole team and a good job by the QB than a problem from the coverage defender. Similarly, if a deep bomb lands perfectly in the hands of a receiver off of a blown coverage but is dropped, that’s a statistical win for the coverage defender.
To some extent, PFF coverage grade covers this. Sports Info Solutions’ “deserved completion rate” captures some of this as well. How did the Vikings linebackers fare here?
We don’t have enough data to include the replacement linebackers — Troy Dye, Blake Lynch and Hardy Nickerson didn’t play enough to qualify to be among the 100 linebackers with at least 200 total snaps. But their PFF grades in coverage rank below any qualifying linebacker, effectively making them “dead last” in any list.
The story isn’t much different in the run game.
These run metrics become less useful the further away one lines up from the line of scrimmage, as those players are dependent on the players in front of them in some ways. It’s not simply a product of talent up front, either — good defensive tackles can help or hurt production; linebackers who benefit from tackles who hold double-teams will get more stops, while linebackers playing with productive defensive tackles will have fewer opportunities to create tackles because the available run stops are soaked up by the defense in front of them. That’s one reason the PFF grade is kinder to the Vikings in run defense — Davis ranks 16th, while Kendricks ranks 26th — though Wilson unsurprisingly ranks 90th of the 100 qualifying linebackers. Nickerson would rank 59th and Lynch would rank 61st, with Dye ranking last again.
The issue appears to be that the depth linebackers the Vikings employ seem to be specialists. Dye and Wilson are far better in coverage than they are against the run — though Wilson was up-and-down this year with some coverage busts hurting him while impressive interceptions brought him into the limelight — while Davis is a run-stuffer.
Here, it’s easier to be a little more generous to the Vikings. They entered the season not just with a top-level linebacker in Kendricks but a very good one in Barr. Even if you think Barr is overpaid, he’s substantially better than the linebackers who replaced him and better than most starting linebackers. Behind them, they had a competition between Ben Gedeon, Cameron Smith and Wilson.
Gedeon apparently never recovered from the concussion issues that put him on injured reserve last season and Smith had an emergency develop that required season-ending surgery. Wilson is a great subpackage player for coverage purposes and Davis was a good find as a third linebacker for run-stuffing packages. But injuries at the position — both during the season and before it — crippled the Vikings and forced them to drop off in defensive performance.
In the secondary, they employed a pair of safeties who played at an elite level over the last two years and were lucky that their depth there wasn’t tested — they didn’t have any backups on the active roster for a short period of time and only one, a rookie, for most of the season. We covered the rotating cast at cornerback, but it’s demonstrative to take a look at yards given up to receivers per route run over those periods of time.
That’s critical context when evaluating players like Cameron Dantzler and Jeff Gladney, who improved over time. That said, it’s still useful to look at season-long performance when looking at season-long results. A receiver group averaging 2.18 yards per route run would rank first in the NFL, just ahead of the Titans and Vikings’ receiver groups at 2.06 and 1.91, respectively, while a receiver group with 1.56 YPRR would rank 15th.
The safeties are out of 95 qualifying players while the corners are out of 138.
It’s not a mystery that the Vikings couldn’t sustain themselves defensively. It took quite a while for the Vikings to adapt their scheme to identify their best players, then adapt the scheme to those players. And when other supporting players, like Kendricks — were forced out, the defense fell back apart.
Zimmer has an unfailing — and somewhat justified — faith in his defense. That fell apart in 2020 and the offense couldn’t keep up, all while the special teams unit had its worst year in recent memory — which is saying quite a lot for a Vikings group that often sees special teams failures mark its worst losses.
How did the Vikings go from playoff contenders last year and NFC championship contenders the year before to the disappointment this year? Let’s take a look.
Discontinuity on defense
Over the course of the Zimmer era, the Vikings developed one of the most complex defenses in the NFL, helping them maintain their standings atop the NFL’s points leaderboard. Between 2015 and 2019, the Vikings ranked second in points allowed, just behind the Patriots, and fifth in point differential and winning percentage despite starting six different quarterbacks (four of whom started more than 10 games).
That complexity requires chemistry, and that comes from constant communication and familiarity. The Vikings defense in that span of time only ever lost one or two starters from season to season, and often at positions that require less communication with teammates — moving on from one defensive tackle to another means less in terms of a potential breakdown than moving on from a starting cornerback, for instance.
The Vikings entered Friday’s Saints game with a substantially different defense than the one they had last year in the wild-card round, with seven starters in that game unavailable for this year’s regular-season matchup, along with a number of key depth players who rotated in that game that aren’t on the roster this year. The Vikings’ starters — in nickel or base defensive packages — at the beginning of 2019 and now at the end of 2020 only share three players: Anthony Harris, Harrison Smith and Shamar Stephen.
Some of the Vikings’ losses were intentional. They moved on from three starting cornerbacks mostly willingly and decided that Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph weren’t going to live up to their cap liabilities. Others were unexpected — losing Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr for substantial periods of time due to injury loosened up a run defense that already had questions, and their coverage impact over the middle can’t be overstated. Not only that, emerging star Danielle Hunter couldn’t suit up all year.
Their expected replacements couldn’t fill in the gaps, either. Joseph replacement Michael Pierce opted out of the season while Holton Hill and Mike Hughes started early before hitting injured reserve — and the Vikings eventually waived Hill. Though they can be happy with their rookie cornerbacks now, the rough start to the season is fairly expected for rookies, and it would have been nice to ease in that group more gradually.
That turnover on defense meant that the Vikings’ usual modus operandi — inscrutable coverages with high-level communication and disguise — wasn’t going to work. And it didn’t for the first few games, with blown assignments highlighting the defensive struggles to go along with a softer defensive interior that allowed for much better run blocking from their opponents.
Over the first four weeks, the Vikings ranked 21st in expected points allowed against the run and 29th in success rate allowed against the run. Against the pass, they were 24th in EPA and 20th in opposing pass success rate. Overall, their defense ranked 21st overall in EPA/play and 27th in success rate allowed.
The improvement of the young secondary couldn’t come in time to avoid the three early losses in the season and gave the Vikings no wiggle room to earn enough wins later on to squeak into the playoffs.
The losses at linebacker demonstrated these tight tolerances. The Vikings entered a point where they couldn’t have much else go wrong. Of course, that’s exactly what happened. Kendricks sustained a calf injury against Carolina in Week 12 and hasn’t appeared in a game since. One can look at the defensive revival after the first four weeks as one where Zimmer took better advantage of the talent while Kendricks’ injury was the moment where even the best scheme couldn’t account for the lack of quality players on the field.
The Vikings got to the point where the value they gave up on the ground by the end of the year — 0.155 points per rush attempt — was identical to the value any above-average passing offense put together when throwing the ball, meaning it was just as efficient for opponents to run the ball as it was for them to throw it.
Through 16 weeks, the Vikings’ defense gave up the third-highest scoring rate on drives, though only 15th in touchdown rate because of their excellent red-zone performance. That has made them 11th-worst in points given up per drive.
Defensive deficiencies
The Vikings’ struggles were not just a product of a lack of chemistry. They simply lacked talent on the defense, and it’s one reason that they couldn’t sustain losses — their depth at key positions was severely lacking.
The cupboard looks especially bare when looking at the defensive line. Perhaps nothing captures the state of the unit better than the fact that the Vikings’ sack leader only has five. He also plays for the Baltimore Ravens and has for most of the season.
The Yannick Ngakoue trade — initially meant to supercharge a pass-rush that could take advantage of substantial edge pressure — came to represent all the struggles on the defense. Initially full of promise, the unknowns were more appealing than the early outcomes. Despite some flashes, Ngakoue didn’t live up to his potential, Minnesota started 1-5 and the Vikings decided that was enough to move on. He didn’t exactly get better in Baltimore, but it’s easy to have seller’s remorse as the Vikings turned out to need some pass-rushing help as they made a surprising push for the playoffs.
At edge rusher, the Vikings were left with — in order of the number of pass-rushing snaps they had — Ifeadi Odenigbo, Jalyn Holmes, D.J. Wonnum and Hercules Mata’afa. All with pressure rates of 10 percent or lower, they rank 43rd, 97th, 61st and 47th (of 119), respectively, when compared to other edge rushers.
It is not particularly bad for a starting defensive line to feature an edge rusher who ranks 43rd in pressure production, but it is crippling if that player is the best pass-rusher.
They fared better as run defenders, but it’s notable that the record is mixed more than it is useful. One measure, stop rate, tells us how often players tackled runners near the line of scrimmage — before they could gain yardage helpful for the offense. In stop rate, those four players ranked 116th, 25th, 69th and ninth, respectively.
They also missed a high rate of tackles in the run game. None of them ranked in the top 45 in lowest missed-tackle rate, either.
Things look even bleaker at defensive tackle. The Vikings were remarkably thin at the position, forced to play a primary rotation of three players — Stephen, Jaleel Johnson and Armon Watts.
They couldn’t account for their intended starter at the position opting out of the season, of course, but they also did very little to add relevant players who could consistently challenge for a starting spot, especially at the understaffed three-technique position, meant to rush the passer. All three players the Vikings employed at tackle are generally regarded as nose tackles and aren’t considered to have pass-rush upside. They didn’t impress at either job.
Out of 152 qualifying defensive tackles, the Vikings’ corps looked bleak. Johnson’s 2.0-percent pressure rate would rank second-to-last if we were more stringent about qualifiers — 76th of 77 defensive tackles with 200 pass-rushing snaps. Stephen ranked 75th.
The Vikings are absolutely insistent that Stephen played a big role in Kendricks’ huge season last year. Be that as it may, the tradeoff is still probably not worth it if the end result is absolutely no interior pressure.
At linebacker, coverage is difficult to completely capture statistically. If good coverage results in a completion because of unerring accuracy by a quarterback, and then goes for 80 yards, that’s more a failure of tackling by the whole team and a good job by the QB than a problem from the coverage defender. Similarly, if a deep bomb lands perfectly in the hands of a receiver off of a blown coverage but is dropped, that’s a statistical win for the coverage defender.
To some extent, PFF coverage grade covers this. Sports Info Solutions’ “deserved completion rate” captures some of this as well. How did the Vikings linebackers fare here?
We don’t have enough data to include the replacement linebackers — Troy Dye, Blake Lynch and Hardy Nickerson didn’t play enough to qualify to be among the 100 linebackers with at least 200 total snaps. But their PFF grades in coverage rank below any qualifying linebacker, effectively making them “dead last” in any list.
The story isn’t much different in the run game.
These run metrics become less useful the further away one lines up from the line of scrimmage, as those players are dependent on the players in front of them in some ways. It’s not simply a product of talent up front, either — good defensive tackles can help or hurt production; linebackers who benefit from tackles who hold double-teams will get more stops, while linebackers playing with productive defensive tackles will have fewer opportunities to create tackles because the available run stops are soaked up by the defense in front of them. That’s one reason the PFF grade is kinder to the Vikings in run defense — Davis ranks 16th, while Kendricks ranks 26th — though Wilson unsurprisingly ranks 90th of the 100 qualifying linebackers. Nickerson would rank 59th and Lynch would rank 61st, with Dye ranking last again.
The issue appears to be that the depth linebackers the Vikings employ seem to be specialists. Dye and Wilson are far better in coverage than they are against the run — though Wilson was up-and-down this year with some coverage busts hurting him while impressive interceptions brought him into the limelight — while Davis is a run-stuffer.
Here, it’s easier to be a little more generous to the Vikings. They entered the season not just with a top-level linebacker in Kendricks but a very good one in Barr. Even if you think Barr is overpaid, he’s substantially better than the linebackers who replaced him and better than most starting linebackers. Behind them, they had a competition between Ben Gedeon, Cameron Smith and Wilson.
Gedeon apparently never recovered from the concussion issues that put him on injured reserve last season and Smith had an emergency develop that required season-ending surgery. Wilson is a great subpackage player for coverage purposes and Davis was a good find as a third linebacker for run-stuffing packages. But injuries at the position — both during the season and before it — crippled the Vikings and forced them to drop off in defensive performance.
In the secondary, they employed a pair of safeties who played at an elite level over the last two years and were lucky that their depth there wasn’t tested — they didn’t have any backups on the active roster for a short period of time and only one, a rookie, for most of the season. We covered the rotating cast at cornerback, but it’s demonstrative to take a look at yards given up to receivers per route run over those periods of time.
Weeks Total YPRR
1-4 2.18
6-12 1.56
13-16 2.08
That’s critical context when evaluating players like Cameron Dantzler and Jeff Gladney, who improved over time. That said, it’s still useful to look at season-long performance when looking at season-long results. A receiver group averaging 2.18 yards per route run would rank first in the NFL, just ahead of the Titans and Vikings’ receiver groups at 2.06 and 1.91, respectively, while a receiver group with 1.56 YPRR would rank 15th.
The safeties are out of 95 qualifying players while the corners are out of 138.
It’s not a mystery that the Vikings couldn’t sustain themselves defensively. It took quite a while for the Vikings to adapt their scheme to identify their best players, then adapt the scheme to those players. And when other supporting players, like Kendricks — were forced out, the defense fell back apart.
Zone Coverage: Who Will Benefit Most From Pierce and Hunter's Return?
Both players are expected to be back in 2021, which has bred optimism that things will be better next year. Assuming Hunter and Pierce are back to form, it’s fair to wonder if some of these players on the roster could be better once they return.
IFEADI ODENIGBO
One of the biggest disappointments in 2020 has been Odenigbo’s performance. After recording seven sacks in 2019, it was expected that he would have a breakout season, using the same blueprint that Brian Robison, Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter have taken en route to a full-time starting job.
Instead, Odenigbo looked like a depth piece along the defensive line. The Vikings hinted at this when they made the trade to bring Yannick Ngakoue to Minnesota, but they still had to expect more from the third-year lineman considering what he did in the previous season.
As the Vikings showed when they traded Ngakoue after six games, they value pressures more than actual sacks. In 2019, Odenigbo was able to do that generating 25 pressures on just 262 pass-rushing snaps, a 9.5% pressure rate. According to Pro Football Focus, that led to a 6.2 pass rusher productivity rating that ranked 82nd among all qualifying defensive linemen.
This didn’t scream superstar status was coming, but with a leap forward the hope was that Odenigbo could match Griffen’s 2019 production — 66 pressures on 534 pass-rushing snaps (12.3% pressure rate) and a 7.3 PRP rating (49th among qualifiers).
While Odenigbo’s pressure rate jumped to 10% (42 pressures on 420 pass-rushing snaps), his pass-rusher productivity rating actually went down to 5.6, 81st among qualifying linemen. Again, while this isn’t bad, it’s not what the Vikings were expecting from the 26-year-old, but there’s a chance he could have a rebound season with the return of Hunter and Pierce.
One of the keys to Odenigbo’s 2019 season was that the Vikings had players who could take attention away from him. With Griffen and Hunter entrenched at the defensive ends, Odenigbo could be deployed at several different positions and played just over 30% of his snaps at defensive tackle, per PFF. With the Vikings needing him on the outside, that number dropped to 4% in 2020.
With Odengibo’s sack production taking a hit, it’s possible that he could be more comfortable in a joker role similar to how the Vikings used Stephen Weatherly. If they opt to use Odenigbo more on the inside, he could play a three-technique next to Pierce, who’s ability to create interior pressure and draw attention could free up Odenigbo for a bigger season.
D.J. WONNUM
After a strong combine performance, Wonnum became co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson’s “pet cat” and was drafted in the fourth round of last April’s draft. With one season under his belt, it’s unlikely that Wonnum will become the second coming of Hunter. But it is possible that Wonnum could develop into a strong rotational piece that can eventually help solve the Vikings’ biggest problem: generating pressure.
Wonnum never displayed strong pass-rushing chops at South Carolina, collecting 14 sacks in three seasons. He also didn’t make splash plays stopping the run with just 14 run stops during his senior year. If the Vikings were going after athleticism over production, Wonnum was definitely a guy that fit that mold.
The first six weeks were lean as Wonnum was expected to take a “redshirt” year but was forced into a more prominent role with Ngakoue’s departure after the Week 6 bye. In the past eight games, Wonnum has created 16 pressures on 154 pass-rushing snaps (10.3% pressure rate) and a 5.8 PRP rating which ranks 54th among qualifying edge defenders since Week 8.
These numbers are impressive and on par with what Odenigbo did last season for the Vikings. They were also done with members of the defensive line becoming non-existent once Ngakoue joined the Baltimore Ravens.
Wonnum may never reach the same ceiling as Hunter, but a more realistic expectation is for him to become the next Odenigbo. With Hunter on the other side and Pierce in the middle, it should create more opportunities for Wonnum to produce should he ascend to a starting role next season. Even if the Vikings look for an upgrade in free agency or the draft, Wonnum could provide some of the depth Minnesota didn’t have this past season.
WHOEVER IS PLAYING NEXT TO MICHAEL PIERCE
We’re not going to list a player here because there’s a good chance he may not be on the roster at the moment. The current starting defensive tackles are Jaleel Johnson, who grades as PFF’s 131st defensive tackle, and Shamar Stephen, who grades out at 68th. Even if Patterson wants to give a preseason seminar on the importance of Stephen, it’s clear the Vikings need an upgrade at this position even with Pierce’s projected return.
Whoever steps in next to Pierce will be handed a major advantage. At 340 pounds, Pierce is a wide body who can take up multiple defenders as opposed to Stephen, who can probably take up one. With the strength that allowed him to rip off a 725-pound squat at Samford, Pierce also can penetrate in the trenches, which is something the Vikings defensive line hasn’t done much of since getting to the NFC Championship Game in 2017.
Pierce is not the second coming of Vince Wilfork, but he brings something to the Vikings they’ve been sorely missing. During that 2017 season, Pierce graded out as the 11th best interior defender per PFF. The following season, Pierce graded fifth overall and ranked 11th with an 11.3 run stop percentage. Those numbers dropped in 2019, but his overall resume was what enticed the Vikings to give him a 3-year, $27 million contract.
Even if the Vikings decide to stay with Johnson, there’s a chance he could put up better numbers with a behemoth like Pierce next to him. Johnson put up 3.5 sacks in 2019 and may have had a fighting chance to do more if he wasn’t playing next to someone who is known more for being in the right spot than actual production.
More likely, this will be a spot that the Vikings will focus on in free agency or the draft. Adding someone like Leonard Williams is a pipe dream considering the Vikings’ current salary cap situation, but trading up into the second or third round could net Minnesota an intriguing prospect that should be better than what they have.
IFEADI ODENIGBO
One of the biggest disappointments in 2020 has been Odenigbo’s performance. After recording seven sacks in 2019, it was expected that he would have a breakout season, using the same blueprint that Brian Robison, Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter have taken en route to a full-time starting job.
Instead, Odenigbo looked like a depth piece along the defensive line. The Vikings hinted at this when they made the trade to bring Yannick Ngakoue to Minnesota, but they still had to expect more from the third-year lineman considering what he did in the previous season.
As the Vikings showed when they traded Ngakoue after six games, they value pressures more than actual sacks. In 2019, Odenigbo was able to do that generating 25 pressures on just 262 pass-rushing snaps, a 9.5% pressure rate. According to Pro Football Focus, that led to a 6.2 pass rusher productivity rating that ranked 82nd among all qualifying defensive linemen.
This didn’t scream superstar status was coming, but with a leap forward the hope was that Odenigbo could match Griffen’s 2019 production — 66 pressures on 534 pass-rushing snaps (12.3% pressure rate) and a 7.3 PRP rating (49th among qualifiers).
While Odenigbo’s pressure rate jumped to 10% (42 pressures on 420 pass-rushing snaps), his pass-rusher productivity rating actually went down to 5.6, 81st among qualifying linemen. Again, while this isn’t bad, it’s not what the Vikings were expecting from the 26-year-old, but there’s a chance he could have a rebound season with the return of Hunter and Pierce.
One of the keys to Odenigbo’s 2019 season was that the Vikings had players who could take attention away from him. With Griffen and Hunter entrenched at the defensive ends, Odenigbo could be deployed at several different positions and played just over 30% of his snaps at defensive tackle, per PFF. With the Vikings needing him on the outside, that number dropped to 4% in 2020.
With Odengibo’s sack production taking a hit, it’s possible that he could be more comfortable in a joker role similar to how the Vikings used Stephen Weatherly. If they opt to use Odenigbo more on the inside, he could play a three-technique next to Pierce, who’s ability to create interior pressure and draw attention could free up Odenigbo for a bigger season.
D.J. WONNUM
After a strong combine performance, Wonnum became co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson’s “pet cat” and was drafted in the fourth round of last April’s draft. With one season under his belt, it’s unlikely that Wonnum will become the second coming of Hunter. But it is possible that Wonnum could develop into a strong rotational piece that can eventually help solve the Vikings’ biggest problem: generating pressure.
Wonnum never displayed strong pass-rushing chops at South Carolina, collecting 14 sacks in three seasons. He also didn’t make splash plays stopping the run with just 14 run stops during his senior year. If the Vikings were going after athleticism over production, Wonnum was definitely a guy that fit that mold.
The first six weeks were lean as Wonnum was expected to take a “redshirt” year but was forced into a more prominent role with Ngakoue’s departure after the Week 6 bye. In the past eight games, Wonnum has created 16 pressures on 154 pass-rushing snaps (10.3% pressure rate) and a 5.8 PRP rating which ranks 54th among qualifying edge defenders since Week 8.
These numbers are impressive and on par with what Odenigbo did last season for the Vikings. They were also done with members of the defensive line becoming non-existent once Ngakoue joined the Baltimore Ravens.
Wonnum may never reach the same ceiling as Hunter, but a more realistic expectation is for him to become the next Odenigbo. With Hunter on the other side and Pierce in the middle, it should create more opportunities for Wonnum to produce should he ascend to a starting role next season. Even if the Vikings look for an upgrade in free agency or the draft, Wonnum could provide some of the depth Minnesota didn’t have this past season.
WHOEVER IS PLAYING NEXT TO MICHAEL PIERCE
We’re not going to list a player here because there’s a good chance he may not be on the roster at the moment. The current starting defensive tackles are Jaleel Johnson, who grades as PFF’s 131st defensive tackle, and Shamar Stephen, who grades out at 68th. Even if Patterson wants to give a preseason seminar on the importance of Stephen, it’s clear the Vikings need an upgrade at this position even with Pierce’s projected return.
Whoever steps in next to Pierce will be handed a major advantage. At 340 pounds, Pierce is a wide body who can take up multiple defenders as opposed to Stephen, who can probably take up one. With the strength that allowed him to rip off a 725-pound squat at Samford, Pierce also can penetrate in the trenches, which is something the Vikings defensive line hasn’t done much of since getting to the NFC Championship Game in 2017.
Pierce is not the second coming of Vince Wilfork, but he brings something to the Vikings they’ve been sorely missing. During that 2017 season, Pierce graded out as the 11th best interior defender per PFF. The following season, Pierce graded fifth overall and ranked 11th with an 11.3 run stop percentage. Those numbers dropped in 2019, but his overall resume was what enticed the Vikings to give him a 3-year, $27 million contract.
Even if the Vikings decide to stay with Johnson, there’s a chance he could put up better numbers with a behemoth like Pierce next to him. Johnson put up 3.5 sacks in 2019 and may have had a fighting chance to do more if he wasn’t playing next to someone who is known more for being in the right spot than actual production.
More likely, this will be a spot that the Vikings will focus on in free agency or the draft. Adding someone like Leonard Williams is a pipe dream considering the Vikings’ current salary cap situation, but trading up into the second or third round could net Minnesota an intriguing prospect that should be better than what they have.
Zone Coverage: The Run Defense Will Be Better Next Year
Despite the poor showing in 2020, Vikings fans shouldn’t have any cause for concern in 2021.
MATURATION FROM THE CORNERS
The Vikings overhauled their defense this offseason, especially the secondary. The Vikings cut longtime cornerback Xavier Rhodes and let Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander walk.
To make up for these losses to long-time veterans, they spent significant draft capital at the cornerback position, drafting Jeff Gladney in the first round, Cameron Dantzler in the third round and Harrison Hand in the fifth round. Despite the talent of these players, they were going to have an especially rough transition to the NFL with a condensed offseason and no preseason.
Because they had such a young secondary, the Vikings defense played Harrison Smith much deeper and used him more in coverage to help out the rookie corners. Therefore, he couldn’t regularly play at the line of scrimmage where he is most disruptive when playing the run.
Through the course of the season, we have seen major improvement from the Vikings’ young corners. Dantzler was the one of the highest-graded corners in December via PFF after suffering a nasty concussion against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. From Weeks 13-16, he ranked No. 2 out of all cornerbacks in football. Not just rookies; all cornerbacks.
Both Gladney and Danzler have a full offseason to mature and improve their game further, allowing Smith to play his more natural role closer to the line of scrimmage.
RETURN FROM INJURY
Anyone who follows this team will know that the defense suffered key injuries to high-level contributing veterans who were supposed to make the younger players’ transition to the NFL much easier.
Training camp started poorly for the Vikings when they lost two-time Pro-Bowler Danielle Hunter for the season. What the team believed to be a “tweak” turned out to be a herniated disc in his neck. With Hunter gone for the season, the Vikings didn’t just lose an explosive pass rusher, they also lost a player who out graded at 76.8 last season vs. the run. Instead of Hunter, the Vikings have relied on Ifeadi Odenigbo and Jalyn Holmes to fill his role, both of whom have graded out as 51.8 and 56.4, respectively, vs. the run.
Then they lost Anthony Barr for the season after he tore his pectoral muscle in their Week 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts. His injury left a hole in the defense. Despite the amount of criticism he gets, Barr plays an integral role in the Vikings’ defense as the player with the “green dot” who receives and conveys Zimmer’s play calls.
The injury to Barr forced Eric Wilson to take his place. Before this year Wilson was used as a coverage linebacker. While he has impressed with his three interceptions and forced fumble on a defense that has struggled to take the ball away, Wilson has proved to be somewhat of a liability when facing the run. Wilson has missed 18 tackles this season and has posted a run defense grade of 37.3, a significant drop-off from Barr’s 62.8 grade vs. the run last season.
They also lost the heart of their defense in the most Vikings way possible. Middle linebacker Eric Kendricks injured his calf in warmups before the Jacksonville Jaguars game. It was the most important loss the defense suffered: Kendricks led the team in tackles and was one of their best coverage linebackers. He was always around the ball in the middle of the action, and his loss forced the Vikings to rely on rookie fourth-round pick Troy Dye and veteran pickup Todd David to fill his role.
Despite their best effort, Davis and Dye were both below-average filling in for Kendricks. They both suffered injuries against the Chicago Bears, forcing the Vikings to start rookie UDFA Blake Lynch and fourth-year UDFA Hardy Nickerson Jr. against the Saints. Both Nickerson and Lynch had a rough outing against Kamara, often allowing him to reach the second level.
THE FREE-AGENT PICKUP
Before this year the Vikings were very successful defending the run, in large part due to one very large man. Standing at 6’4” and weighing 329 pounds, Linval Joseph was one of the first free-agent signings Zimmer made, bringing the nose tackle to Minnesota to stop the run. In football, you often hear the cliche of a player’s impact going beyond the box score. Joseph was a prime example of this. While there would be games where he wouldn’t record a single tackle, he would eat up the blocks ahead of him, not allowing the guards and center to get to the second level and allowing Kendricks and Barr to run free into the hole.
Due to his advanced age and diminishing production level, coupled with his contract which had a majority of non-guaranteed money, the Vikings made the difficult decision to part ways with Joseph.
They brought in Michael Pierce, a 345-pound nose tackle from the Baltimore Ravens, to fill the void, signing him to a 3-year, $27 million deal. Things didn’t work out according to plan, though. Pierce decided to opt-out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19, and this, coupled with Hunter being out for the season, forced the Vikings to put together a makeshift line that consisted of a bunch of younger players or rotational pieces who got a significant amount of run as starters.
Next year we should see growth in the young players who were forced into action this season. Along with the healthy return of key veterans and last season’s big acquisition, they will hopefully form a defense that is much more sound when facing the run.
MATURATION FROM THE CORNERS
The Vikings overhauled their defense this offseason, especially the secondary. The Vikings cut longtime cornerback Xavier Rhodes and let Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander walk.
To make up for these losses to long-time veterans, they spent significant draft capital at the cornerback position, drafting Jeff Gladney in the first round, Cameron Dantzler in the third round and Harrison Hand in the fifth round. Despite the talent of these players, they were going to have an especially rough transition to the NFL with a condensed offseason and no preseason.
Because they had such a young secondary, the Vikings defense played Harrison Smith much deeper and used him more in coverage to help out the rookie corners. Therefore, he couldn’t regularly play at the line of scrimmage where he is most disruptive when playing the run.
Through the course of the season, we have seen major improvement from the Vikings’ young corners. Dantzler was the one of the highest-graded corners in December via PFF after suffering a nasty concussion against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. From Weeks 13-16, he ranked No. 2 out of all cornerbacks in football. Not just rookies; all cornerbacks.
Both Gladney and Danzler have a full offseason to mature and improve their game further, allowing Smith to play his more natural role closer to the line of scrimmage.
RETURN FROM INJURY
Anyone who follows this team will know that the defense suffered key injuries to high-level contributing veterans who were supposed to make the younger players’ transition to the NFL much easier.
Training camp started poorly for the Vikings when they lost two-time Pro-Bowler Danielle Hunter for the season. What the team believed to be a “tweak” turned out to be a herniated disc in his neck. With Hunter gone for the season, the Vikings didn’t just lose an explosive pass rusher, they also lost a player who out graded at 76.8 last season vs. the run. Instead of Hunter, the Vikings have relied on Ifeadi Odenigbo and Jalyn Holmes to fill his role, both of whom have graded out as 51.8 and 56.4, respectively, vs. the run.
Then they lost Anthony Barr for the season after he tore his pectoral muscle in their Week 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts. His injury left a hole in the defense. Despite the amount of criticism he gets, Barr plays an integral role in the Vikings’ defense as the player with the “green dot” who receives and conveys Zimmer’s play calls.
The injury to Barr forced Eric Wilson to take his place. Before this year Wilson was used as a coverage linebacker. While he has impressed with his three interceptions and forced fumble on a defense that has struggled to take the ball away, Wilson has proved to be somewhat of a liability when facing the run. Wilson has missed 18 tackles this season and has posted a run defense grade of 37.3, a significant drop-off from Barr’s 62.8 grade vs. the run last season.
They also lost the heart of their defense in the most Vikings way possible. Middle linebacker Eric Kendricks injured his calf in warmups before the Jacksonville Jaguars game. It was the most important loss the defense suffered: Kendricks led the team in tackles and was one of their best coverage linebackers. He was always around the ball in the middle of the action, and his loss forced the Vikings to rely on rookie fourth-round pick Troy Dye and veteran pickup Todd David to fill his role.
Despite their best effort, Davis and Dye were both below-average filling in for Kendricks. They both suffered injuries against the Chicago Bears, forcing the Vikings to start rookie UDFA Blake Lynch and fourth-year UDFA Hardy Nickerson Jr. against the Saints. Both Nickerson and Lynch had a rough outing against Kamara, often allowing him to reach the second level.
THE FREE-AGENT PICKUP
Before this year the Vikings were very successful defending the run, in large part due to one very large man. Standing at 6’4” and weighing 329 pounds, Linval Joseph was one of the first free-agent signings Zimmer made, bringing the nose tackle to Minnesota to stop the run. In football, you often hear the cliche of a player’s impact going beyond the box score. Joseph was a prime example of this. While there would be games where he wouldn’t record a single tackle, he would eat up the blocks ahead of him, not allowing the guards and center to get to the second level and allowing Kendricks and Barr to run free into the hole.
Due to his advanced age and diminishing production level, coupled with his contract which had a majority of non-guaranteed money, the Vikings made the difficult decision to part ways with Joseph.
They brought in Michael Pierce, a 345-pound nose tackle from the Baltimore Ravens, to fill the void, signing him to a 3-year, $27 million deal. Things didn’t work out according to plan, though. Pierce decided to opt-out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19, and this, coupled with Hunter being out for the season, forced the Vikings to put together a makeshift line that consisted of a bunch of younger players or rotational pieces who got a significant amount of run as starters.
Next year we should see growth in the young players who were forced into action this season. Along with the healthy return of key veterans and last season’s big acquisition, they will hopefully form a defense that is much more sound when facing the run.
Purple Insider:
‘I probably miscalculated’
One of the themes of the 2020 Vikings was that the team made moves that suggested they weren’t in a “retooling” season despite a massive overhaul on the defensive side that saw Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander exit in the previous offseason.
The team believed that they had players in place that could fill those spots but that turned out to be a tough task, especially with the addition of injuries. The Vikings’ defense ended up finishing the season 29th in points allowed and 27th in yards allowed.
Zimmer admitted in his final press conference of the year that they underestimated how quickly they could bounce back from losing that many veterans.
“I do think if you said, 'OK, well, Kendricks, Barr, Hunter and Pierce are coming back,' I think that's going to improve us automatically, but again, I probably miscalculated some things going into the season when we lost all the guys that we lost the year before.”
The Vikings relied heavily on players they drafted in previous years to handle the biggest roles of their careers and they did not receive similar results to past draft picks and developmental players that moved into starting roles when older players exited (i.e. Danielle Hunter taking over for Brian Robison, Eric Kendricks for Chad Greenway or Anthony Harris for Andrew Sendejo).
Here’s the list of players who had at least one year of development before taking on roles with at least 250 snaps:
Ifeadi Odenigbo: 3.5 sacks, 60.7 PFF grade (41st of 62 starting DE)
Jaleel Johnson: 1.5 sacks, 35.3 grade (71st of 71 starting DT)
Jalyn Holmes: 0.0 sacks, 52.7 grade (109th of 124 DT with min 20% of snaps)
Armon Watts: 0.0 sacks, 60.7 grade (79th of 139 with min 20% of snap)
Holton Hill: 101.9 QB rating allowed, 42.6 grade (123rd of 136 with min 20% of snap)
Kris Boyd: 121.3 rating allowed, 55.8 grade (84th of 136)
Hercules Mata’afa: 2.5 sacks, 64.3 grade (61st of 124 with min 20% of snap)
*Mike Hughes was injured and only played 173 snaps
Zimmer did not shy away from the area in which his team needs to improve the most: Pass rush.
PFF graded the Vikings as the NFL’s worst pass rushing team this year.
“A priority for me is that we continue to get more pass rushers,” Zimmer said. “I've always said since the day I walked in here that you've got to have people that can cover and you've got to have people that can rush, and like we've done in the past, we've had Brian Robison line up in there and rush the passer, Stephen Weatherly or a whole bunch of different guys that can do different things.”
On the matter of Danielle Hunter’s status, Zimmer was vague.
“He's doing well,” Zimmer said. “He's on track wherever he's supposed to be. I know he thinks he's going to be able to come back and be better than he was before.”
NFL Network reported earlier this season that Hunter wants a new contract or to be traded. He’s made no public statements since undergoing surgery and was not made available in end-of-year Zoom conferences.
One of the themes of the 2020 Vikings was that the team made moves that suggested they weren’t in a “retooling” season despite a massive overhaul on the defensive side that saw Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander exit in the previous offseason.
The team believed that they had players in place that could fill those spots but that turned out to be a tough task, especially with the addition of injuries. The Vikings’ defense ended up finishing the season 29th in points allowed and 27th in yards allowed.
Zimmer admitted in his final press conference of the year that they underestimated how quickly they could bounce back from losing that many veterans.
“I do think if you said, 'OK, well, Kendricks, Barr, Hunter and Pierce are coming back,' I think that's going to improve us automatically, but again, I probably miscalculated some things going into the season when we lost all the guys that we lost the year before.”
The Vikings relied heavily on players they drafted in previous years to handle the biggest roles of their careers and they did not receive similar results to past draft picks and developmental players that moved into starting roles when older players exited (i.e. Danielle Hunter taking over for Brian Robison, Eric Kendricks for Chad Greenway or Anthony Harris for Andrew Sendejo).
Here’s the list of players who had at least one year of development before taking on roles with at least 250 snaps:
Ifeadi Odenigbo: 3.5 sacks, 60.7 PFF grade (41st of 62 starting DE)
Jaleel Johnson: 1.5 sacks, 35.3 grade (71st of 71 starting DT)
Jalyn Holmes: 0.0 sacks, 52.7 grade (109th of 124 DT with min 20% of snaps)
Armon Watts: 0.0 sacks, 60.7 grade (79th of 139 with min 20% of snap)
Holton Hill: 101.9 QB rating allowed, 42.6 grade (123rd of 136 with min 20% of snap)
Kris Boyd: 121.3 rating allowed, 55.8 grade (84th of 136)
Hercules Mata’afa: 2.5 sacks, 64.3 grade (61st of 124 with min 20% of snap)
*Mike Hughes was injured and only played 173 snaps
Zimmer did not shy away from the area in which his team needs to improve the most: Pass rush.
PFF graded the Vikings as the NFL’s worst pass rushing team this year.
“A priority for me is that we continue to get more pass rushers,” Zimmer said. “I've always said since the day I walked in here that you've got to have people that can cover and you've got to have people that can rush, and like we've done in the past, we've had Brian Robison line up in there and rush the passer, Stephen Weatherly or a whole bunch of different guys that can do different things.”
On the matter of Danielle Hunter’s status, Zimmer was vague.
“He's doing well,” Zimmer said. “He's on track wherever he's supposed to be. I know he thinks he's going to be able to come back and be better than he was before.”
NFL Network reported earlier this season that Hunter wants a new contract or to be traded. He’s made no public statements since undergoing surgery and was not made available in end-of-year Zoom conferences.
The corners
Among the Vikings’ most valuable merchandise moving forward is their two rookie cornerbacks Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler.
This year was filled with ups and downs for both. Gladney played more snaps than any other rookie corner in the NFL and graded 11th of 18 regular rookie corners this year. Dantzler finished with the second highest grade but was injured three different times.
Zimmer said that their experience from this season will help them be prepared for major roles next season.
“On Dantzler and Gladney, I think they got invaluable experience. I think it’s only going to help them,” Zimmer said. “They do have a lot of work to do in the offseason with the strength and size factors they need to get better at. They both have a chance to be very, very good players. I like them both. Dantzler, obviously, was hurt too much, so he’s got to get stronger, he’s got to continue to get more body weight. Gladney was able to play throughout the whole course of the year and he needs to take a little break and then get back with it.”
He continued: “These guys have a chance to be good players and I don’t think they would be as far along next year if they didn’t play all the plays that they played this past season. I think it’ll be really good for them in the long run.”
The Vikings may strongly consider adding an experienced player or two at the position considering uncertainty with Mike Hughes’s future. Developing young players Kris Boyd and Harrison Hand are likely billed for special teams roles next season.
Hope for a normal offseason
There’s no telling how the NFL will handle its offseason with COVID likely to still be an issue by the time May and June come around. Zimmer is hopeful that he can have OTAs and minicamp, in part because it helps the coaching staff figure out what certain players can handle.
“Now if we can get the guys back that we had injured this year, we continue to look at things with how people are trying to affect us defensively, come up with some ideas,” Zimmer said. “One of the things I liked to do in the spring and in OTAs – and hopefully we have them – is experiment with different players and different positions, experiment with different alignments, different schemes, things like that that I think about. Obviously we weren’t able to do that this year because we didn’t have any. So hopefully we have some OTAs and I can continue to experiment.”
Among the Vikings’ most valuable merchandise moving forward is their two rookie cornerbacks Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler.
This year was filled with ups and downs for both. Gladney played more snaps than any other rookie corner in the NFL and graded 11th of 18 regular rookie corners this year. Dantzler finished with the second highest grade but was injured three different times.
Zimmer said that their experience from this season will help them be prepared for major roles next season.
“On Dantzler and Gladney, I think they got invaluable experience. I think it’s only going to help them,” Zimmer said. “They do have a lot of work to do in the offseason with the strength and size factors they need to get better at. They both have a chance to be very, very good players. I like them both. Dantzler, obviously, was hurt too much, so he’s got to get stronger, he’s got to continue to get more body weight. Gladney was able to play throughout the whole course of the year and he needs to take a little break and then get back with it.”
He continued: “These guys have a chance to be good players and I don’t think they would be as far along next year if they didn’t play all the plays that they played this past season. I think it’ll be really good for them in the long run.”
The Vikings may strongly consider adding an experienced player or two at the position considering uncertainty with Mike Hughes’s future. Developing young players Kris Boyd and Harrison Hand are likely billed for special teams roles next season.
Hope for a normal offseason
There’s no telling how the NFL will handle its offseason with COVID likely to still be an issue by the time May and June come around. Zimmer is hopeful that he can have OTAs and minicamp, in part because it helps the coaching staff figure out what certain players can handle.
“Now if we can get the guys back that we had injured this year, we continue to look at things with how people are trying to affect us defensively, come up with some ideas,” Zimmer said. “One of the things I liked to do in the spring and in OTAs – and hopefully we have them – is experiment with different players and different positions, experiment with different alignments, different schemes, things like that that I think about. Obviously we weren’t able to do that this year because we didn’t have any. So hopefully we have some OTAs and I can continue to experiment.”
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A lot of moving parts here. But what do the Vikings need to do on defense to get back to playing winning football in 2021 and beyond?