[OC] 2022 Defensive Alignment Bingo
This really didn’t start out as a formation bingo. All I really wanted to know was: when the Vikings go to a nickel package, who would be the 1st player on the field? Would it be a 3rd cornerback or a 3rd safety? With the implication being, how much to we have to rely on players with limited track record?
But then, with statements suggesting the Vikings will play 3 safeties at a time, I was trying to sketch out as many possible formations as I could think of just to get a sense of who might play. Here’s a bunch of them:
As I was drawing these out I was trying to keep track of who was playing. Since 3-4 OLB and even front ends could be the same people designated the Daniele Hunter & Za’Darius Smith (+ rotation depth) as Stars, rather than split out DEs
What I thought of each bingo square
Base 3-4: Counting the square icons in the chart, this is the only one with 3 DL. I’m on record as liking Armon Watts, but if the DL depth is Tomlinson 1, Harrison Phillips 2, Watts 3, then Watts doesn’t show up that much. As much as I like Watts, I kind of like this because that means we have 3 guys to play 1-3 spots, so the defense isn’t too reliant on unexpected contributions from Jalen Twyman, James Lynch or Esezi Otomewo.
Nickel: The huge question to me is who is the nickel corner: one Booth Jr / Dantzler or Chandon Sullivan? I get it, nickel is a different skillset, but I don’t really like putting a worse player on the field. So I’ll put Booth Jr in.
Nickel Safety: The whole reason I was thinking about this: who comes on first: a 3rd corner or a 3rd safety. As I was looking for this, I saw this on r/minnesotavikings (it said from Vikings Insider, but I couldn’t find the tweet)
Very interesting, that’s Cine lined up at approximately the RLB spot with Bynum and Smith at Safties, Hunter and Za’Darius are in at DE, #3 Dantzler and Patrick Peterson in the visor and Kendricks wins style hands down with a wide brimmed hat. So Cine on the field suggests this nickle with a Safety might be more common than 3 CBs. This pic also raised another question – the left LB has a rounded number looks like a 3 or 8 – that could be Hicks (#58), Lynch (48) or Asamoah (33); given the skin tone and hair length, this looks like Asamoah on the field with the 1’s.
4-1-6 with a Safety vs. a Corner – I like what amounts to a dime defense with an extra safety way more than 4 corners. That puts all the high upside talent on the field with the vets: Paterson, Dantzler, Booth + Harrision Smith, Bynum, Cine. Why mess that up by taking one of them off for Chandon Sullivan or whoever.
33 – 3 DL, 3 LB, 3 S – I didn’t like this at all until I saw the image with Asamoah on the field. At first this was just a way to put a 3rd LB on the chart, but now that I think about it, that’s 4 guys with a reputation for being able to run and hit: Kendricks, Asamoah, Harrison Smith, Cine. This still isn’t my favorite, but it these guys could cover a lot of space. I just don’t know what offensive formation they would play this against.
3-3-5 with and without a safety playing the 3rd LB spot - I guess these could work in long to go situations, the point would probably be to send a blitzer; however at some point I feel like there’s enough speed to cover the secondary, so why not just go with the 4-1-6 and with a D-line of 4 out of Hunter / Za’Darius / Wonnum / Jones II / Robinson / Twyman (just to get his name in this post) for pressure?
Quarter with 3 Safties – Yeah, this is only probably for 3rd and really long, but that's a situation the Vikings screwed up in 2021. And I actually like this one quite a bit because of an interesting stat :
Which Vikings DT generated QB pressure on the highest % of their snaps played in 2021? Answer momentarily:
I also like Cine or Bynum on the field much more than a 5th corner. In this lineup 3 DL would be blocked by 5 O-Line, obviously they can double team Hunter and Za’Daruis, so run out the best inside pressure guy you have for a 1:1 with the worst pass blocking o-lineman on the other team. At the start of this, which DT was it I was sad about not being on the field that much? Armon Watts. And here he is, he can play in this formation:
So there you have it... the Vikings might consider playing with 3 safeties before 3 corners.
But then, with statements suggesting the Vikings will play 3 safeties at a time, I was trying to sketch out as many possible formations as I could think of just to get a sense of who might play. Here’s a bunch of them:
As I was drawing these out I was trying to keep track of who was playing. Since 3-4 OLB and even front ends could be the same people designated the Daniele Hunter & Za’Darius Smith (+ rotation depth) as Stars, rather than split out DEs
What I thought of each bingo square
Base 3-4: Counting the square icons in the chart, this is the only one with 3 DL. I’m on record as liking Armon Watts, but if the DL depth is Tomlinson 1, Harrison Phillips 2, Watts 3, then Watts doesn’t show up that much. As much as I like Watts, I kind of like this because that means we have 3 guys to play 1-3 spots, so the defense isn’t too reliant on unexpected contributions from Jalen Twyman, James Lynch or Esezi Otomewo.
Nickel: The huge question to me is who is the nickel corner: one Booth Jr / Dantzler or Chandon Sullivan? I get it, nickel is a different skillset, but I don’t really like putting a worse player on the field. So I’ll put Booth Jr in.
Nickel Safety: The whole reason I was thinking about this: who comes on first: a 3rd corner or a 3rd safety. As I was looking for this, I saw this on r/minnesotavikings (it said from Vikings Insider, but I couldn’t find the tweet)
Very interesting, that’s Cine lined up at approximately the RLB spot with Bynum and Smith at Safties, Hunter and Za’Darius are in at DE, #3 Dantzler and Patrick Peterson in the visor and Kendricks wins style hands down with a wide brimmed hat. So Cine on the field suggests this nickle with a Safety might be more common than 3 CBs. This pic also raised another question – the left LB has a rounded number looks like a 3 or 8 – that could be Hicks (#58), Lynch (48) or Asamoah (33); given the skin tone and hair length, this looks like Asamoah on the field with the 1’s.
4-1-6 with a Safety vs. a Corner – I like what amounts to a dime defense with an extra safety way more than 4 corners. That puts all the high upside talent on the field with the vets: Paterson, Dantzler, Booth + Harrision Smith, Bynum, Cine. Why mess that up by taking one of them off for Chandon Sullivan or whoever.
33 – 3 DL, 3 LB, 3 S – I didn’t like this at all until I saw the image with Asamoah on the field. At first this was just a way to put a 3rd LB on the chart, but now that I think about it, that’s 4 guys with a reputation for being able to run and hit: Kendricks, Asamoah, Harrison Smith, Cine. This still isn’t my favorite, but it these guys could cover a lot of space. I just don’t know what offensive formation they would play this against.
3-3-5 with and without a safety playing the 3rd LB spot - I guess these could work in long to go situations, the point would probably be to send a blitzer; however at some point I feel like there’s enough speed to cover the secondary, so why not just go with the 4-1-6 and with a D-line of 4 out of Hunter / Za’Darius / Wonnum / Jones II / Robinson / Twyman (just to get his name in this post) for pressure?
Quarter with 3 Safties – Yeah, this is only probably for 3rd and really long, but that's a situation the Vikings screwed up in 2021. And I actually like this one quite a bit because of an interesting stat :
Which Vikings DT generated QB pressure on the highest % of their snaps played in 2021? Answer momentarily:
I also like Cine or Bynum on the field much more than a 5th corner. In this lineup 3 DL would be blocked by 5 O-Line, obviously they can double team Hunter and Za’Daruis, so run out the best inside pressure guy you have for a 1:1 with the worst pass blocking o-lineman on the other team. At the start of this, which DT was it I was sad about not being on the field that much? Armon Watts. And here he is, he can play in this formation:
So there you have it... the Vikings might consider playing with 3 safeties before 3 corners.
