Category: Vikings

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Wrapping up NFL free agency for 2024

2024 NFL free agency is just about in the books, so it’s time for Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar to analyze the biggest transactions in the second wave.

Now that most of NFL free agency for the 2024 league year is in the bag — though there are a few helpful players still on the open market — it’s time for Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, to recap the biggest and most important moves in the second wave of this free agency phase. Greg and Doug covered the first day of free agency last week in the Xs and Os; here’s the conclusion.

Among the discussion points:

  • What does Brian Burns bring to a Giants defensive line that already has Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence?
  • Can Justin Fields become the best version of himself in the Steelers’ offense?
  • Conversely, can Kenny Pickett turn his career around with the Eagles?
  • How can Calvin Ridley use his true X-Iso skill set to ramp up the Titans’ offense?
  • Can the Texans’ addition of Danielle Hunter, along with Will Anderson Jr. and Denico Autry, make Houston’s defensive line a Super Bowl-level group?
  • What can Hollywood Brown do for the Chiefs?
  • Tyron Smith is a future Hall of Famer, but what will he be able to do for the Jets’ offensive line in the short term?
  • Chase Young has been an inconsistent pass-rusher throughout his NFL career; can he turn it around with the Saints?
  • The Lions made important additions to their defensive line and their secondary; can all that put them over the top?
  • The Falcons already have a ton of weapons for new quarterback Kirk Cousins. How will the addition of receiver Rondale Moore affect what looks like one of like the NFL’s most explosive offenses (in theory, at least)?

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel add serious spice to Brian Flores’ Vikings blitzes

Brian Flores’ blitz-happy Vikings defense got two major pieces for the future in edge-rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel.

If there’s one thing you know about Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, it’s that he’s going to bring more defenders after the quarterback than just about anybody else in the league. Last season, the Vikings ranked first in the NFL with a blitz rate of 51.5%, though their pressure rate of 21.9% was far more middle of the pack.

So, while it’s highly likely that star edge-rusher Danielle Hunter will be on the move in free agency, the Vikings reinforced their edges with two highly interesting pass-rushers. Minnesota agreed to terms with former Texans defender Jonathan Greenard, and also with former Dolphins defender Andrew Van Ginkel. Van Ginkel was selected by the Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2019 draft out of Wisconsin, and as Flores was Miami’s head coach from 2019-2021, there’s some familiarity there.

Greenard played in a Houston Texans defense in which blitzing was hardly the order of the day — Houston blitzed on just 21% of their snaps last season — but when Greenard was involved in some sort of extra pressure, he was able to make the most of it.

As for Van Ginkel, who also had 53 pressures last season, a full 32 came on some kind of blitz, and he was more than happy to be an Agent of Chaos when that happened.

So, while he may lose Hunter in free agency, Flores has two new pieces to his ornate defense who can really get things done.

Kirk Cousins’ deal with the Falcons could upset the NFC’s balance of power

Kirk Cousins’ four-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons upsets the balance of power in the NFC South — and perhaps the entire NFC.

In the end, the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons were in a bidding war for the services of quarterback Kirk Cousins, and in the end, the Falcons won out. Per multiple reports, Cousins has agreed to terms on a four-year contract, and this puts the Falcons in an entirely new stratosphere.

The numbers are about what you’d expect.

Last season, under head coach Arthur Smith, the Falcons finished 7-10 with quarterbacks Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinicke, and Logan Woodside. Those quarterbacks combined for 17 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and the tape was just as average as the numbers would indicate. Last season, before suffering a torn Achilles tendon in Week 8 against the Green Bay Packers, Cousins completed 69.5% of his passes for 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. He had done some of his best work with Vikings head coach and offensive shot-caller Kevin O’Connell; he’ll now try to get on the same page with Falcons OC Zac Robinson, who has a strong background in Sean McVay’s offense. Cousins also has a strong background in that kind of offense throughout his career.

Cousins will also have some estimable targets to throw to — while the Falcons have been in quarterback purgatory since Matt Ryan’s decline, they’ve added a lot of first-round talent at the skill positions with Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Bijan Robinson. That all of a sudden takes Atlanta’s offense from Extremely Mid to potentially top-tier, which is a very big deal.

Vikings agree to terms with former Texans pass-rusher Jonathan Greenard

The Vikings added a major player in their pass rush by agreeing to terms with former Texans quarterback disruptor Jonathan Greenard.

One of the more underrated pass-rushers in the 2023 NFL season will receive a contract from a new team that is commensurate with his abilities. Jonathan Greenard, selected by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2020 draft, has agreed to terms with the Minnesota Vikings on a new deal that will give him $76 million total and $42 million over the next four seasons.

Greenard was one of the league’s most effective pressure providers last season — his 14 sacks tied him with Aidan Hutchinson of the Detroit Lions for sixth in the league, and he had 53 total pressures in just 440 pass-rushing snaps. Add in his 37 stops and two forced fumbles, and it’s become clear that for the Houston Texans last season, Greenard was one of the best at his position. Greenard had flashes of greatness earlier in his career, but 2023 was when it really came together, and he’ll be 27 years old in May.

Whether this means that the Vikings are letting Danielle Hunter walk in free agency is a matter we’ll see resolved sooner than later.

Kirk Cousins’ best landing spot is to stay put in Minnesota

With free agency looming and plenty of quarterback-needy teams ready to pay out, Kirk Cousins’ best option is to stay at home.

It has to be tempting for any potential starter in a quarterback-desperate league to try and test the market and take home what amounts to multiple bank heists in free agency. Should Kirk Cousins decide to test out free agency there is little doubt that there will be plenty of suitors willing to come in and make him their starting quarterback for the 2024 season and perhaps beyond. The big question is, is that the right move for Cousins beyond his bank account?

No one can blame a player for ultimately picking the team that offers them the most money of course, but at an age where Cousins is likely entering his twilight, his career reflection may be the most important thing for him moving forward. Cousins has plenty of years of production and has had seasons that saw him produce like a top ten quarterback in this league. Last season for Minnesota Cousins was well on his way to having his most productive season yet, and before being injured was a front runner in the MVP race with 18 passing touchdowns and 2,331 yards in just eight games.

Cousins is a clear and established leader within a locker room full of younger talent that includes two young superstar receivers in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Cousins also has an excellent connection and feel with his offensive guru head coach Kevin O’Connell. These things are a bit understated when it comes to being an older quarterback in the league that is looking for success. Going to another team and attempting to spark those same connections within an entirely different culture isn’t easy.

With the Vikings set up to support a Cousins lead offense, and with Cousins coming off a career best hot start, it makes the most sense for both parties to find the reasonable number to allow him to stay home and cement himself as one of the two best quarterbacks in Minnesota Vikings history.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: End-of-season quarterback decisions lead to surprising picks

How many NFL teams will stick with their current quarterbacks? A high number could make for an interesting first round of the 2024 draft.

Now that the 2023 NFL regular season is over, every team turns its attention to the draft — even those teams that are part of the postseason. Area scouts will start to move to the home facility to interact with scouting directors and general managers, and with the scouting combine less than two months away, it’s time to start putting your big boards together.

This applies especially to those teams with crucial quarterback decisions to make. For the purposes of this mock draft, we’ll assume that the Chicago Bears are sticking with Justin Fields, the Arizona Cardinals are committed to Kyler Murray, the Tennessee Titans think they have a future franchise quarterback in Will Levis, and the New York Jets think that eventually, Aaron Rodgers will stop shooting his mouth off long enough to play quarterback in 2024.

Conversely, the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Atlanta Falcons will avail themselves of the best draftable quarterbacks possible in the interest of turning things around.

So, four quarterbacks go in the first round here, with more teams looking to build around the guys they’ve already got. That makes for one notable omission (Oregon’s Bo Nix), and a whole bunch of talented prospects at other positions pushing themselves up the boards.

Jordan Love might lead the Packers to the promised land sooner than you think

Packers quarterback Jordan Love has been as good as any QB in the second half of the season. Here’s one play that proves it.

If the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday, quarterback Jordan Love will have done something that Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, his predecessors at his position, were unable to do — lead his team to the postseason in his first full year as a starter. The 1992 Packers just missed the boat at 9-7, and the 2008 Packers were 6-10. The 2023 Packers, who currently stand at 8-8, are on the precipice, and they’re on the precipice with a young group of receivers who are still figuring it out for the most part.

One thing we know — in the second half of the 2023 season, Love has been as good as any quarterback in the league. Since Week 9, Love has completed 210 of 313 passes (67.1%) for 2,350 yards (7.5 YPA), 19 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 105.5. Love has also completed 22 of 44 passes of 20 or more air yards for 665 yards, seven touchdowns, one interceptions, and a passer rating of 125.9. So, he’s not only one of the league’s best passers overall; he’s also one of the best aggressive passers, and that can take you a long way if you get into the tournament. 

Let’s get into one play in the Packers’ 33-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday night. Love completed 24 of 33 passes for 256 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 125.3, and he did that against a Vikings defense under Brian Flores who will throw the entire kitchen at you schematically — they just start with the sink, and move on from there. Love’s first touchdown pass, a 33-yarder to rookie receiver Jayden Reed, showed how well Love can deal in the face of just about anything right now.

With 5:15 left in the first quarter, the Packers went four verts on second-and-10 from the Minnesota 33-yard line. Minnesota showed a single-high safety look pre-snap,  but as the Vikings have played the NFL’s highest rates of Cover-0 (11.5%) and Cover-2 (27.5%), Love probably had a pretty good feeling that the middle of the field would be open eventually. It was, but as is often the case with Flores’ defenses, it was in ways you might not expect. The Vikings went with inverted Cover-2 to the boundary with cornerback Mekhi Blackmon dropping to two-deep, and linebacker Jordan Hicks as the middle hole defender.

Love also had to deal with pressure here, as defensive tackle Harrison Phillips pushed center Josh Myers into the pocket. Love made a little hop out of the pressure, righted his body, and made the throw with ideal accuracy and velocity.

“Yeah, they kind of disguised it, went to a cover-two-ish coverage and we had four verts on, and I knew I was going to have J-Reed right there,” Love said after the game. “Kind of didn’t see him at first where he was at, and then he came into my vision, so just let it out there, let him go get it. It was an awesome play.”

Postgame, head coach Matt LaFleur couldn’t wait to talk about his quarterback.

“I can’t say enough great things about him. Just his ability to hang in there versus some tough looks, drifting away from pressure, putting the ball in play, allowing his guys to go make plays. I think he is playing at an incredibly high level. I’m super happy for him because he’s put in a ton of work to get to this point, and I really think the sky’s the limit for him. I think he’s just showing a glimpse of what he can ultimately be, and he’s been more consistent as the season has progressed with a young group around him.”

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into how much Love has progressed as a passer this season.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens had an unprecedented reaction after a sack

Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens reacted to a second-quarter Lions sack in a way I’ve never seen before.

Nick Mullens is the Minnesota Vikings’ fourth quarterback this season, following Kirk Cousins, Joshua Dobbs, and Jaren Hall. He’s been up and down during Minnesota’s Sunday game against the Detroit Lions, with big plays for both teams, but I found this reaction to a sack from Detroit safety Ifeatu Melifonwu late in the second quarter… because I have never seen a quarterback do this before. Melifonwu got home free on an overload blitz, sacked Mullens, and then Mullens… bowed to his opponent.

No, really.

Because I’m a nerd, I went back and watched all of Mullen’s sacks this season, and he’s never done THAT before. Perhaps Mullens was binging “Karate Kid” movies this week, but I’m not sure that’s acceptable behavior in that particular dojo.

Nick Mullens touchdown passes push Vikings ahead of Lions

The Vikings are giving the Lions a tough time in Minnesota

The Minnesota Vikings are doing their best to make sure the Detroit Lions do not clinch the NFC North on Christmas Eve.

Nick Mullens threw a pair of TD passes bridging the second and third quarters to give the Vikings a 21-17 lead.

The Vikings will have to win the game without T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison, both of whom are ruled out.

Vikings CB NaJee Thompson arrives in wolf costume

NaJee Thompson of Vikings must think it is about to be a howl-iday

Minnesota Vikings cornerback NaJee Thompson was ready for action on Sunday when the Minnesota Vikings faced the Detroit Lions in a key NFC North matchup.

He was ready to howl against the roar of the Lions.

That had to be the case as Thompson arrived for the game in a full wolf costume.