As we look at the state of the Minnesota Vikings inside linebackers, the roster isn’t flush with talent, but rather major question marks.
The 2023 season is inching closer and closer by the day and we here at Vikings Wire are previewing the season from every angle. Today, we continue profiling the Minnesota Vikings roster on the defensive side of the football.
We are currently writing player profiles on each Viking on the roster with projections for what their 2023 season could look like. How things look projecting forward is where the real intrigue lies.
Leading up to training camp, we will be looking at each position from a more in-depth perspective. Today, we will be looking at the edge rushers.
The Minnesota Vikings are banking on their 2022 NFL Draft class to make a big impact in 2023.
The Minnesota Vikings spent their 2023 offseason in both free agency and the NFL draft banking on their 2022 draft class making a major impact. The Vikings have all 10 players returning to them for training camp this July.
Will that strategy pay off? The Vikings sure hope so, and they have a lot of talent to make it happen.
On the latest episode of Purple Access, Vikings Wire’s Tyler Forness and Judd Zulgad talk about that and more, including:
Typically, NFL combine pressers are just a bunch of surface-level information, as teams don’t want to reveal too much about their plans for the upcoming offseason. On Tuesday, Adofo-Mensah may have unintentionally revealed one part of his plan.
On Tuesday, Adofo-Mensah was asked linebacker group at the NFL combine, and whether it was intentional or not, he left out Kendricks and Hicks in his response.
“It’s a position, just like every position we look at. We have a lot of confidence in Brian Asamoah, who is also in that room. Troy Dye is a very good player. William Kwenkeu has shown some really good things on special teams. We’re going to take a look, just like we do at every position. But we have decisions to make, just like every other team.”
The statement from Adofo-Mensah is nothing that fans don’t already know, but leaving out Kendricks and Hicks when talking about the linebacker group is noteworthy.
It’s no secret that the Vikings are in dire need of cap space. With many aging veterans taking large cap hits, there are bound to be restructures or cap casualties. A couple of those players could include linebackers Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks.
According to Over The Cap, Kendricks is due $11.4 million this season and can be cut for $9.5 million in cap savings with only $1.93 million in dead cap. Meanwhile, Hicks is due $6.5 million, and cutting him would result in $5 million in cap savings with only $1.5 million in dead cap.
We know that the Vikings are going to need to make some of these tough decisions sooner rather than later. With Adofo-Mensah’s comments, or lack thereof. It seems as if the writing is on the wall for Kendricks and Hicks and that the Vikings might be moving in a different direction.
With their rookie season behind them, @jzulgad examines their performance and what their expectations should be for next season
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah received criticism during his rookie year as an NFL general manager for not getting more from his first draft class.
The Vikings selected 10 players in the seven rounds, but only one, Ed Ingram, turned into a full-time starter and the right guard had plenty of rocky moments.
The good news for Adofo-Mensah is nobody is closing the book on this draft class and all ten of them remain on the roster. This week we are going to look at the nine remaining players, beginning in this column with the top five selections.
How do they fit into the 2023 plans and what should be the expectations for them?
With the Vikings hiring of Brian Flores, @jzulgad identified five defenders who stand to benefit the most
There will be plenty to speculate on this offseason when it comes to what Brian Flores will bring to the Vikings as their new defensive coordinator.
Flores and his predecessor, Ed Donatell, might both run 3-4 defenses, but that’s where the similarities end. Flores loves to send pressure at opposing quarterbacks and provide pre-snap looks that cause confusion. Donatell was expected to do some of those things but it didn’t end up happening.
The Vikings’ defense only sent pressure 18.9 percent of the time this season and ranked 24th in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference. The Giants, who beat the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs, were first at 39.7 percent.
Flores, who was a defensive assistant this past season with the Pittsburgh Steelers after being fired as the Dolphins’ coach, was in charge of a Miami defense that ranked second in the NFL in blitz rate at 39.6 percent in 2021.
That’s only one example of the difference in philosophy that Flores will bring to Minnesota. So what current Vikings stand to benefit the most?
After the Vikings season, we gave out awards to the best of the team
The Minnesota Vikings sadly had their season end in the NFC Wild Card round of the playoffs amid their successful regular season. Even though the season is over, there is still a lot the Vikings’ players can hang their hats on. So here at Vikings Wire, we’re going to hand out awards for them this season, much like the NFL does!
We took a look at all the Vikings rookies in 2022 and give them a grade for their performance.
The Minnesota Vikings had ten draft picks in their 2022 draft class, and they were able to get some meaningful snaps from some of those players.
While it’s unlikely that rookies will come in their first season and make an immediate impact, it’s good to reflect on where the rookie class is after one season.
It’s important to remember that you shouldn’t fully form your opinion until they have at least three seasons under their belt. It’s a real adjustment.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how all the draft picks did this past season.
Pro Football Focus identified the Vikings’ young linebacker as a breakout player in 2023
The Minnesota Vikings’ defense this past season was one of the worst in the NFL. Fans and the media will point to the scheme, former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell or the aging veterans for the reasons they did not succeed.
As the Vikings look forward to next season, they’ll need players on their roster to step up if they hope to improve. On Tuesday, Pro Football Focus called out linebacker Brian Asamoah, who could be a player to breakout next season.
“The Vikings need to get younger and more athletic on defense, and that’s a cue for linebacker Brian Asamoah to take on a bigger role in 2023. The rookie played just 121 snaps this season but flashed playmaking ability during those snaps — he single-handedly created a turnover with a forced fumble and recovery against the Giants in Week 16.”
With Jordan Hicks and Eric Kendricks as potential cap casualties this offseason, it would allow Asamoah to step into either of those roles and make a big impact next season for the Vikings.
The Vikings’ defense will be without one of their fastest players
The Minnesota Vikings’ defense and special teams unit received some bad news as they came out of halftime. Rookie linebacker Brian Asamoah has been ruled out for the remainder of the game with a concussion.
Asamoah suffered the injury on a punt return late in the first half. The team medical staff quickly helped Asamoah off the field and then took him to the medical tent. As the team emerged from the locker room after halftime, the team ruled Asamoah out for the game.
Injury Update: Brian Asamoah is OUT of the game with a concussion.
The Vikings’ defense has struggled this game, especially against New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. Losing Asamoah will hurt them, as he has the speed to keep up with Jones’ scrambling ability. The Vikings’ defense will need to get creative in this second half to help fill the void left by Asamoah.
