Van Ginkel was an impact player for Miami despite having his opportunities dip at times. In 73 career games wearing aqua and orange, the former Wisconsin Badger recorded 250 tackles (31 for a loss), 57 quarterback hits, 21 passes defended, 17 sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumbles recovered and two interceptions.
Speaking during the NFL’s annual meetings, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell shared why they were so aggressive in targeting the edge rusher.
“I think [Brian Flores’] background with him and, obviously, a lot of my offensive coaches and myself on the offensive side have had some trouble playing against Gink over the past few years,” O’Connell said (transcribed by the South Florida Sun Sentinel). “I think, just the versatility of what he means to our team, really, what it means for Flo, their history together. Flo has built something unique, kind of 1-of-1 here in Minnesota, and I’m excited to see him use Gink and kind of where that takes us.”
Flores and Van Ginkel both arrived in Miami in 2019 and worked well together for three seasons before the coach’s firing. The linebacker’s 2020 and 2021 campaigns were some of his best, as he recorded 119 tackles (16 for a loss), 30 quarterback hits, 11 passes defensed, 9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery (a 78-yard scoop and score).
Van Ginkel will likely be lined up all over the front in Flores’ scheme, allowing him to confuse opposing quarterbacks and offensive linemen to get pressure and potentially force some mistakes.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins have replaced him with veteran linebacker Shaq Barrett, who may be a more proven pass-rusher, but he definitely doesn’t have the versatility that Van Ginkel brought.
The Minnesota Vikings have done a great job making over their defense and it will have the Brian Flores stamp of approval.
The Minnesota Vikings gave up 30 points a game during a four-game losing streak to close the season, but that shouldn’t have taken away from what Brian Flores did in his first season coordinating the team’s defense.
The Vikings showed significant improvement in several key categories, moving from 31st to 16th in total defense (56.6 fewer yards per game); 31st to 24th in pass defense (31.1 fewer yards); and 20th to eighth in run defense (24.4 fewer yards). The Vikings cut their points surrendered per game average by 3.8, moving from a tie for 28th to a tie for 13th.
Before that disappointing final stretch, the defense had surrendered only 18.6 points per game and had given up more than 20 points in five of 13 games.
What made this even more impressive was how creative Flores was forced to get with his personnel. It was clear from the first springtime practice during Organized Team Activities that Flores was going to do the most with what he had in trying to fix a unit that had struggled under one-and-done coordinator Ed Donatell.
Safety Josh Metellus, previously a backup and special teams ace, was the biggest beneficiary of Flores’ creativity. Metellus was used in a rover role in OTAs and ended up playing 94 percent of the snaps at 12 different positions.
One of the most interesting things was how much Flores decided not to use defensive linemen. The Vikings’ play a 3-4 scheme so the pass rushers are counted as linebackers. That meant the Vikings played more snaps without a defensive lineman on the field (180) than any team since at least 2006, according to ESPN Stats & Information. There was another 143 snaps played with only one defensive linemen.
The Vikings made three significant, or what they considered to be significant additions, in free agency last offseason. Defensive lineman Dean Lowry and rush end Marcus Davenport both battled injuries and have moved on. Byron Murphy Jr., who played outside corner in base and inside in the nickel, started 14 games before missing the final three because of injury.
Flores had joined the Vikings about a month before free agency opened in 2023. With a full season in Minnesota, and having a bigger voice in personnel calls, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah went to work adding pieces that fit Flores’ vision.
This isn’t to say anyone was glad to see Danielle Hunter depart or that the standout rush end didn’t fit Flores’ scheme. Hunter was coming off a season in which he had 16.5 sacks, but the two-year, $49 million deal he signed with the Houston Texans was more than the Vikings were willing to pay for a player who turns 30 in October.
The Vikings will attempt to replace Hunter, and edge rusher D.J. Wonnum, with free agent additions Jonathan Greenard, 27 in May, and Andrew Van Ginkel. 29 in July. Greenard had a career-high 12.5 sacks last season as he played in a career-high 15 games, and Van Ginkel, who was drafted by the Dolphins when Flores was the coach, had a career-high six sacks in 17 games. He suffered a foot injury in the regular-season finale.
Greenard arrives with injury concerns, but he was attractive to Flores in part because of his success against the run. Van Ginkel was targeted because of Flores’ familiarity with him and also because of his versatility at the linebacker position.
The versatility part is key because of Flores’ desire to create confusion with each snap, but also requires having players who can learn multiple positions.
The Vikings’ other additions on defense who figure to compete for significant playing time include linebacker Blake Cashman (28 in May), cornerback Shaquill Griffin (29 in July), defensive tackle Jerry Tillery (28 in October) and defensive end Jonah Williams (29 in August).
Those four names might not create much excitement among Vikings fans who will continue to focus on the team’s pursuit of a quarterback to replace Kirk Cousins, but it shouldn’t be ignored that Flores’ defense is getting more and more pieces added to it.
Considering the improvement Flores was able to get in 2023 with personnel that didn’t necessarily fit his scheme, the unit should find itself in position to take another significant step in 2024.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast atwww.skornorth.com.
Former Dolphins CB shares what it was like to play for the team’s former HC.
For the first time in his NFL career, former Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard is a free agent and is looking for a new team to spend at least the next year with.
Howard, 30, played eight seasons for the Dolphins, making two All-Pro teams and four Pro Bowls during his time in aqua and orange. He’s also recorded the second-most interceptions in the league since he was drafted in 2016.
The former Baylor Bear did all of that despite playing for three different head coaches – Adam Gase, Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel.
And, while there’s been much said about his attitude and relationships with his players and staff, Howard, who was in Miami for Flores’ entire tenure, recently called him a player’s coach.
“Brian Flores was like that,” Howard said on “The OGs” podcast. “He gets all of the this and that in the media, but he was a player’s coach guy. It was like, he came from the Patriots, so he’s seen greatness from the G.O.A.T. It’s his standard how he holds guys around, our team, the Dolphins at the time, he held everybody to a standard. Me and Flores probably weren’t buddy-buddy, this and that, but I respect him. How he came in there every day. He approached every day the same way. It doesn’t matter who you are, he’s going to chew your ass out if you aren’t doing something right. He isn’t going to dap you out if you’re doing something right. You’re supposed to do that.”
Flores spent the first 15 seasons of his career in professional football working for the New England Patriots under then-head coach Bill Belichick. There’s been a long list of former Patriots coaches who have gone elsewhere and have had their personalities clash with those around them.
This past season, Flores served as the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings and is set to return to the position in 2024. And, this offseason, he recruited one of his former Dolphins, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, to join him in purple and gold. Could Howard’s comments hint at him doing the same in the near future?
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.
16 of Jonathan Greenard's 53 pressures last season came on some sort of blitz or overload, and he has extreme quickness (both laterally and to the pocket) to take advantage. I think Brian Flores will enjoy that. pic.twitter.com/d3ysKDy86n
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.
Andrew Van Ginkel had 32 of his 53 pressures last season out of blitz/overload, and he has a real knack for creating disorder all over the field. Brian Flores is obviously familiar with his modus operandi. pic.twitter.com/OjXg9l7F7k
Minnesota Vikings take NFL Scouting Combine standout in latest NFL Network mock draft
NFL Network’s Lance Zierlein released his post-NFL Scouting Combine mock draft based on what he saw and heard in Indianapolis. There were a few surprising selections in the top ten, but not for Minnesota Vikings fans. Zierlein gave defensive coordinator Flores a new weapon in Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah recently rejected the idea of dealing Justin Jefferson, but if he changes his mind, then this pick could easily become Rome Odunze. For now, we add a pass rusher who tested off the charts at the combine and comes with a winning pedigree.
While the talks of trading Jefferson dissipate, the need for an edge rusher, either opposite or replacing Danielle Hunter, is paramount. Turner put on a show for the scouts and coaches in attendance last week. He turned some heads in Indianapolis as he ran a blazing 4.48 40-yard dash, but Turner wasn’t done there. He also showed off his explosiveness with a 40.5″ vertical and a 10’7″ broad jump.
Dolphins cut top corner Xavien Howard who could be target for Lions
As we get closer and closer to free agency, teams will be making surprising moves. The first “woah” cut of the 2024 calendar year came out of Miami when they parted ways with cornerback Xavien Howard.
The former Baylor Bear is coming off signing a five-year deal with Miami in 2022. The Dolphins however found themselves in a tough cap situation and had to make the move to cut the former Pro Bowler.
Howard is expected to be a top priority for teams in free agency, and the Lions should be at the top of the list.
Brad Holmes and the Lions have the 6th-highest salary cap money6th-highest salary cap money available at this point in the calendar. Howard’s deal he signed last year had an average salary of just over $10 million per year. That sort of deal would and should be a no-brainer for Holmes to attempt to make.
Howard led the league in interceptions in 2020 when he caught ten of them. His ball production has been a character trait of his ever since his college career where he had 10 interceptions in three years, he now has 29 in eight years in the NFL.
Teams expected to be favorited for the top corner include the Philadelphia Eagles, who just hired his former coordinator Vic Fangio, as well as the NFC North rival Vikings. Minnesota should be at the top of the list due to his longtime head coach Brian Flores being the defensive coordinator for the Vikings.
The Lions need more turnovers from the defense in 2024, Howard could provide that. A best-case scenario is of course they sign him but if they get into a bidding war with the Vikings, they may need to go outside their comfort zone to make a case.
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy’s two-round NFL mock draft addresses both offensive and defensive questions for the Minnesota Vikings
With the conclusion of the Super Bowl, all 32 NFL teams have shifted their focus to the off-season and, more importantly, the 2024 NFL Draft. Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy took this opportunity to drop his two-round mock draft, filled with new faces for football fans to get excited about.
This could be a spot where the Vikings shock everyone and take a quarterback but instead we go with something a little safer in Iowa do-it-all defensive back Cooper DeJean.
DeJean would be a seamless fit in Brian Flores’ defense. Flores used players throughout the secondary (Harrison Smith, Byron Murphy, Mekhi Blackmon, Josh Metellus, etc.) in various spots all around the field. DeJean’s athleticism gives him the ability to be yet another chess piece for Flores to use to confuse opposing quarterbacks.
Speaking of quarterbacks, Popejoy sees an opportunity to take a shot at the future franchise quarterback in the second round and doesn’t let it pass. With the 42nd pick, Minnesota takes Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
At 42, no matter if Kirk Cousins returns, the value of a possible franchise quarterback is too much to ignore at the top of the second round. Washington made it to the National Championship game this year, mostly behind their explosive offense led by Penix. While there are some injury concerns (two ACL injuries and two dislocated shoulders), if he becomes a Viking, he would have a great chance to thrive under Kevin O’Connell and the weapons in this offense.
The Steelers could bring Steve Wilks in as a defensive assistant this season.
In 2022, current Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores was fresh off of a stint as the Miami Dolphins head coach and when he needed an opportunity, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave it to him. Flores was named the team’s Senior defensive assistant and his impact was obvious on the defense.
Now, the Steelers have an opportunity to do it again after leaving the spot vacant for a year. Fresh off a trip to the Super Bowl, the San Francisco 49ers have fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Wilks was added as something of an outsider in the Niners organization and despite how well his defense performed last season, he’s out.
#49ers are firing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, coach Kyle Shanahan announced
This is a perfect opportunity for the Steelers to bring in another great football mind to help with a defense that underperformed last season. Wilks has been a coach in the NFL since 2006 and has done a little bit of everything including head coach of the Arizona Cardinals for one season.
In a mock draft based on her analytics model, NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund sends the Vikings an edge rusher
With mock draft season in full effect, some mock drafts will be more unorthodox than others, whether through methodology or the picks themselves. The NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund chose to use a more analytics-based approach and decide what picks would be best for success in the upcoming season.
Turner’s burst ranks among the top 20 percent of edge prospects in my 10-season sample. He doesn’t lose speed/velocity when traveling in a non-straight line, which means his pressures cause disruption more frequently (he posted 10 sacks last season, up from four as a sophomore). I’m pretty sure defensive coordinator Brian Flores would give GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah a hand-written thank-you note if Turner ends up the choice here.
At 6’4″, 252 pounds, Turner has the perfect size for the edge rusher position. Add in his explosion and ability to string pass-rush moves together, and the Vikings should have a day-one contributor in Turner.
