To finish a road upset of the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would need a catalyst. They had the pass rush. They had the skill players like Mike Evans coming through. But someone needed to get Tampa Bay across the finish line.
Enter Baker Mayfield.
In new mic’d-up footage courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the veteran signal-caller was clearly feeling himself late in the fourth quarter. After Mayfield dropped a vicious first-down stiff arm on Minnesota cornerback Byron Murphy, he turned around and told Murphy to “get his weight up, little boy.”
Talk about adding insult to an already embarrassing five-yard play for the defender:
It remains to be seen if Mayfield can sustain his play for the Buccaneers as they try to go to 2-0 against the Chicago Bears this Sunday. But if he’s bringing this kind of fire to the field, all bets should be off.
The defense will need to focus on these keys against the Buccaneers
Wake up. It’s officially football season.
Remember all those preseason games? The overreactions to undrafted free agents? The training camp clips you fawned over?
None of those matter now. The games officially count, and the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy begins.
As the Minnesota Vikings open up their season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the focus will be on their defense, which underwent significant changes during the offseason.
Those changes begin with a significant scheme switch (from zone heavy to blitz and man coverage) with the hire of defensive coordinator Brian Flores. The defense also sees new starters across the board.
Their first game will feature a potential tune-up for other opponents. The Vikings will face journeyman quarterback Baker Mayfield, who replaces future hall of famer Tom Brady. The offense, however, will still have plenty of weapons to support Mayfield, including a duo of wide receivers (Mike Evans and Chris Godwin) capable of changing the game.
Here are the keys to victory for the Vikings’ new-look defense.
The Cardinals and Vikings play each other on Saturday. The Vikings have five former Cardinals on their roster.
The Arizona Cardinals have traveled to Minnesota for a pair of joint practices against the Vikings before the two teams play their preseason finale on Saturday.
We know of the coaching connections as head coach Jonathan Gannon, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis all coached for the Vikings under former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer.
However, there are a number of player connections between the two teams, too. Most are former Cardinals now on the Vikings.
While Texas benefits from returning many starters on both sides of the ball, the handful of players they did lose were crucial in multiple aspects.
Running backs Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson were both vocal leaders for the offense and team last season, while also being two of the best players on the entire roster. Same with linebacker DeMarvion Overshown who is also off the NFL, and to a lesser degree in terms of impact defensive linemen Moro Ojomo and Keondre Coburn.
While linebacker will be locked down by Jaylan Ford, the defensive line will be relying on Byron Murphy in a major way in 2023. Something he discussed in a recent interview with On3 when asked about players who have stepped up as leaders.
“Me, of course,” Murphy said. “I’m trying to be more vocal. Last year, I wasn’t. But this year, I’m trying to be more vocal. I’ve got a bigger role obviously this year.”
Murphy, along with T’Vondre Sweat and Minnesota transfer Trill Carter, will be in charge of clogging the rushing lanes and collapsing the pocket on the quarterbacks. Last season, Murphy recorded 26 tackles with three tackles for loss and one sack.
He is confident that he and the team are aware of what it takes to win now, which is something Texas fans have been dying to see.
“I feel like we, as a team, all understand Sark’s philosophy,” Murphy said. “We get it now. We know what it takes. We know what it takes to win. The past few seasons, we’ve been through a lot of stuff. We know what it takes. We know what he wants from us. Now we’ve got to deliver it.”
The Longhorns are the favorites to win the Big 12 this season and also are viewed as a potential College Football Playoff contender.
After the Minnesota Vikings selected Jay Ward in the 4th round, there were questions on how he would be used. @TheKevinFielder explains.
When the Minnesota Vikings hired Brian Flores as their defensive coordinator, he was expected to have a heavy say in how the team approached the off-season.
Not only is Flores a former head coach, but the former Miami Dolphins headman reportedly rejected head coaching offers to become the Vikings defensive coordinator.
In free agency, the Vikings signed cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., an inside-out defensive back who offers positional flexibility in Flores’ defense, to a two-year contract. Murphy was ultimately one of two marquee free-agent signings for the Vikings, joining edge rusher Marcus Davenport.
During the 2023 NFL Draft, the Vikings continued to stock Flores’ armory, drafting three defensive players with their six selections.
USC cornerback Mekhi Blackmon was the team’s third-round selection and should give the Vikings another versatile cornerback for Flores’ scheme.
While teams don’t follow consensus big boards when making their selections, the Vikings obviously saw something that prompted them to make him the pick ahead of some other talented defensive backs.
A deeper dive into Ward’s film explains why Flores likely signed off on the pick, but his incomplete skillset paints a murky picture of his ability to impact the Vikings’ defense in his first season.
Here is a look at five Longhorns who could play their way into a first-round selection in 2024.
The 2023 NFL Draft wrapped up on Saturday after seven rounds and 259 selections.
Texas football is well-represented in this year’s draft class as five Longhorns heard their names called by NFL teams. A great bounce back for a Texas program that did not have a single player picked in 2022.
Running back Bijan Robinson (Atlanta), linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (Dallas), running back Roschon Johnson (Chicago), defensive tackle Keondre Coburn (Kansas City) and defensive lineman Moro Ojomo (Philadelphia).
Robinson snapped an eight-year first-round drought for the Horns. He became the first Longhorn taken on day one of the draft since Malcom Brown back in 2015.
Steve Sarkisian wants to see the trend of Texas Longhorns in the NFL continue going forward.
While the 2024 NFL Draft is a long way away, Texas has the potential to send a few more players to the league next season. Here is a look at five Longhorns who could play their way into a first-round selection in 2024.
The Bengals need to get depth at the edge positions, and in Myles Murphy, they have a multi-gap guy with potential and a few rough spots.
(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)
The Bengals have a need for edge-rushing depth behind Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard, and Murphy can fill that need from multiple gaps. You’d like to see a bit more of a finished picture, but as Cincinnati defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is one of the best in the business, Murphy’s upside should be sufficiently realized in the Queen City.
Wingspan: N/A Arm Length: 33¾” (57th) Hand Size: 8½” (0)
Bio: Murphy came out of Hillgrove High School in Marietta, Georgia as ESPN’s No. 3 player in the nation, the No. 2 defensive end, and the No. 1 player in the state of Georgia. He was a consensus Freshman All-American, and kept the pace throughout his collegiate career. Over three seasons with the Tigers, Murphy totaled 20 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, 66 quarterback hurries, five batted passes, 63 tackles, 64 stops, and six forced fumbles. He had 1,244 snaps outside the tackles, 180 over the tackles, 117 in the B-gaps, and five in the A-gaps.
Stat to Know: Murphy’s Broken and Missed Tackles Percentage Rate of 5% last season was the lowest among all edge-rushers in the 2023 class.
Strengths: Murphy has excellent speed to the pocket for a player his size; there’s nothing “hybrid” about how well he accelerates when he’s working the arc, and he has the strength and technique to go through multiple blockers to get home.
The Tigers didn’t have Murphy inside the tackles a lot, but I think he can be a credible inside/outside guy at the next level. He presents a nice bull-rush to displace interior offensive linemen, with a good finishing kick to the quarterback.
And as a run defender, Murphy’s speed and strength are pretty much NFL-transferable right now. Just plug him in and go.
Weaknesses: Power is the base of Murphy’s game, but he’ll need to get lower more frequently to maximize it — he loses leverage too often when he shouldn’t because he comes off the snap high.
Murphy is also limited in his technical repertoire — if he can’t get you with the bull-rush or the long-arm, there aren’t a lot of counters and adaptive strategies to use for him to recover if he doesn’t get home on the first try.
Conclusion: Murphy’s instant NFL success will be dependent on which set of schemes he’s in. I think he’ll have a rough go of it for a while as a four-down edge defender. But in the NFL’s increasing use of five-man fronts, he could be beneficial right away as both a big end and a strong-side pass-rusher in sub-fronts. He has enough on the ball to be somewhat productive early on, with the potential for far more if he can get his arms around the refinements that make people at his position truly great.
NFL Comparison: Rashan Gary. The Packers took Gary with the 12th pick in the 2019 draft out of Michigan despite the fact that his pass-rush repertoire was pretty basic at the time (bull-rush and long-arm). They bet on his upside as a bigger guy who could do damage from multiple gaps, and that took hold in Gary’s second, third, and fourth seasons. Murphy presents a similar set of rewards for a patient NFL coaching staff ready to give him the tools he needs to take his basic speed/power profile to the proverbial next level.
