Film Room – Syndication Server

2024 NFL draft: Missouri CB Kris Abrams-Draine prospect film review

Missouri CB Kris Abrams-Draine is a potential target for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL Draft. Saivion Mixson digs into his film to find out how he fits

The Minnesota Vikings have nine picks going into the 2024 NFL Draft:

First round, 11th overall
Second round, 42nd overall
Fourth round (from Detroit)
Fourth round
Fifth round (from Kansas City)
Fifth round (from Cleveland)
Sixth round (from Jacksonville)
Sixth round (from Las Vegas)
Seventh round (from Atlanta via Arizona)

To maximize these picks, the Vikings front office has a lot of homework to find who in this draft is a good fit for Minnesota.

With the questions surrounding the pass rush and quarterback, one question that may have to wait until day two or even day three is how the Vikings address the cornerback position. Missouri’s Kris Abrams-Draine gives the Vikings a potential answer.

Lions vs. Buccaneers: What I learned from film study of Detroit’s playoff win

Lions vs. Buccaneers: What I learned from film study of Detroit’s playoff win from Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon

Fresh off the first Detroit Lions postseason victory since the 1991 season, the team decided that one win wasn’t enough. The Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-23, in Ford Field in Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round matchup to advance to the NFC Championship in San Francisco.

Just like the win over the Rams a week earlier, this was a stressful game decided in the fourth quarter. The first three quarters all ended with the score tied. The tension of such a closely-played, high-stakes contest shone through even on the silent All-22 game film.

This week’s film rewatch of the game, both of the broadcast feed and the All-22, revealed a lot about the Lions and where they win and lose games. Here’s some of what I took away from the rewatch.

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Film Room: Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was outstanding against the Rams

Film Room: Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was outstanding against the Rams, from Russell Brown

Regardless of being a consistent weapon in the Lions offense on a weekly basis, it still feels like Amon-Ra St. Brown is slept on. Which is hard to imagine as he finished the season with 119 receptions for 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns. Furthermore, he’s been on fire in his last five games with 39 receptions for 562 yards and four touchdowns.

As the Lions returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and hosted their first home playoff game since 1991, St. Brown was outstanding in the opening round of the playoffs. Finishing the game with 7 receptions for 110 yards, he made big play after big play on Sunday night. Each one of his receptions went for first down and he caught the first down pass that sealed the Lions first playoff win in 32 years. Let’s dive into the tape to see what makes Amon-Ra St. Brown so good as a pass-catcher for the Lions.

Starting with one of the first big plays of the game from St. Brown, it’s one where he shows his strength and play-making ability. Looking at the play above, you’ll see that the Lions come out in a 2×2 set with their ’11’ personnel (one running back and one tight end).

At the top of the screen, St. Brown is aligned as the ‘X’ receiver. Once the ball is snapped, he releases vertical but hits the cornerback with an inside jab step while pushing vertically along the sideline. As he gets about 7 or 8 yards downfield, he throttles down quickly and turns back to Goff on a curl route.

With an opening, Goff fires the ball to St. Brown and it leads to him securing the catch. Despite having the defender on his back, he tosses him off and puts his play strength and run after-the-catch ability on display.

The next play I want to focus on is one of my favorite catches from St. Brown on the season. Looking at the play above, the Lions come out in a trips left formation with their ’11’ personnel (one running back and one tight end).

Aligned as the lone receiver on the bottom of the screen is St. Brown. Much like the previous play, St. Brown hits the defender with an inside jab step before releasing outside. Rather than turning back to Goff on a curl route, St. Brown runs a wheel route instead. With enough separation, St. Brown is able to concentrate and get his hands up for the catch. His ability to run after catching it is just an added bonus.

Moving onto a huge 3rd down completion, we move to a play that happens coming out of the two-minute warning before the half. Previous Lions teams would have ran a screen or a draw play and gave the ball to the opposition with plenty of time. Not this Lions team.

They go for the jugular every chance they get.

Looking at the play above, the Lions come out in a trips left formation with condensed splits. Bunched together on the left side is Josh Reynolds, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. Once the ball is snapped, you’ll see all 3 receivers release vertically. As the defender across from St. Brown tries to jam him, you’ll see a quick arm over from St. Brown and that gives him plenty of separation.

Exploding off his inside foot, St. Brown snaps his route towards the sideline on a deep out route. With no defender in sight, he’s able to catch this one freely and clean. Goff really drives this throw and delivers a strike and it leads to a big first down for the Lions.

Lastly, I want to focus on one of the greatest plays we’ve seen in our lives. It’s the play that secured the game for the Lions. Coming out of the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter, the Lions were given a chance to talk this one out with Ben Johnson and Dan Campbell.

Looking at the play above, the Lions come out in a 2×2 set and aligned in the slot on the bottom of the screen, you’ll see St. Brown. Despite facing off-coverage from the defender, it’s not enough to slow him down. He pushes vertically and while it appears like he could be running a deep route, he snaps his route back towards Goff. While there’s contact from St. Brown, there’s also contact from the defender.

This gives separation to St. Brown and Goff gets the ball to him quickly. Turning up field right after catching the ball leads to St. Brown picking up the first down and it sets up the Lions to come out in the victory formation. After three straight kneel downs, the Lions win the game and advance to the next round of the playoffs!

When looking at the tape, you can see St. Brown make plays constantly. He’s by far the best player on the offense and is an absolute joy to watch every week. As he enters a contract year, it’s no secret that he’ll be worth every penny he’s given on his next contract. We can only hope that it’s an extension to stay in Detroit for a very long time. For now, look for him to continue to make big play after big play this weekend against Tampa Bay in the Divisional Round of the playoffs!

Packers film room: Jordan Love breaks down improbable fourth-down completion to Romeo Doubs vs Chiefs

Breaking down Jordan Love’s improbable fourth-down completion to Romeo Doubs during the Packers’ win over the Chiefs.

The Green Bay Packers managed to hang on against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13, defeating the defending Super Bowl Champions 27-19 to improve to 6-6 on the season.

The defense came up with a timely takeaway in the final six minutes and prevented a last-second Hail Mary while the offense continued its improved play, with more signs of growth from its young players. Over the past five games, the youngest team in the NFL is averaging 23.6 points and 389.2 yards of offense per contest.

Green Bay’s recent success on the offensive side of the ball can be largely attributed to the play of Jordan Love. The first-year starting quarterback has shown remarkable progress since the beginning of the season and could be on track to receive a long-term contract.

Against Kansas City’s third-ranked pass defense, Love completed 25 of 36 passes for 267 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 118.6 passer rating. Like the defense, Love played exceptionally well down the stretch and made plays in crucial moments.

One that stood out was Love’s fourth-down completion to Romeo Doubs in the third quarter. The play occurred on the Packers’ first drive of the second half after the Chiefs scored a touchdown to get within two points. The offense had moved the ball into Kansas City territory but stalled at the 44-yard line. Rather than attempt a long field goal or punt it away, Matt LaFleur put his trust into his quarterback’s hands on 4th and 1.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95) pressures Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) as Love passes the ball on Sunday, December 3, 2023, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won the game, 27-19.

Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Operating out of shotgun, Love faced immediate pressure but completed an improbable deep pass to Doubs, who was in a crowd of defenders for a 33-yard gain.

For better context, here’s Love breaking down the play after the game:

“I’m throwing it Romeo, where I think he’s going to be…The coverage was telling me to go there to him. Threw it up, thinking the safety was going to make a play, and he didn’t. Good job by Romeo, he couldn’t really track the ball at first but then was able to find it. Great catch by him.”

Breaking down all 3 Vikings touchdowns vs. Saints

Tyler Forness breaks down the all-22 of the 3 Vikings touchdowns

The Minnesota Vikings are an incredibly fun team right now.

Not only are they fun, but they are successful as well. The Vikings are riding a five-game winning streak with three winable games going into a tough finishing stretch against the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions twice.

Throughout the five-game winning streak the Vikings have been on, they have scratched and clawed while dealing with multiple injuries, including losing numerous starters on offense for multiple games.

On Sunday, the Vikings were explosive on offense, especially in the first half. We looked at all three touchdowns the Vikings scored and broke down the all-22.

Harrison Phillips has been bright spot amid Vikings’ rocky start

Despite the Minnesota Vikings rocky start, nose tackle Harrison Phillips has been a bright spot

It is no secret that the Minnesota Vikings have had a rocky start to the 2023 season. That’s probably putting it lightly.

After bringing back a solid amount of the core that helped lead them to a crazy 13-win season, this 2-4 start feels very anticlimactic.

Even through circumstances such as this, there are bright spots to be found throughout the roster. One of them happens to stay in a three-point stance on the defensive side of the ball.

After the Philadelphia Eagles game, Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire highlighted Minnesota defensive lineman Harrison Phillips as a potential secret superstar of this Vikings defense.

On the surface, this was a wild assessment to have after Philadelphia’s offensive line manhandled this Minnesota defensive line. Everyone except Phillips.

He had five run stops that week, tied for the most by any interior defensive lineman with the Jets’ Quinnen Williams, and added a sack and hurry.

Phillips has been a consistent positive for this Vikings defense that has started to find their stride under new defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

Since week four, the Vikings are seventh in EPA and 13th in success rate. Part of that is due to their ability to stop the run, they are tied for eighth in yards per attempt allowed in that span. Phillips has been one of the main reasons for this success.

In this exercise, we will show a sequence of plays from the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears that outline Harrison Phillips’ effect on this defense, and how Flores has been utilizing him to accentuate his abilities.

The Minnesota Vikings have a pass rush problem

The Minnesota Vikings loss to the Los Angeles Chargers exposed a major defensive problem for the Vikings.

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores built a very hyper-specific game plan to try and stop Justin Herbert.

Instead of dropping eight into coverage (like Flores did against Jalen Hurts), Flores decided to blitz Herbert.

A lot.

Flores wound up blitzing Hebert on 81.6% of his dropbacks. The figure is the highest since 2013 when Colin Kaepernick was blitzed on 87.5% of his dropbacks.

Despite Flores’ aggressive nature, Herbert wasn’t phased.

According to Pro Football Focus, Herbert completed 34 of his 40 attempts while blitzed for 317 yards and three touchdowns. His average depth of target on these throws was just 6.7 yards, signaling a specific approach to combating the pressure from offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

The Vikings’ inability to create pressure when sending extra rushers is the unfortunate reality of the Vikings’ personnel.

When asked by the media if the Vikings have players who can win in one-on-one situations, Flores mentioned three players: Danielle Hunter, Marcus Davenport, and Ivan Pace, Jr.

Here’s the problem: Marcus Davenport is injured, and Ivan Pace is an off-ball linebacker.

The Vikings don’t have enough players who consistently win in pass-rush situations. As a result, cornerbacks are stressed to hold blocks even longer, and offenses can drive down the field without concern.

On the Chargers’ second drive, Justin Herbert and company drove 79 yards down the field on 12 plays and took close to six minutes off the clock. The Vikings tried everything to challenge Herbert, including sending multiple players and trying various stunts to get home.

However, the Vikings had no answer. Herbert dinked his way down the field, and all the Vikings could do was watch.

Here is a look at why some of the Vikings’ playcalls on that drive failed and if the problem(s) can be fixed.

The danger of max protect passing plays

Max protect passing plays can be great, but they don’t always work

The Minnesota Vikings have struggled to protect the passer for the better part of the last decade. This season has been a mixed bag, but the amount of pressures have been higher mainly due to quarterback Kirk Cousins throwing the ball nearly 50 times per game.

One of the ways that you can help protect your quarterback is by running max protect pass plays, but there brings a downside along with that. Below is a max protect play from Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Cardinals.

This is a rather simple play. Cousins uses play-action and has two options at the top of his drop: Justin Jefferson to the nearside on an in route and T.J. Hockenson on a corner route to the far side. The idea is for one of these to come open. Problem is, with only two players running routes, it makes it easy to cover.

Because nobody else is running a route underneath, both Jefferson and Hockenson get immediately double-teamed. It also doesn’t help that the Vikings only have 22 yards of space to work with.

Under Mike Zimmer, the Vikings used a lot of max protect shot plays, but usually come around the 50-yard line. That space makes a lot of difference with only two players out in the route concept.

Max protect plays can work, but it’s important to use spacing well. That didn’t happen here, but why is that? Did Kevin O’Connell see something that had him call the play so close to the end zone? He was likely trying to get Hockenson on the corner route.

These can be great play calls, but they come with a potential cost.

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Packers film room: Reviewing Devonte Wyatt’s encouraging Week 1 performance

Highlighting several of the most impressive plays from Devonte Wyatt’s encouraging season opener against the Bears.

Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt was one of the most dominant players on the field during the team’s Week 1 win over the Chicago Bears. Wyatt logged a team-high six pressures and totaled three tackles, two tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

Sunday’s performance was precisely what the Packers had in mind when they drafted him in the first round of last year’s draft. As a rookie, Wyatt had a limited role on defense but has experienced a ton of improvement over the past year. He appeared to be a much more polished and confident player in the season opener and could be the perfect complement to Pro Bowler Kenny Clark.

However, despite coming off his most impactful game as a pro, Wyatt still wants to see what he can improve upon. The best way to do that, he says, is to watch the film.

“Watch the tape, see what you did, and see what you can get better at because you always have room for improvement,” Wyatt said. “That’s my goal. Just watch this film and see what I can improve at because I’ll say I started off kind of slow for me, but I want to watch film so I can start off fast and not have a slow start.”

Coincidentally, we are also going to review Wyatt’s tape from the Bears game to break down what went into his impressive pass-rushing performance.

Let’s begin.

This first play perfectly encapsulates Wyatt as your prototypical three-tech. When he puts it all together, he has the necessary explosiveness, play strength, and technique to quickly beat the man across from him. After a good initial punch, Wyatt uses a jerk move into a club arm-over to gain a clear path to the quarterback. Unfortunately, Justin Fields is one of the best running quarterbacks in the league, so Wyatt can’t get the sack, but it was still a great rep.

Another near-sack for Wyatt, but on a different type of rush. Green Bay used a ton of stunts to generate pressure against Fields and this was one of them. Here, we see Wyatt as the penetrator using speed and effective hand usage to get around the edge. Even though Wyatt doesn’t quite get to Fields, he does his job to force an inaccurate throw that falls incomplete.

The game is slowing down for Wyatt and his knowledge of opposing schemes is also improving. He might be unblocked on this play, but it is still an excellent read to not fall for the play-action. Wyatt never takes his eyes off the ball and shows good closing speed to get there before Fields can finish carrying out the fake. Well done.

The Packers run a three-man stunt, but Wyatt doesn’t have a clear path to the quarterback as the looper. Meanwhile, Fields can’t find an open receiver and decides to run. Wyatt shows good awareness and effort to get back into the play and help with the tackle. However, he takes it a step further and helps turn this into a turnover for the defense. You can see Wyatt’s right hand help punch the ball out for a fumble that Green Bay recovers. Clark was officially credited with the forced fumble, but Wyatt had a hand in it as well.

Bonus Clip

Wyatt wasn’t just disruptive as a pass rusher against the Bears. He also flashed as a run defender in this rep of him knocking the right guard back into the path of the ball carrier for a stop in the backfield. If Wyatt can also become a force in the run game, he will be on his way to becoming one of the defense’s better all-around players.

Conclusion

Throughout training camp, there was talk of Wyatt making a second-year jump and we saw it come to fruition in Week 1. Wyatt showed why he was a first-round pick with his strength and explosiveness while topping it off with good technique. These traits could turn him into not just a productive pass rusher for Green Bay’s defense but potentially a dominant one. Wyatt still needs to keep working on his craft and prove he can do it consistently, but there is reason to be excited about his future after this performance.

Packers film room: A closer look at new TE Ben Sims’ preseason with Vikings

Breaking down some plays featuring new Packers TE Ben Sims, who spent the preseason with the Vikings.

The Green Bay Packers claimed two players off of waivers on Wednesday, just one day after submitting their initial 53-man roster. The two players were safety Zayne Anderson from the Buffalo Bills and tight end Ben Sims from the Minnesota Vikings. To make room for Anderson and Sims, the Packers parted ways with linebacker Tariq Carpenter and defensive lineman Jonathan Ford.

Anderson may not play a ton of snaps on defense, but he could contribute on special teams after making three special teams tackles for Buffalo during the preseason. Today, however, we are focusing on Sims and what he could bring to this Green Bay team. The Packers had previous interest in Sims, who they hosted on an official top-30 visit ahead of the 2023 NFL draft. In college, he caught 78 passes for 785 yards and 12 touchdowns over 43 games and 30 starts at Baylor.

But back in April, Sims was not among the 259 draft picks and ended up signing with Minnesota as an undrafted free agent. And despite having a solid training camp and preseason, he was unable to secure a spot within the Vikings’ deep tight end room. Now, he finds himself in Green Bay, where there should be plenty of opportunity to earn snaps on a far less crowded depth chart.

Between Luke Musgrave and Tyler Kraft, Sims is the third rookie tight end on the roster. The Packers are hoping they can count on Musgrave as a receiving tight end, but no one has stepped up as a blocker. That could be where Sims enters the equation after what he put on tape for Minnesota during the preseason.

If you couldn’t already tell, we are looking at Sims’ skillset for this week’s film room.

Let’s get started.

At Baylor, Sims was counted on as a run blocker. In fact, he logged nearly 1,000 run-blocking snaps in college. Sims (#81) is too slow off the ball in our first play, however, he does his job by maintaining solid leverage to prevent the defender from scraping down the line of scrimmage. Also, it does look like the defender trips rather than Sims forcing him to the ground. Honestly, I don’t think it’s the cleanest rep regarding hand placement, but he is clearly a willing blocker who finishes plays and is unafraid to get his hands dirty.

The Packers already have an H-back in Josiah Deguara, but I do like this rep from Sims. Here, he is tasked with a split flow block and does a good job attacking the defender’s inside shoulder, opening up a nice hole for the running back for a decent gain.

Sims caught only three passes in the preseason. And while he isn’t known for his receiving ability, this was a solid route and a good catch to pick up 33 yards. Sims uses his size (6-5, 250 lbs) to high point this ball and then shows toughness to finish the play through contact. He may not catch a ton of passes during his NFL career, but he is capable.

In this play, Sims showcases his play strength as a run blocker. He uses good leg drive to wash the defender down the line of scrimmage and open a hole for the running back to get into the end zone. This is a good example of Sims proving he can generate movement in the run game.

Sims’ technique as a blocker needs some fine tuning but there is something to work with. He has a tendency to bring his helmet first, which prevents him shooting his hands and gaining initial control. However, even though the edge rusher gets his hands into Sims and extends his arms, Sims recovers and rotates his hips to wall off the defender to create a rushing lane. Solid rep overall.

Let’s finish off with another catch, shall we? It is obvious that Sim can run and has surprisingly decent wiggle after the catch. He tested well, as evidenced by his RAS score, and that athleticism translates to the field. Sims could use his deceptive speed to his advantage, and I must say I wasn’t expecting this juke move to make a guy miss. It’s a really nice play by Green Bay’s new tight end.

Conclusion

Sims is a tough-minded player and a good athlete. For those reasons, I think he could have a role on special teams, filling in for injured Tyler Davis. From an offensive perspective, I’m not confident the Packers will play him over their other options. He would primarily be utilized as an in-line blocker, but he is raw and needs to continue working on his technique. You could probably make the same argument for Kraft, but he is also a third-round pick who needs to develop. Unless someone gets injured, I’m not sure Sims will see a ton of snaps on offense, but he has a chance to be a core special teamer.