Tag: Jeff Gladney

The two Vikings players with weeklong absences from OTAs

Here are the two Minnesota Vikings players with weeklong absences from OTAs.

The Vikings’ OTAs started up on May 24 and there are plenty of storylines to come from them so far.

There have been some interesting photos taken of Kellen Mond, Kirk Cousins and others. Minnesota’s quarterback situation will certainly be something to watch in the coming years. Will Mond develop into the Vikings’ quarterback of the future? Or will the team stay with Cousins for the long term?

There have also been some noticeable absences from OTAs thus far. There are two Vikings players who have missed three OTAs this week, according to Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune. Here they are:

NFL.com writer thinks Patrick Peterson has plenty to offer Vikings

The Vikings paid a premium to sign the veteran cornerback this offseason.

Some think the Vikings landing Patrick Peterson this offseason was a great move. Others think that the $8 million price tag was a bit too high for the 30-year-old corner closer to the end than the beginning.

NFL.com writer Adam Schein thinks the Vikings landing Peterson was a great deal for both sides and that Peterson will have a successful year.

Here’s a bit of what Schein wrote about the fit:

I love where Peterson landed, though.

On a one-year deal in Minnesota — with a solid front seven in front of him, as well as a head coach in Mike Zimmer who has a PhD in defensive backs — Peterson will enjoy one more ride in the sun. Not to mention, he’ll serve as a valuable mentor to the Vikings’ corner group.

Given Jeff Gladney’s recent legal trouble, the Vikings will need Peterson more than they likely anticipated when signing him.

Schein listed nine players that many think will be disappointing in 2021 that he still believes in. You can check out his full list here.

Minnesota Vikings’ Jeff Gladney arrested on charge of assault/family violence

Minnesota Vikings DB Jeff Gladney turned himself in to face charges in a domestic violence case

Jeff Gladney, the Minnesota Vikings’ first-round pick in 2020, turned himself in Monday to face charges in an alleged domestic violence incident in Texas.

The defensive back, who was the 31st pick in the NFL Draft, allegedly assaulted a 22-year-old woman on Friday. The two were involved in a verbal altercation “over content in a cell phone” that later escalated to physical violence, according to the statement from police.

The NFL is investigating and the Vikings said in a statement that they are aware of the arrest and gathering more information.

Report: Vikings cornerback Jeff Gladney faces charge of family violence assault

Vikings cornerback Jeff Gladney has posted a $10,000 bond after facing a charge of third degree felony family violence assault, according to J.D. Miles of CBS 11 News.

Vikings cornerback Jeff Gladney has turned himself in and posted a $10,000 bond after facing a charge of third degree felony family violence assault, according to J.D. Miles of CBS 11 News.

If convicted, Gladney faces 2-10 years in prison from an incident that allegedly occurred on April 2. Detectives documented bruising on the head, ears and torso of the victim. The 22-year-old woman said she was in a relationship with Gladney. Gladney is accused of hitting and choking the victim. He is also accused of dragging her by the hair, while driving, with her outside his vehicle.

Gladney, 24, is coming off his rookie season in the NFL after being taken by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of last year’s draft.

Vikings’ 2020 rookie class finishes 4th in NFL.com rankings

The Vikings were easily the top team in the NFC North in these rankings.

While the Vikings’ 2020 season was disappointing considering they finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs, fans have to be happy with how the future looks.

A huge part of that had to do with this year’s rookie class, led by rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

In his end-of-the-season rookie class rankings, Adam Rank from NFL.com had the Vikings ranked fourth overall.

Here’s a snippet of what Rank wrote about the Vikings:

How impressive was Jefferson’s rookie campaign? Impressive enough to make the Vikings feel just fine about trading away Stefon Diggs and watching him immediately lead the league in catches and receiving yards. Yes, this was the elusive win-win trade. Diggs wasn’t happy in Minneapolis — the city where he produced a miracle — so Minnesota flipped him for a pick package that included No. 22 in last April’s draft. In that slot, the Vikes took the fifth receiver in Round 1, Jefferson, who broke Anquan Boldin’s rookie record with 1,400 receiving yards on the dot.

Players like Jeff Gladney, Ezra Cleveland and Cam Dantzler also showed plenty of potential.

To round out the NFC North, the Bears ranked 17th, the Lions ranked 29th and the Packers ranked 30th.

Cameron Dantzler picked as Vikings’ breakout candidate for 2021

The cornerback looked good for the Vikings as a rookie.

Overall, the secondary for the Minnesota Vikings wasn’t great in 2020. A lot of that had to do with so much youth on the team.

However, with that youth comes potential.

Rookie cornerback Cameron Dantzler, the team’s third-round pick, gave fans plenty of reasons to be excited for the future.

Sam Monson over at Pro Football Focus named Dantzler as the team’s breakout candidate for 2021:

Only two rookie cornerbacks ended the season with a PFF grade above 70.0, and Cameron Dantzler was one of them. Dantzler’s rookie year wasn’t without growing pains, but he had two single-game PFF coverage grades above 90.0 and two performances in which he allowed five or fewer receiving yards.

Dantzler, along with first-round pick Jeff Gladney, are the new wave of Vikings’ cornerbacks under Mike Zimmer and for Minnesota to improve enough to make the playoffs in 2021, those two will need to step up.

We saw enough signs from them in 2020 that they are on the right track.

Three Vikings players who could take a leap in 2021

With more experience, these three Vikings could be making big strides in 2021.

The Vikings’ 2020 draft class has plenty of potential.

There were some rookies who emerged as starting-caliber players during the season. Minnesota maybe even landed the best rookie of the draft class: WR Justin Jefferson.

Not every rookie was a star, but some showed flashes of promise. This is a list of players who could take a leap for the team in 2021. Jefferson and CB Cameron Dantzler both played too well to qualify for this article. They’ve already made great strides and I’m sure they will again next season.

Here is a list of some names who could go from good to great as members of the Vikings:

PFF ranks Vikings secondary in bottom half of the NFL

The Minnesota Vikings defensive back corps struggled at times during the 2020 NFL season.

The Vikings saw a mass exodus in free agency last offseason, most notably in the defensive back corps.

Minnesota saw Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander all sign elsewhere. Rhodes and Waynes were the starters out wide, while Alexander was the team’s nickel corner.

Though the Vikings had more inexperienced players at corner, the team still retained Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith. Despite that, the team’s pass defense was inconsistent.

Pro Football Focus took notice. The outlet ranked the Vikings as having the 23rd best secondary in the league. Here’s what it said about Minnesota:

“Minnesota’s cornerbacks were as expected this season: Not good. Led by rookies Cameron Dantzler and Jeff Gladney, the Vikings had five corners log at least 125 coverage snaps this season. Just one produced a coverage grade above 51.0. That lone player was the 89th overall pick Dantzler, but he was still rather inconsistent. He did have the two best games we saw from a rookie corner this season in Weeks 13 and 15 — both of which eclipsed a 90.0 coverage grade — but he also had three games in which he earned a coverage grade in the 40s.”

Sure, Gladney and Dantzler had their mishaps, but the duo improved over the course of the season. With a better pass rush in 2021, the Vikings defensive backs won’t have to cover their receivers for as long. The new-look defense struggled in 2020, but next season the group could improve.

Vikings corner Jeff Gladney talks about comparisons to physical corners of the past

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Jeff Gladney has picked up some comparisons to other physical corners who played with the Minnesota Vikings.

Vikings cornerback Jeff Gladney might be on the smaller side, but he plays the game in a physical way.

Remind you of anyone?

Gladney has drawn some comparisons to former Vikings corner Antoine Winfield for his style of play.

“I’ve heard the comparison to him a lot and I’m just trying to live up to it and leave my history,” Gladney said, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.

Gladney was also asked if he sees similarities in his game to former Minnesota corner and current Vikings defensive backs coach Terence Newman. Gladney conceded that he had not heard that comparison before.

“But I guess so, when it comes to coming up in the open field and making tackles,” Gladney said of the comparison. “I mean, I kind of pride myself on that and that’s what I like to do.”

Arguably Gladney’s most memorable play this year was keeping Packers tight end Robert Tonyan in bounds in the fourth quarter. That might not sound like much, but Tonyan is a tight end and needed to get out of bounds, only to be kept in by Gladney. The play ended up costing Green Bay a lot of time late in the game and the Packers lost.

That just shows what the rookie can do as a physical presence on the defense.  If he keeps it up, I’m sure the comparisons to physical corners of the past will continue.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer talks about the improved defensive play

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer talked about the new-and-improved Minnesota defense.

As the Vikings offense tried to keep games close in the beginning of the year, the Minnesota defense was giving up too many points to stay competitive.

The Vikings gave up at least 28 points in the team’s first three games. It wasn’t until Minnesota played a then-winless Houston team that the Vikings defense stepped up. Even then, the group held the Texans to 23 points. That’s decent, but that’s not exactly reminiscent of the “Purple People Eaters.”

Fast forward to this week, where the Vikings defense held the Panthers to 13 points. If not for the Minnesota offense giving up 14 points on fumbles returned for touchdowns, the Vikings would have had a good game on both sides of the ball.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer talked about the improved defensive play:

“We’re obviously doing some things different than we were earlier in the year,” Zimmer told reporters, via the Vikings. “We’re mixing things up and we’re changing some things. We’re trying to be smart about when we’re aggressive, when we’re not.”

Zimmer also credits the improvement to young players making progress:

“D.J. Wonnum is starting to get better and better,” Zimmer told reporters, via the Vikings. “I think he’s going to be a good player. The two corners, (Jeff) Gladney and (Cameron) Dantzler. And really, Chris Jones and (Kris) Boyd have come in and played pretty well.”

During the team’s three-game winning streak, the Minnesota defense held its opponent to under 23 points, which seems like the magic number for the Vikings offense to be able to win the game.

Whether it was the Cowboys or the Falcons, the Vikings’ losses this year were mostly defined by poor defensive play and Kirk Cousins committing costly turnovers.

It’s hard to say which version of the Vikings the fans will see in a given week. But if it’s the version of the defense that showed up against Carolina, then Minnesota will have a shot at winning the game.