Tag: Jonathan Bullard

Vikings may have a plan to increase interior pass rush success in 2024

The Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles ranked at or near the bottom in pass rush in 2023. What’s the plan to improve that next season?

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has certainly improved the Minnesota Vikings’ defense during his tenure with the team. But one aspect the team can still improve upon is its ability to get a pass rush up the middle. Last season, defensive tackles Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard finished 176th and 185th out of 185 defenders who rushed the passer at least 200 times.

So how does Flores improve upon that performance? According to The Athletic’s Minnesota Vikings beat writer Alec Lewis, the team may have two solutions to the problem. The first could come in the form of free agent acquisition Jerry Tillery. Tillery, a former first-round pick, was the 88th-ranked pass rusher last season. Not on the level of Quinnen Williams, Chris Jones, or Aaron Donald (as Lewis points out), but certainly an improvement.

The other potential solution Lewis suggests is to increase the frequency with which the defensive line uses stunts. Last season, the Vikings were 27th in the league in defensive stunts, using them on just 23 percent of snaps per PFF. Contrast that with Flores’ 2021 Miami Dolphins team, who used stunts on more than 30 percent of defensive snaps, good for third that season.

Bringing in former Miami Dolphins EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel should help the Vikings improve that number if that’s the route the defense goes. Van Ginkel has shown good speed and agility during his years with the Dolphins, and he’s familiar with Flores’ scheme and what he wants out of his pass rushers.

Vikings first-round pick Dallas Turner should also be able to help on that front, as he “can be a menace as bender between the tackles,” as Lewis puts it. Those two additions to the Vikings front should allow Flores to increase their creativity, something he excelled at last season despite the poor pass-rushing performance up front.

Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard gets $2.25 million deal

Before the NFL’s free agency period opened, the Minnesota Vikings re-signed iDL Jonathan Bullard. We now know it’s worth $2.25 million.

The Minnesota Vikings defense lost a lot in the NFL’s free agency period, but before the period opened, they did ensure at least one member of the 2023 defense returned in interior defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard. Bullard has been with the team for two seasons and was signed on a one-year deal to return to the team.

We now know the particulars of that deal, and it’s a deal worth a total of $2.25 million. That number includes a base salary of $1.2 million, with a $750K signing bonus, per-game roster bonuses that can add up to $250K, and a workout bonus of $50K.

This deal falls in line with a number of the deals Minnesota has put together for their recent wave of free agents, and shows that the team is interested in finding the depth players that are going to fill out their roster. Bullard has spent two seasons with the Vikings, including finding himself in the starting lineup for much of the 2023 season.

That bump in playing time saw Bullard set new career highs in both sacks and tackles. Now Bullard will look to build on that momentum on a defense that lost significant production with the free agent losses of Danielle Hunter and Jordan Hicks, among others.

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4 players Minnesota Vikings should re-sign before free agency

The Minnesota Vikings have numerous free agents to look at re-signing. Our staff identified four players they should focus on bringing back.

The Minnesota Vikings are going into a very crucial offseason under general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell.

Not only is the starting quarterback in major flux with Kirk Cousins set to be a free agent, but outside linebacker Danielle Hunter is also set to hit the market along with wide receiver Justin Jefferson and left tackle Christian Darisaw set to receive extensions.

What should the Vikings end up doing in free agency? There are a lot of different options and we are set to explore them all.

First up, our staff took a look at four players the Vikings should re-sign.

Vikings initial Week 16 injury report has 9 players

Danielle Hunter and Harrison Phillips highlight the initial injury report

The Minnesota Vikings have a lengthy injury report heading into their week 16 winter whiteout game against the Detroit Lions. Their practice was a walkthrough so the report is an estimation.

  • OLB Danielle Hunter (illness): Did not practice
  • RB Alexander Mattison (ankle): Did not practice
  • CB Byron Murphy Jr. (knee): Did not practice
  • WR Jalen Nailor (concussion): Did not practice
  • RT Brian O’Neill (ankle): Did not practice
  • NT Harrison Phillips (back): Did not practice
  • DE Jonathan Bullard (ankle): Limited
  • NT Sheldon Day (ankle): Limited
  • ILB Jordan Hicks (shin): Full

The holdovers from last week are Nailor, O’Neill and Mattison. All three of them not practicing is important in their attempt to come back.

Hunter is the one to keep an eye on, as an illness is something that is difficult to measure and predict.

Murphy and Phillips are both new and didn’t appear to be injured against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hicks returned to practice after having his practice window open up this past Monday. There is real optimism he can play on Sunday afternoon.

The Lions have eight players listed on their initial injury report.

  • CB Jerry Jacobs (hamstring): Did not practice
  • TE Brock Wright (hip): Did not practice
  • LB Derrick Barnes (shoulder): Limited
  • FB Jason Cabinda (knee): Limited
  • DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (knee): Limited
  • DT Levi Onwuzurike (knee): Limited
  • RT Penei Sewell (shoulder): Limited
  • C Frank Ragnow (knee/back/toe): Full

The reports on Thursday and Friday afternoon will tell us more about the status of each player.

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Jonathan Bullard leaves game vs. Bengals with apparent ankle injury

Bullard suffered an appartent ankle injuyr on Saturday

In a breath of fresh air for the Minnesota Vikings, they have been relatively healthy in Saturday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Unfortunately, that good fortune lessened a bit in the third quarter, as defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard left the game with an apparent ankle injury.

Bullard was injured with just under 11 minutes left in the third quarter on a seemingly innocuous rush play from the Bengals. Bullard went down and grabbed his ankle, staying down on the field for several minutes. After being helped to the sidelines by the Vikings’ training staff, Bullard was taken immediately into the blue medical tent for further evaluation.

With Bullard out, rookie fifth-round defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy takes over in the middle of the aggressive Vikings defense. We’ll have more information on Bullard and his specific injury and status as it becomes available.

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Vikings PFF grades on defense through 6 games

The Minnesota Vikings defense has some standouts and the Pro Football Focus grades showcase that

The Minnesota Vikings are a fascinating team.

Despite a 2-4 start, the Vikings have good underlying metrics and Pro Football Focus has the offensive line as one of the best units in the National Football League.

As we head into week seven, here are the PFF grades for each member of the Vikings defense.

Vikings state of the roster: Defensive line

After losing Dalvin Tomlinson, can the Minnesota Vikings defensive line take a step forward with Harrison Phillips and Dean Lowry?

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, begins 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 defensive line.

Vikings 90-man roster player profile: DE Jonathan Bullard

The Minnesota Vikings signed Jonathan Bullard before training camp to help install the new defense. How does he fit in with Brian Flores?

Welcome to the beginning of our 2023 season preview content!

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at each player on the roster in-depth with backgrounds and how they currently project forward on the Minnesota Vikings roster.

What is the best-case scenario? What is the worst-case scenario? What should we expect from them during the preseason and beyond? We will break all of that down here.

As a staff, all of us at Vikings Wire ranked the entire 90-man roster 1-90 and will be releasing player profiles in reverse order.

93 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 93

The No. 93 holds a lot of history, including Hall of Famer John Randle, but who else has worn the number for the Vikings?

It’s the final countdown…

Well, sort of.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 93 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.

Jonathan Bullard currently holds the number for the Vikings and has worn it since last season. Edge rusher Patrick Jones II also wore the number briefly before switching to No. 91. However, the number is headlined by John Randle, a Hall of Famer who wore the number for 11 seasons.

With 93 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 93 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

Worst Bears draft pick from each year since 2000

We look back at the worst Bears draft pick from each year since the turn of the century.

The 2023 NFL draft will be here before we know it and it’s once again another golden opportunity for the Chicago Bears to improve their team with young talent. The Bears hold four selections in the top 64 picks, including the No. 9 overall pick, giving them a shot to select premier players across multiple positions.

As is the case every year, the NFL draft is an inexact science and not every pick is going to pan out. The Bears have certainly had their fair share of misses over the years.

We already looked at the best player from each draft, now it’s time to review the worst player from each Bears draft class since 2000.