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On a conference call Tuesday, Zimmer explained the thinking behind the Capers hire.
“I had written down toward the end of the season that I’d kind of like to get a another defensive guy in there that has a background in a lot of different things,” Zimmer said. “There’s some things that he’s done that intrigue me that I’d like to know more about. It’s more about just having another set of eyes in there, you see things, and also being able to say ‘hey, we used to run this pressure, what do you think about this?’ or as we’re putting the defensive package together, being able to discuss different things and go from there.”
Capers largely ran a 3-4 defense during his lengthy career, which is different from Zimmer’s history with a 4-3 scheme. He masterminded seven top-10 defenses in his first nine years as a DC or HC with his superstars often being pass rushing outside linebackers like Kevin Greene, Greg Lloyd and Lamar Lathon. In 1996 with the Panthers Greene and Lathon each posted more than 13 sacks.
Even late into Capers’ career in Green Bay he found success with outside linebackers rushing, including 25 sacks in three seasons Julius Peppers in three years while playing the OLB position for the first time in his career at ages 34-36.
“The biggest thing in this league is figuring out who your best players are and then adapting what you’re doing to fit the players,” Capers said on Tuesday.
The player who naturally fits comparisons to Capers’s stars of the past is Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr, who has said that he would like to rush the passer more often. That hasn’t come to fruition, however, even after he agreed to a long-term contract last offseason.
https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2020...hony-barr/
Since Barr’s breakout season in 2015 he has been more along the lines of a solid linebacker rather than a game-changer.
Zimmer would argue that Barr’s mix of unique size and high intelligence is hard to replace but he has graded by PFF as strong against the run and in pass rushing but average at best in coverage. He has ranked in the top 10 in pressures each year except 2017 and top 20 in run defense in ’18 and 26th of 59 in ’19 but last year he finished 36th of 57 in coverage.
From ’19 to ’20, Barr’s cap hit will jump from $5.6 to $12.7 million, which makes it even more pressing to get the most out of him.
With Eric Wilson developing as a solid pass rusher and coverage linebacker, the Vikings may consider more fronts that include three defensive linemen and three linebackers. While Capers may be known for the 3-4 defense, in recent years with the Packers it was most often 3-3-5 (nickel) because of opponents’ commitment to three-receiver sets.
The depth of talent at linebacker and defensive line from players who have been developed under Zimmer and his new Co-DCs Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer gives the Vikings all sorts of options, especially surrounding Barr. And now they have a New Ideas coach in Capers to help them maximize their talent.
mix in exotic packages. double A with different looks
outside of OL i bet this draft is heavy D
A lot depends on what they do with EG...
Leber was saying on the radio his presence would be sorely missed.
Not from just a stats perspective, but there are too many players on this defense who aren't fiery, leader types. Lots of quiet guys on that side of the ball.
I think he's spot on too...They're elite athletes over there, but they have caved in the biggest moments over the years.
I think there is absolutely a lack of leadership from the players over there.
Wilson blows assignments way too much for me to want to see an expanded role.
My guess is that Dom & Mike experiment with more hybrid Lines that will include Barr and more interior looks from Hunter and All Vowels. They're so athletic we may even see those two as standup Outside LBs or in wide 9 looks.
Would be interesting to see some stats on how often Griff rushed from RDE, Hunter from LDE, Shamar from 3T or NT, versus how often they swapped spots or stunted. I have no data to back this up but it felt like Minnesota was pretty vanilla with its D-Line looks. I expect that to change with Capers' input.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
A lot depends on what they do with EG...
Leber was saying on the radio his presence would be sorely missed.
Not from just a stats perspective, but there are too many players on this defense who aren't fiery, leader types. Lots of quiet guys on that side of the ball.
I think he's spot on too...They're elite athletes over there, but they have caved in the biggest moments over the years.
I think there is absolutely a lack of leadership from the players over there.
I don't think it'd be unreasonable to bring Everson back on a new deal. They have some flexibility at DE since they have Hunter on such a discount and Ifeadi under team control for 2020/21. A deal similar to Rudolphs makes some sense where they get him market value cash flow through a signing bonus but spread out the cap impact. That could get them Everson back with a cap hit of say $6M vs. $13.8M.
Everson's opt out is a bit of a wrench since he could conceivably force his way to the market. But it would make some sense to work something out to finish up as a Viking.
I've been reading about the Vikings using Barr differently since 2017.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
A lot depends on what they do with EG...
Leber was saying on the radio his presence would be sorely missed.
Not from just a stats perspective, but there are too many players on this defense who aren't fiery, leader types. Lots of quiet guys on that side of the ball.
I think he's spot on too...They're elite athletes over there, but they have caved in the biggest moments over the years.
I think there is absolutely a lack of leadership from the players over there.
But Griffen has been on the field during most of those moments when the defense looked flat, hasn't he?
I agree they need some fire and leadership, but not sure any of the current players can fix that.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
A lot depends on what they do with EG...
Leber was saying on the radio his presence would be sorely missed.
Not from just a stats perspective, but there are too many players on this defense who aren't fiery, leader types. Lots of quiet guys on that side of the ball.
I think he's spot on too...They're elite athletes over there, but they have caved in the biggest moments over the years.
I think there is absolutely a lack of leadership from the players over there.
You might be onto something there. Barr, Hunter, and Harry especially seem to be very quiet, non-leader types.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ purplefaithful said:
A lot depends on what they do with EG...
Leber was saying on the radio his presence would be sorely missed.
Not from just a stats perspective, but there are too many players on this defense who aren't fiery, leader types. Lots of quiet guys on that side of the ball.
I think he's spot on too...They're elite athletes over there, but they have caved in the biggest moments over the years.
I think there is absolutely a lack of leadership from the players over there.
You might be onto something there. Barr, Hunter, and Harry especially seem to be very quiet, non-leader types.
I guess being a vocal, leader-type of player involves being a little bit crazy... 
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