The Rise of the Vikings Underdog Defensive Line
https://zonecoverage.com/2020/minnesota-vikings-news/the-rise-of-the-vikings-underdog-defensive-line/
Injuries, trades and free agent departures have forced the Minnesota
Vikings’ defensive line to adapt to a new norm: Performing without star
power.
As Yannick Ngakoue struggles in Baltimore, Everson Griffen hops from team to team and Danielle Hunter waits out his healing herniated disc, the Vikings’ underdog D-line is picking up momentum.
There was only one NFL team that suited up no Day 1 or Day 2 draft
picks on the defensive line in Week 10. You guessed it: Minnesota.
Against the Chicago Bears on Monday night they played three
fourth-round picks, a sixth-round pick, a seventh-round pick and two
undrafted free agents, yet that group alone generated 14 pressures on Nick Foles as the Vikings held an opposing quarterback in check for the third straight week.
After Ngakoue was traded during the Vikings bye, the youthful defensive line was essentially given a 10-game audition to see who could earn opportunities, and they’re making the most of them as the team has gone 3-0 in that span.
“I just think that we’re together every single week, and by just
going out and competing, you start to form a bond with guys, even with a
lot of younger guys,” said fourth-year defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson,
who finds himself in a starting role. “So I just think that every
single week we are going out and competing. That just forms a really
strong bond with everyone.”
The Vikings have deservedly developed a reputation for grooming
unheralded pass-rushers under the tutelage of defensive line coach Andre
Patterson. Ifeadi Odenigbo, Shamar Stephen and Stephen Weatherly were seventh-round picks that became useful players, for example. Griffen was a fourth-rounder. Tom Johnson was undrafted. But along the way the Vikings have injected higher-drafted stars to lead the way. Sharrif Floyd and Sheldon Richardson were first-round picks at 3-technique, Linval Joseph was a second-rounder brought in to play nose tackle, and Danielle Hunter was a third-round edge rusher.
Two seasons ago, the starting defensive line consisted of a former
first-, second-, third- and fourth-round pick that each had at least one
Pro Bowl under their belt. This year it features two fourth-round picks
and two seventh-round picks with a combined zero appearances, and
Patterson couldn’t be happier.
“I asked them in a meeting,” Patterson said Thursday, “‘OK, how many
first-round picks are in this room? Raise your hand.’ And nobody raised
their hand. ‘How many second-round picks in this room?’ Nobody raised
their hand. ‘How many third-round picks in this room?’ Nobody raised
their hand.
“OK, so the bottom line is, OK, it doesn’t matter what round you came
in. What matters is what you do when you get here, and are you willing
to pay the prices every day to improve as a player? And that’s how I see
myself as a coach, so I identify with those guys. I had to work the
hard way to get here. I had to work the hard way to stay here. So I
identify with those kind of guys, and those guys I love coaching.’’
There may not be a greater underdog than undrafted pass-rusher Hercules Mata’afa,
who has battled through a torn ACL, two position changes and an October
release on his way to seemingly finding a niche on the Vikings’
defensive line. Minnesota struggled to make it work with Mata’afa as a
3-technique because of his undersized frame, but his latest move to the
edge seems to have unlocked some of the third-year pro’s athleticism.
Mata’afa has been vocal on social media about deserving a place in
the league, and you can’t argue with his production: 10 pressures the
last three weeks out of 67 pass-rush snaps. His resurgence at defensive
end resembles that of both starting edge rushers Ifeadi Odenigbo and Jalyn Holmes,
who the Vikings tried to fit in as interior rushers early in their
careers. There’s been a lot of trial and error to put this group of,
well, misfits together.
“We kind of just get out in the mud, and that’s how Dre likes to have
his guys in the room,” Mata’afa said. “We all just have that underdog
mentality where we don’t care. We are just going out there and playing
ball.”
The collective Q-score of the Vikings’ defensive line might be a
league-low. Their sack leader is playing for the Baltimore Ravens. Their
highest-paid player is Shamar Stephen, who is in the middle of a tidy
three-year, $12.45 million contract.
Underdogs through and through.
You wonder if Edwards is that good of a coach or if we're just hitting the right guys at the right time? The defensive improvement has been surprising to me. We basically have no $$ on it with the exception of Kendricks and Smith yet we're playing decent right now?
Doesn't this lay the groundwork that you draft offensive linemen and skill players high and hope for the best on the defensive side?
I really like Andre Patterson and you can see how much the players respond to him. It's great to see guys stepping up and finding their spots.
My spidey sense tingles a bit in a bad way over this D-line: I don't know if its smoke and mirrors yet. I need more empirical data first.
@"AGRforever" said:You wonder if Edwards is that good of a coach or if we're just hitting the right guys at the right time? The defensive improvement has been surprising to me. We basically have no $$ on it with the exception of Kendricks and Smith yet we're playing decent right now? Doesn't this lay the groundwork that you draft offensive linemen and skill players high and hope for the best on the defensive side?
I wouldn't say that we have a good DLine, and a better DLine would certainly be better. That said, I trust Zimmer and his staff to make the defense good enough with lesser talent much more than I trust the offensive side of the ball to do the same. I think if we're going to win a SB with Cousins, it's going to be by surrounding him with so much talent that it carries him. I think we need to keep trying to find that next level QB, but after that I agree with the assessment of building up the OLine to an elite level, while keeping our skill position players high and peppering guys in there on defense. The plan we initially had during the Zimmer tenure of making an awesome defense and hoping the offense would catch up was the wrong plan.
@"AGRforever" said:You wonder if Edwards is that good of a coach or if we're just hitting the right guys at the right time? The defensive improvement has been surprising to me. We basically have no $$ on it with the exception of Kendricks and Smith yet we're playing decent right now? Doesn't this lay the groundwork that you draft offensive linemen and skill players high and hope for the best on the defensive side?
You must mean Patterson, Edwards will be coaching for the Cowpokes this Sunday...
B)
There's a very interesting observation in there about the Vikings having tried to use players on the interior but many did better when moved back to DE: Odenigbo, Ma'ta'afa, Holmes. Also reminds me of Datone Jones, who we signed as a medium-level FA from the Packers and tried to convert to DT. The 3T position has been a deep hole for the Vikings forever, but I didn't realize we were possibly wasting DEs trying to fill it.
Is Jalyn Holmes playing decently at all? I haven't really noticed him, surprised he was cited in the article.
I still think of the 1700 players in the NFL, about 200 are elite, 200 shouldn't be there, and there's very little difference between the rest.
As much as Zimmer and staff have been thoroughly out-coached in their biggest games over the years, they do shine brightly with kids like this DL and coaching up DB's too.
Chicago's offense is historically awful. Let's see how they do against Tampa in a few weeks.
@"comet52" said: Chicago's offense is historically awful. Let's see how they do against Tampa in a few weeks....says a man who insisted we never win in Chicago and that we make Chicago QBs look like All Pros....when I told him that Chicago's offense is historically awful.
@"comet52" said: Chicago's offense is historically awful. Let's see how they do against Tampa in a few weeks.Eventually you're going to be right, comet....they will lose again.
@"comet52" said: Chicago's offense is historically awful. Let's see how they do against Tampa in a few weeks.You do know the D held Rodgers to 14 points, and also roughed up Stafford too. It's Ok to give credit when credit is due. I won't be too surprised if the D gets lit up against Tampa. No one says this no name DL is the the next Page, Eller, Marshall, and Larson.
@"MaroonBells" said:@"comet52" said: Chicago's offense is historically awful. Let's see how they do against Tampa in a few weeks. ...says a man who insisted we never win in Chicago and that we make Chicago QBs look like All Pros....when I told him that Chicago's offense is historically awful.
Yes we bumped the record up to 4-16 last 20... awesomesauce!
They didn't show up today. Zero pressure on Dalton and poor gap discipline allowing the cutbacks all game long. Not a good showing, but they are still young on the edges. Biggest issue is still the weak play up the middle. We need a capable 3T to match with Pierce next year. A healthy Hunter would have made a huge difference today as well.
Today was the fall of the defensive line. Omg! They were so bad all over.
@"StickyBun" said: My spidey sense tingles a bit in a bad way over this D-line: I don't know if its smoke and mirrors yet. I need more empirical data first.
Prescience Sticky...
DL was invisible, but I don't think they were given any help either, defensive coaching seemed like a pre season game, totally vanilla, didn't see much stunting or blitzing.
@"StickyBun" said:Eventually didn't take too long.@"comet52" said: Chicago's offense is historically awful. Let's see how they do against Tampa in a few weeks. Eventually you're going to be right, comet....they will lose again.
@"JR44" said: DL was invisible, but I don't think they were given any help either, defensive coaching seemed like a pre season game, totally vanilla, didn't see much stunting or blitzing.Ditto on that, I expected much more blitzing if anything. It's not like it was Rogers or Brees back there.
That was a banged-up Cowboys OL too.
There's a couple of guys with promise on the DL unit who are being forced to start. Not sure what their ceilings are.
But this years DL is a very weak unit for the Vikings...Imagine that Dl with DH, MP and YN?
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