As we progress through the Minnesota Vikings’ roster, we move on to the defense. Since Mike Zimmer came to town, the Vikings have had one of the best defenses in the NFL. In 2013, the Vikings were dead last in the league, allowing 30 points per game. Zimmer got to town in 2014 and immediately the team moved up to 11th (21.4ppg). Since then, the team hasn’t dropped out of the top ten – 5th in 2015 (18.9ppg), 6th in 2016 (19.2ppg), 1st in 2017 (15.8ppg), 9th in 2018 (21.3ppg), 5th last season (18.9ppg). This year will be the biggest challenge of Zimmer’s career, however, as the team will be without a starting defensive end (Everson Griffen), a starting defensive tackle (Linval Joseph) and three starting cornerbacks (Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, Mackenzie Alexander). To get an idea how Zimmer will overcome these losses, let’s start by looking at the defensive line.
Defensive Ends
Danielle Hunter is the unquestioned leader of the defensive line group. Even though this will be his sixth season in the league, he is only 25 years old and is entering the prime of his career. There is no question he’ll be starting in 2020, the only thing left to decide is if he’ll stay on the left side or move to the right side to replace Griffen.
Ifeadi Odenigbo will get the first shot at the other defensive end starting spot. The third-year player has yet to start a game in his career, but he played in all 16 regular season games last year and racked up 7 sacks.
Anthony Zettel is a free agent the Vikings signed this offseason. Entering his sixth year in the NFL, Zettel has an outside chance of becoming a starter, although he’ll likely be the team’s primary backup.
D.J. Wonnum Jr. was taken in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft. In a normal year, I would give him 50/50 odds of grabbing a starting role. However, with the pandemic and no offseason with the team, it’s almost a guarantee he’ll be coming off the bench in 2020.
Kenny Willekes was a seventh-round pick, giving him even longer odds of cracking the starting lineup.
Eddie Yarbrough was signed off the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad and will be competing for a backup role.
Stacy Keely was an undrafted rookie in 2019. He’ll be fighting for the practice squad.
Defensive Tackle
The Vikings had a huge hole to fill at defensive tackle with the departure of Linval Joseph, so they went out and signed one of the biggest players in the league. Michael Pierce is entering his fifth year in the league, after spending his first four years in Baltimore.
Shamar Stephen came back to Minnesota after spending a year in Seattle and proceeded to start 15 games for the Vikings. He will be first in line for the starting spot next to Pierce.
Jaleel Johnson will be battling Stephen for the right to start in 2020. He has appeared in 37 games over his first three seasons, starting four.
Hercules Mata’afa will be in his third season with the Vikings. The undersized DT spent his first year on injured-reserve and played in six games in 2019. He’s a wildcard, as he could land on the practice squad or he could earn a starting role.
Jalyn Holmes is also entering his third year in the NFL. He’s appeared in 11 games over the past two seasons.
James Lynch was taken in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft. Many analysts proclaimed him to be a great value in the fourth round, leading many to believe he can push for playing time in his rookie year.
Armon Watts came out of nowhere last season, playing in seven games and even starting one. The sixth-round pick is another tough player to predict.
David Moa is an undrafted rookie out of Boise State. He’ll likely end up on the practice squad.
Do you think the Vikings can overcome the loss of defensive linemen Griffen and Joseph? Reach out to me on Twitter (@JordanWrightNFL) and let me know. Skol!