Brian Flores And His New Pieces Can Shift Minnesota’s Timeline
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
We’ve all heard it. Whether it was a youth basketball coach, a talking head TV, or a dad just trying to get his kid to try on defense, the quote has been stamped into all of our brains. Defense wins championships. It’s a fact. Take a look at all of the recent Super Bowl winners, you’ll find elite defense after elite defense, and teams led by Patrick Mahomes.
For years, the “Defense wins championships” cliché has haunted the Vikings, as their defense is often their Achilles’ Heel. Now it appears the tides may be turning with Brian Flores. Last year he proved capable of raising the floor and ceiling of Minnesota’s defense. Coupled with their offseason additions, Flores gives Minnesota a unique opportunity to shift their Super Bowl window.
Last season, we got a glimpse of what an elite defense may look like in Minnesota. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, their defense won games by itself. This is thanks to Flores’ sheer talents as a schemer. Flores inherited a defense that was in the NFL’s bottom three in terms of points per game (25.1), passing yards per game (265.6), and overall yards per game (388.7) in 2022.
Enter Flores in 2023, and despite losing two of its most productive players in Za’Darius Smith and Dalvin Tomlinson, the defense shone. Flores’s unit allowed just 21.3 points per game, 234.5 passing yards per game, and 333.2 total yards per game, a drastic difference from the year prior.
A Vikings defense that hadn’t shown signs of competence in years became a dynamic unit. The defense even single-handedly willed the team to a few wins. They pitched a shutout in a game that finished 3-0, a feat that seemed unfathomable just a year prior.
Unfortunately, this offseason saw Danielle Hunter sign with the Houston Texans, meaning the defense had lost both their best player and leader in one fell swoop. To go along with that, they also lost a veteran presence and solid off-ball linebacker in Jordan Hicks. Losing two important playmakers can be a killer, but the team responded by grabbing a plethora of solid pieces.
For starters, the team went out and got Jonathan Greenard, the apparent Hunter replacement. Greenard, 27, is coming off his best season with the Texans, where he accumulated 12.5 sacks, 42 pressures, and boasted the sixth-best pass rush win rate in the league at 22%.
They also grabbed Hicks’ replacement in Blake Cashman from the Texans, who is also coming off his most productive year. Then came PFF darling and sneaky elite pass rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, who is familiar with Flores from their time with the Miami Dolphins. Van Ginkel will provide great depth at the edge and will terrorize teams on third downs and in obvious passing situations.
Minnesota’s wealth of edge rushing options got even more absurd after drafting Dallas Turner. Turner, an athletic freak, could very easily be the star that the group seems to be missing. Even if he’s not that right away, he is a stellar run-stopper. And the list doesn’t stop there. Shaquill Griffin, Jihad Ward, Jerry Tillery, Jonah Williams, and Khyree Jackson are all interesting new additions to the defense.
The Vikings’ defense filled in multiple holes, but more importantly, they built depth. Flores now has so many defenders to toy with, especially on the edge. The differences between Greenard, Turner, and Van Ginkel are stark, and yet Flores will be able to maximize all of their talents making things horrifying for opposing offensive lines. Whether he has Turner standing up playing off-ball linebacker, or Greenard bumped inside, he will find funky ways to get everyone making a difference.
Even with all the changes, Minnesota is bringing some impact defenders for their second year under Flores’s wing. Josh Metellus and Cam Bynum both broke out in their first year with Flores and don’t seem to be looking back. Ivan Pace Jr. and Mekhi Blackmon both showed flashes in their rookie year and will look to build on their successes as sophomores. The unit is rounded out by veterans Harrison Phillips and Byron Murphy, as well as the ultimate veteran, Harrison “The Hitman” Smith.
Flores’s system is a busy one, a seemingly complicated mess of organized chaos. These players coming off their first full offseason in the Flores system suggest that the defense should only be getting better. If they looked that good last year, imagine what it may look like when the team can perfect a system, rather than have to learn it.
These new and old pieces shape a defense that looks well-rounded for the first time in a long time. The mixture of depth, consistency, and wild cards could create a perfect storm for the defensive coordinator who likes to just throw the kitchen sink at his opposition. A great defense will change the discourse around the Vikings. Instead of praying for JJ McCarthy to be elite, the team can exhale knowing that the defense can pick him (or Sam Darnold) up when they stumble.
The Vikings struck gold with Brian Flores. They smartly gave him everything he wanted, and now he can use these new pieces, pair them with his old projects, and create a unit that can win championships. Minnesota needs to sort out their quarterback situation, but if that comes together, Flores has given them the unique opportunity to throw open their championship window.
Up Next