The Vikings Built Brian Flores’ Ideal Linebacker Room
Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Since the fall-off and departure of long-time Minnesota Vikings Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks, the Vikings’ linebacker room has been one of the team’s biggest question marks. However, young talent and free-agent acquisitions are making the unit one of the team’s most promising features, especially when it gets to be molded in Brian Flores’ hands.
The offseason brought the departure of Jordan Hicks, who signed with the Cleveland Browns for two years, $8 million. Hicks was the group’s veteran and leader, wearing the green dot and calling plays on the defense. The team decided to go in a different. younger direction, and despite losing Hicks’ on-field play and player-coach-like qualities, the group seemingly improved because of this new direction.
To replace Hicks, the Vikings acquired Blake Cashman, who Pro Football Focus graded as the league’s 8th-best linebacker in 2023. The 28-year-old Minnesota native finished 2023 with 68 tackles and two sacks. Those raw numbers aren’t gaudy, but he’s coming off a career year with the Houston Texans.
Cashman is not only a beast in the run game, but is also very reliable in pass coverage, an area where Hicks did not excel at. He is uber-athletic and flies around the field with abandon, something the team hasn’t seen in years. Having a true sideline-to-sideline linebacker in the middle of the field gives Flores much more wiggle room with what he can do now.
Beside Cashman will be former UDFA Ivan Pace Jr. who impressed everyone in Minnesota with flashes of stardom in his rookie season. Pace, also an uber-athletic off-ball linebacker, logged 70 tackles, 3 sacks, an INT, and a 77.1 PFF grade in his first NFL season. In 2024, he will be don the green dot, taking over for Hicks in calling the plays to his teammates. That appointment speaks volumes for his maturity, as he’s only in his sophomore season. Hicks’ departure gives Pace more responsibility and opportunity to prove he’s a star. From what we’ve seen from him thus far, there’s no reason to believe he won’t prove that.
Outside of Pace and Cashman, the clear Nos. 1 and 2 in the linebacker department, there are certainly question marks as to who can make a difference. The first two preseason games may have given us some answers to those questions.
Dallas Gant is looking like the Vikings’ most recent gem out of the UDFA market. Gant showed well against the Las Vegas Raiders in Preseason Week 1, finishing with three tackles and a QB hurry. He was the defense’s highest grade player with an 81.3 PFF grade for the week. He followed that up by doing something previously thought impossible: Making Lewis Cine look good.
Some nice man coverage by Dallas Gant here, he tips the ball that gets intercepted by Lewis Cine. Ball was a bit behind the receiver and Gant got his hand on it. pic.twitter.com/dnAi7rFvs9
— Matt Fries (@FriesFootball) August 19, 2024
That alone should have Vikings fans on notice, but there’s more! He finished the day second behind Cine in total tackles (9) and tops on the team for solo stops (6). It’s no surprise given Gant was a tackling machine in Toledo, putting up 116 tackles last season and earning First Team All-MAC in both 2022 and 2023. He has a nose for the ball and is eager to hit anyone who comes across his face. Even if he can’t find any defensive snaps, expect Gant to make the roster and make a name for himself on special teams, where his effort and tackling ability will shine.
Brian Asamoah is another interesting young name stashed on the Vikings’ defense. The third-year player is yet another uber-athletic linebacker who has teased Minnesota fans with some (albeit minimal) flashes in previous seasons. Asamoah hasn’t seen the field much in the regular season and has had his growth stunted by injuries and a switch of defensive coordinators. Perhaps a second year under Flores could unlock the potential he holds. Despite registering a sack on Saturday, the future doesn’t look bright for Asamoah, but he is a young depth piece who could give the defense a spark at any moment.
Every linebacker from the top to the bottom of the roster fits the same mold: Guys with the ability to play off the ball and fly around to make an impact all over the field. Each one of these linebackers is tailor-made for Flores’ system. The uber-athleticism and keen pass coverage abilities that each possesses ensure Flores has the flexibility to blitz any of them up the middle to stun the quarterback or blanket a large area of the field while he sends pressure from elsewhere. Having players that fit a system pays dividends, creating a cohesive scheme and also raising the talent level of the unit by putting them in positions to succeed.
With an abundance of young players and new faces, the Vikings linebacker room is primed to play a large role in the further ascension of a defense that improved dramatically last season. Now that Flores has the pieces that play the way he wants them to, this side of the ball should only continue their meteoric rise.
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