Projected starting line-up for the Vikings Defense

With a couple of new additions, the Vikings defense could look quite different in 2012. Chris Smith predicts their starting line up on defense.

The Minnesota Vikings have endured the same defensive traits for the last few years that I have watched them: Excellent at stopping the run and below average at stopping the pass. Last season was more of the same; however the Vikings went from excellent at stopping the run to around the average mark for the league mainly due to the loss of Pat Williams. Looking at the projected starters on defense for next season, it seems to be that much will be the same as last year. So without further a due, let’s have a look at my projected starters on defense for the Minnesota Vikings for the upcoming 2012-2013 season.

DEFENSIVE LINE
RDE – Jared Allen
DT – Kevin Williams
DT – Letroy Guion
LDE – Brian Robison

This projected starting defensive line in actually quite strong at first look. Jared Allen is coming off a MONSTER year from 2011 recording 22 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 1 safety and 1 Interception. Even more impressive was the fact that most teams would try to block him with an OT and a TE at the same time. I personally think for next season Jared Allen will have another pro-bowl caliber season although it is highly unlikely he will produce the amazing stats he recorded last season. Next to Allen will be 6-time pro-bowler Kevin Williams. Williams is one of the best Defensive Tackles in the NFL still to this day even though he is 31 years old. He recorded 5 sacks in a 14 game season for him. I expect a big year for Williams next to Allen. On the other side of Williams at defensive tackle is Letroy Guion who has recently just re-signed with the team. Guion is in his 5th year and looks like he will start. I’m personally not sure if he is ready for the job in order to make the defensive line a competitive one, but with players like Williams and Allen on the line, I’m sure he’ll be able to produce performances of average ability and show signs of stopping the run next to Williams. I don’t think Guion will be producing many sacks next season but as long as he stops the run and contains opposition’s offensive linemen, he should be okay for the season. This finally leaves us with Brian Robison at left defensive line. Robison produced 8 sacks last season and showed real signs of ability. He is one of the players I am most looking forward to watching next season as I feel he can register double digit numbers for sacks. Overall, a decent starting lineup for the defensive line although in terms of depth, I feel we are extremely weak at DT and are also lacking NFL experience across the whole defensive line in terms of backups.

LINEBACKERS
Weak Side Linebacker – Erin Henderson
Middle Linebacker – Jasper Brinkley
Strong Side Linebacker – Chad Greenway

An exciting starting linebacker group here if they can live up to their potential that they have all showed from last year and seasons beyond. First of all is Erin Henderson, the younger brother of the recently released E.J. Erin showed real glimpses of big potential last season at weakside linebacker recording 70 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. This will be Erin’s first year starting and I for one am expecting a huge year from him due to the potential he has showed. Next to Erin will be Jasper Brinkley. He will be starting at MLB for the first team this season after E.J Henderson got released. Brinkley has shown ability to tackle well and stop the run, but has a weakness at zone coverage and overall ability of defending against the pass. Brinkley has practiced most of this summer at defending the pass and has vowed to prove the doubters wrong. However, I still think in the NFC North against Rodgers, Cutler and Stafford, Brinkley will struggle to defend against the pass. However, his ability to defend against the run has been proven already in his short NFL career. This finally leaves us to Chad Greenway at strongside linebacker, who made the pro-bowl last season. Greenway recorded 154 tackles and 2 sacks. Greenway is the best linebacker in the Vikings roster by a long way and is now also one of the most experienced. Greenway will be one of the team’s leaders and should produce stats similar to last seasons.

CORNERBACKS and SAFETIES
#1 Antoine Winfield
#2 Chris Cook
#1 Mistral Raymond
#2 Harrison Smith

These rankings can be subject to change due to the competition (or lack of) that is available at the cornerback and safety department of the Vikings roster. It is also going to be subject to change the most in the cornerback depth chart due to the retirement of Asher Allen recently and the chance of a possible addition to the roster. Most importantly however will be how each player performs at training camp. Apart from Antoine Winfield, I think every single cornerback’s playing time on the roster and overall depth chart ranking will change right up until game one of the season. This is because of last season’s statistics against the pass and also the lack of quality brought in through free agency. The Vikings were ranked 26th against the pass allowing an average of 251 passing yards for the 2011-2012 season. Opponents completed 68% of passes combining to a total of 4019 yards with a total of 34 TD’S. In addition to this, we only managed to land a DISMAL 8 interceptions. These extremely poor numbers were nothing to do with the defensive line getting to the QB, because we recorded 50 sacks last season which is a good number. The simple fact of the matter is that the Vikings secondary was simply not good enough in addition to poor defensive playcalling.

For the cornerbacks, Winfield is easily the most talented corner on the team and is one of the league’s best corners at tackling and stopping the run. However, Winfield is now 34 years old and the three times pro-bowler is starting to lose gas in the tank. Winfield could be moved to nickel cornerback or even into the safety position from time to time to preserve his talents and endurance over the course of a season. Chris Cook could be the number one cornerback on the team but needs to stay healthy and out of trouble in order to achieve this. Josh Robinson was drafted by the Vikings and had great combine numbers but is a rookie and little should be expected of him to start with until he can find his feet. The only other legit cornerbacks who can get into the top two on the depth chart are Zack Bowman and Chris Carr. Both players have shown plenty of potential over their NFL careers but struggle to stay fit over the course of an NFL season. Carr is 29 whilst Bowman is 27 and they are reaching the point in their careers where they need to prove they are capable of playing the CB position efficiently over the course of an NFL season.

Mistral Raymond is expected to start at free safety after he found himself in the starting position as a rookie after being drafted 170th in the 2011 draft. He recorded 22 tackles and 1 Interception during his time at safety last season and is once again thrown in at the deep end in a division full of elite quarterbacks. I think Raymond has talent but I do worry for him this season. At strong safety should be Harrison Smith, who the Vikings selected in the first round of this year’s draft. Mike Mayock was a huge fan of the pick and the player in terms of a fit for Smith and the Vikings and Smith should be an impact starter from day one. It’s hard to predict what numbers Smith will produce in his rookie year, but he will certainly be busy for the 2011-2012 season, as will the rest of the Vikings defense.