As the dust settles on the 2024 season, the Minnesota Vikings will evaluate themselves and set the organization's direction for 2025 and beyond. Let's have a little fun from the outside and do the same. You can find the offense's report card here.
My 2024 Vikings report card continues with the defense:
Defensive playcalling - A
DC Brian Flores runs a unique defense that, at its core, is designed to shut down opponents’ specific tendencies. He meets early downs, which are run-focused in the NFL, with six rushers and hot zone droppers to take away easy answers for opposing quarterbacks. In passing situations, the Vikings put four edge rushers on the field and pinned back their ears to get to the QB.
Throughout the season, Minnesota's defense morphed its approach to more man coverage on passing downs, which became a big part of their nine-game winning streak. Flores' defense had massive coverage versatility and a complete repertoire of stunts to attack opposing offensive lines, allowing them to shut down most passing games.
There were times when the defense got beaten. Two-minute drills stick out, and the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams had QBs who could make decisive downfield throws to find holes in zones. However, it's notable that the Lions and Rams could shred any defense, and the Vikings were also able to stop them frequently.
In the modern NFL, holding elite offenses down for an entire game is impossible. The Vikings did about as well as anyone, finishing second in the NFL in both EPA/play allowed and DVOA on defense.
interior defensive line - B
Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard had excellent seasons as run defenders. Minnesota's early-down defense prioritizes run defense and asks defensive tackles to eat up blockers as pass rushers, so Phillips and Bullard's lack of pass rush on the interior isn't something the team is likely concerned about. Still, having a player that can win one-on-one would be nice. Jerry Tillery had an up-and-down year, but that's to be expected as a rotational player. Jalen Redmond showed some very exciting flashes, even displacing Tillery for a time.
edge rusher - A+
The Vikings got incredible Pro Bowl seasons out of free agent additions Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. Greenard is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, while Van Ginkel's versatility as a rusher and coverage player helped earn him Second Team All-Pro honors. Even depth performed well, with Pat Jones II earning a career-high seven sacks and Jihad Ward establishing himself as a crucial interior rusher.
Rookie Dallas Turner may not have lit up snap counts or the stat sheet, but it's hard to blame him because he's behind two of the best edge rushers in the NFL. He grew significantly into his coverage responsibilities and showed great flashes as a pass rusher late in the season.
linebacker - B+
Blake Cashman was key to Minnesota's improvement from a volatile defense in 2023 to a top-three defense in 2024. His versatility in coverage and dynamism blitzing against the run and pass were huge. Still, Ivan Pace Jr. was even better at attacking the line of scrimmage. He's a missile getting into the backfield against the run. However, Pace is still getting his feet under him in coverage and was exploited there at times.
Both Cashman and Pace also missed time. Kamu Grugier-Hill had a memorable interception against the Packers, and Van Ginkel and Turner could play off-ball some, but the injuries negatively impacted Minnesota's overall performance.
Hopefully, Pace will continue to grow as a coverage player, and he and Cashman will be able to stay healthy in 2025.
cornerback - B
The Vikings cobbled together a CB room from incumbent Byron Murphy and two veterans in Stephon Gilmore and Shaquill Griffin. Murphy had an excellent season, earning Pro Bowl honors and recording six interceptions, but he fell short of perfection. Some moments where opponents got the better of him, particularly Amon-Ra St. Brown in the Week 18 game, stick out in impactful losses.
Gilmore and Griffin stand out as playing above expectations, given that Griffin has been shuffled around to several different teams and that Gilmore waited until training camp to sign. The veterans allowed the Vikings to expand their defensive scheme, particularly when playing man coverage, but neither was a lockdown player. Gilmore was stickier in coverage. However, Griffin recovered better, and Gilmore's age showed in his run defense and tackling toward the end of the year.
I don't mean to cast this section as negative. All three players were quality starters on an excellent defense, with Murphy truly earning his Pro Bowl honors. It's just that the group was probably the weak link of an excellent overall defense, and the Vikings will need to evaluate how they want to proceed at the position, given that all three are free agents.
safety - A-
The Vikings' scheme heavily relies on their safeties, and they use three-safety sets more than any other team in the league. Harrison Smith is the elder statesman who everyone on the team can look up to. Cam Bynum is the deep safety and arguably the life of the defense with his elaborate celebration schemes. Josh Metellus is the chess piece who can fill any role on the defense.
All three played at a high level in 2024 but weren't without blemishes, leading to the A- grade.
Bynum was great at deterring throws deep and over the middle of the field and is generally solid in run defense, at least when he's not playing against Jahmyr Gibbs.
Smith is an incredibly smart player who does a ton of work pre-snap to get the defense into a good check for responding to the offensive setup. He knows where to be, but at this point in his career, he might end up half a step late in getting there.
Metellus can play in coverage, in the box in run support, and as a blitzer proficiently, but he struggled a bit when asked to play true LB through Cashman and Pace's injuries.
special teams - B-
Rookie Kicker Will Reichard was perfect through his first seven games until he suffered an injury against the Indianapolis Colts, where he missed two kicks. After returning, he struggled with consistency, missing four of his 15 FG attempts. In his stead, John Parker Romo went 11 of 12 on FGs and seven of eight on extra points in four games.
Regarding kickoffs, Reichard had the notable penalty against the Lions. Still, the opponent's average starting field position on his kicks was 29.6, 15th out of 40 qualifying players.
Punter Ryan Wright ended up about league average in net yards and hangtime. He doesn't force a lot of fair catches, but he had a high rate of punts inside the 20 and a middle-of-the-pack touchback rate.
At long snapper, I'd be lying if I said I know how to evaluate them. Still, Andrew DePaola has earned the respect of the NFL with three consecutive Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams.
talent acquisition - A
The Vikings added a whopping 12 significant contributors through free agency, trades, and the draft: Sam Darnold, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Aaron Jones, Blake Cashman, Stephon Gilmore, Shaquill Griffin, Cam Robinson, Dallas Turner, Will Reichard, Jihad Ward, and Jerry Tillery.
Almost every player above had a career year. Darnold, Greenard, and Van Ginkel made the Pro Bowl. Jones racked up 1,500 yards from scrimmage at age 30. Cashman, Gilmore, and Griffin leveled up Minnesota's pass coverage. Turner showed strong flashes, especially towards the end of the year.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah deserves a ton of credit for having a clear vision and steady hand captaining the Vikings' ship over the past three years. He's taken risks in moving on from established talent and has a remarkable hit rate in free agency, gaining tremendous value from his many roster additions.
To keep winning games in 2025 and beyond, the Vikings need to get their QB choice right, start hitting on draft picks at a better rate, and improve the offensive line.
overall Grade - B+
Compared to preseason expectations, the Vikings drastically overperformed. However, the final two games left a sour taste in everyone's mouth. The average grade of all position groups comes out to a B+, which feels about right for that juxtaposition.
There are so many positives to take from 2024, from play callers on both sides of the ball to the skill-position players to the play of the many free agents on defense. Because of Darnold's play in the final two games, the Vikings' QB position is an open question, but there are many great pieces to build on for 2025.
The Vikings' next challenge is to figure out how to approach free agency. They have ample cap space and have received more snaps from players entering free agency than any other team.
The Vikings will need another great offseason from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Many of the players above must continue their level of play to maintain the team's regular-season success and improve in the playoffs next year.
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