Minnesota Vikings Defense: Then And Now

It’s early but here’s a “then and now” of the Minnesota Vikings defense. “Then” being the Vikings defense that struggled oh-so-mightily last year. “Now” being a potential Vikings defense that is hopefully much improved this year. 

Before we even get to the players, it must be mentioned that the biggest change between “Then” and “Now” is that Ed Donatell is NO LONGER coordinating the defense and Brian Flores IS. As for the players:

Then:

DE	Jonathan Bullard
NT	Harrison Phillips
DE	Dalvin Tomlinson
OLB	Danielle Hunter
LB	Eric Kendricks
LB	Jordan Hicks
OLB	Za’Darius Smith
CB	Patrick Peterson
CB	Cam Dantzler
S	Harrison Smith
S	Cam Bynum

Now:

DE	Dean Lowry
NT	Harrison Phillips
DE	Za’Darius Smith
OLB	Danielle Hunter
LB	Brian Asamoah
LB	Jordan Hicks
OLB	Marcus Davenport
CB	Byron Murphy Jr.
CB	Andrew Booth Jr.
S	Harrison Smith
S	Lewis Cine

Edge players Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith, and Marcus Davenport are on the roster. Much has been made by the media, fans, and Smith himself, that he won’t be with the Vikings this season. Smith said his “goodbyes” on Twitter, for what that’s worth. For now, he’s still with the Vikings. I have no idea what Brian Flores has planned for his Vikings defense. Right now, he has three elite pass rushers. That’s a very good thing. How he plans to deploy them has me out of my damn mind. If all three are on the roster when the season starts, I’d like to see all three occasionally on the field at the same time. 

The Vikings defense in 2022 was terrible. There’s no dodging that. The above “Now” has six new players.  

Dean Lowry

Brian Asamoah

Marcus Davenport

Byron Murphy Jr.

Andrew Booth Jr.

Lewis Cine

Two of the returning players (Harrison Smith and Jordan Hicks) will probably be playing very different positions than they played last year. Za’Darius Smith might be. The only real holdovers from last year are Danielle Hunter getting after quarterbacks and Harrison Phillips over the center. 

In a blink of free agency, the defense of the Minnesota Vikings changed. It immediately improved with Brian Flores. It improved further with the additions of Byron Murphy Jr., Marcus Davenport, and Dean Lowry. The Vikings defense needed to get better. The coaches got better. On paper, the players got better. It’s a very promising start to the offseason. The draft should improve the Vikings defense even further.