An Early Guess At The Minnesota Vikings Defensive Starters

Every year brings changes to an NFL roster. This year brings more changes than usual to the Minnesota Vikings defense. It was needed. The Vikings defense was terrible last year. The changes started with the defensive coordinator. Brian Flores will craft the personnel and schematic changes. It’s a strong start. A handful of defensive starters last season are with other teams this season. Changes. Here’s an early guess at the starters on a new Minnesota Vikings defense.

DE	Esezi Otomewo
NT	Harrison Phillips
DE	Dean Lowry
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

I suppose that Esezi Otomewo might be a surprise starter at defensive end. I’ve seen some projections of a Vikings 53-man roster not even include him. My optimism for the second-year defensive lineman starts with his being an original draft pick of the team’s new decision-makers. His opportunities increased later in the season and I thought that he flashed often enough to be a defensive factor moving forward. I was intrigued by him after his selection in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. I really like his potential now. 

The strength of the Vikings defense has to be edge rushers Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith, and free agent addition Marcus Davenport. That’s a nice trio. I’m real curious to see if and how Flores gets all three on the field at the same time. That’d be fun. 

The only certainty with the Vikings cornerbacks is that Byron Murphy Jr. will be on the field. He has inside-outside versatility and I expect Flores to take advantage of that versatility. I list Andrew Booth Jr. as a starter in this base defense simply because he was the first choice to be one of the starters. He was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. All of the other corners on the roster came after. Now, he has to stay on the field and play to that status. He has the talent to be a top-notch starter. He has to stay healthy. So does Akayleb Evans. Murphy, Booth, and Evans are the top three corners on the roster. Murphy has a starting spot. Booth and Evans have to earn theirs. Perhaps they are the outside corners with Murphy manning the inside. Third-round pick Mekhi Blackmon should factor into the competition for playing time as well. 

Byron Murphy Jr. isn’t the only defensive back with positional versatility. Last year’s starting safety Camryn Bynum has some. So does, fourth-round pick Jay Ward. While Bynum played corner at Cal, I like him mostly as a safety for the Vikings. His experience does give Flores options. Ward truly can play all over the secondary as well as in the box. I suppose Eric Rowe might be a template for Ward. Rowe played all over the secondary for Flores with the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins. 

I’d seen enough of last year’s defense by about mid-October. I can’t wait to see this defense moving forward.