Vikings Backers

This is about the linebackers. The Minnesota Vikings linebackers.

There's still a few more months left in the offseason. There's still the 2016 NFL Draft. A position group on an NFL roster can change quite a bit in that time. With that in mind here's an early look at the Minnesota Vikings linebackers.

Anthony Barr
Eric Kendricks
Emmanuel Lamur
Edmond Robinson
Audie Cole
Brandon Watts
Travis Lewis
Terrance Plummer
Alex Singleton

If the season opened today the linebacker trio in the Vikings base defense would probably look like this

Anthony Barr
Eric Kendricks
Emmanuel Lamur

Indications have been and continue to be that the team intends to re-sign veteran Chad Greenway. Hopefully that comes to be. It would be great to see him end his career in Minnesota. If that does happen Greenway and Lamur would likely compete for the weak-side spot.

The ceiling for Anthony Barr is sky-high. He should be a difference-making defender in Minnesota for a very long time. He can do it all. Rush, chase, cover. Eric Kendricks made the middle linebacker his as a rookie last season. At 6' and 235 lbs he might be smaller than head coach Mike Zimmer's ideal for the position but he simply makes plays. He also plays with an infectious energy. After he was selected in the second round of last year's draft Zimmer said that Kendricks could eventually end up as the weak-side linebacker. The media and fans have run with that quote and tried to move him there ever since. I haven't heard Zimmer say anything about moving Kendricks from the middle since he proved that he could play there. I like Kendricks leading the Vikings defense and I hope that he stays in the middle of it. But that's just me. No matter what happens Barr and Kendricks will be the heart of the Vikings linebackers for, hopefully, a very long time. It's that third spot that's up for grabs. While Lamur and, hopefully, Greenway are the top contenders for the spot they aren't the only contenders. Edmond Robinson and Brandon Watts are former seventh-round picks that made the roster. Robinson last year and Watts in 2014. Robinson might have been drafted higher if he had played at a big school than Newberry College. Both linebackers are fast and athletic. Robinson, at 6'3" and 245 lbs, is more in the bigger backer mold that Zimmer seems to prefer and likely has a more secure hold on a roster spot. He's probably considered the backup to Barr but if Robinson turns into one of the top-3 linebackers on the team, and he does have the natural talent to do so, the coaches will find a spot for him in the base defense. Audie Cole has made some starts at middle linebacker and has done quite well in those starts. He's a solid special teams player and a dependable backup in the middle. Travis Lewis was signed on the first day of free agency and immediately becomes one of their top special teams players. He started some games at linebacker for the Detroit Lions last season. Terrance Plummer and Alex Singleton were signed to the practice squad last season and will compete for spots in training camp.

This is probably the most depth that the Vikings have had at linebacker in a long time. I see the top-six, if they keep six, looking like this.

Anthony Barr
Eric Kendricks
Emmanuel Lamur
Edmond Robinson
Audie Cole
Travis Lewis

And that doesn't include my hoped-for return of Greenway. Do they keep seven if they re-sign Greenway? If they do bring back Greenway, he would likely come in as the highest-paid linebacker on the team. Perhaps that's the discussion now between the team and his agent. At best, Geenway will be a part-time player but that's just the way the finances work when a position group is as young as this one. Barr, Kendricks, and Lamur are 24, 24, an 26 respectively. Lewis is the old man at 28. Personally, I think that the Vikings would like a safety/linebacker-hybrid as part of their starting trio. That would give them much more versatility in their base defense. Watts is probably the player currently on the roster that best fits that role and I don't have him making it out of training camp. Lamur played some safety in college and was often used in coverage with the Cincinnati Bengals. And it was Zimmer, as the Bengals defensive coordinator, that first used Lamur in that role. If the Vikings draft a player like Ohio State's Darron Lee, LSU's Deion Jones, or USC's Su'a Cravens early in the 2016 NFL Draft that would likely mark the end of Greenway's terrific Vikings career. Perhaps the less terrific Vikings career of Cole or Robinson as well. Robinson is one of the most physically gifted linebackers on the roster. I have a tough time seeing a player with his potential being cut. It's a good thing that these decisions aren't mine. No matter what happens between now and September the Minnesota Vikings will have a very talented bunch of linebackers. And that goes beyond the starters.