Vikings DC Brian Flores Must Deliver Improvement In 2023 After Cosmetic Changes

The NFL Draft is over, and the reality of the situation is that the Minnesota Vikings won’t know how they did in this particular player selection meeting until sometime after the 2024 season. It takes at least two years to make an adequate judgement of a particular draft.

Every team issues the same kind of positive self-analysis after the draft, and the Vikings are no different. After taking a wide receiver in the first round, the Vikings concentrated on defense in an attempt to reshape the unit that has been so vulnerable for the past 3 seasons.

There is no way of knowing how cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, safety Jay Ward and defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy will fit in with defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ set up, but all are versatile players who should have the tools to show some fight when they are on the field.

The Vikings never had a chance to go after any of the potential defensive superstars at the top of the draft. They never moved off of their No. 23 selection, and they used that pick on a player who is very likely to man the No. 2 wideout role and serve as a complement to Justin Jefferson.

Jordan Addison appears to be the most accomplished rookie receiver to come out of the draft, as he was a star in his college career while working with Kenny Pickett at Pittsburgh and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams. While Addison is technically a rookie, he should be ready to contribute from Day 1 because of his hands, route running, speed and overall skill.

The offense is the signature of this team, and it will remain that way. The Vikings have made a number of moves on defense during the offseason, but they have not added a dominant superstar who can take over and help turn his teammates into a steaming and ferocious unit.

Instead, the Vikings have chosen to make a coach their leader. A coach in Flores who has had success in working with Bill Belichick and leading his own Miami Dolphins.

Flores is a motivated man who should be a head coach in the NFL once again. His best opportunity to get there is to turn the Vikings into an adequate-to-good unit that allows the team to make a vital change to its identity.

As of right now, the Vikings are a bold and exciting offensive team that must perform well because the defense is awful. If the offense stays at the same level and the defense rises to slightly above average, this could be a formidable team.

Improvement on defense usually comes with the presence of a superstar. Someone who can simply take over the game when it matters most. Historically, these players include Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White and Deacon Jones. From a Vikings perspective, Alan Page and Carl Eller come to mind first, followed by Chris Doleman, Keith Millard, John Randle and Jared Allen.

Currently, Aaron Donald, Micah Parsons, Myles Garrett and the Bosa brothers – Nick and Joey – are the NFL’s top defensive players.

At this time a year ago, the belief was that Danielle Hunter had a legitimate chance to join that group. While he had been largely injured in 2020 and 2021, he was healthy and prepared for a big season. He had put back-to-back huge years together in 2018 and 2019 when he registered 14.5 sacks in each of those seasons.

Hunter ended up leading the team with 10.5 sacks, but he was not dominant. After two injured years and one as a good but not great player, it’s not realistic to think that he can come up with a season that compares with the ones put up by Nick Bosa, Haason Reddick, Myles Garrett, Chris Jones and Matthew Judon last year.

This means it really is on Flores to drive change and improvement. There’s little reason to think that the Vikings won’t look significantly different than they did a year ago. Flores will build a defense that attacks and is challenging for opponents to figure out.

But will this unit be better simply because the scheme is more complex? Certainly, there’s a chance that will happen, but the personnel is similar in ability to what it was. Several names have changed, including the addition of defensive end Dean Lowry from the Green Bay Packers, defensive back Byron Murphy from the Arizona Cardinals and outside linebacker Marcus Davenport from the Saints through free agency, but the talent level seems similar to what it was.

Flores has those players and the rookies to plug in – but not a single dominant player.