Purple Prognosticating With Mike Otto - Pt. 2: The Defense

Everything is purple, everything is purple...

Lifelong Vikings fan Mike Otto will be with us all throughout the 2012 season breaking down the Vikings and making bold predictions.

With two preseason games under their collective belt, Mike took a bit to break down the defense.

Position-By-Position: What needs to change?  What needs to stay the same? 

Defensive Line:  Barring injury, the starters will remain unchanged this year. Week one you will see Kevin

Williams & Letroy Guion in the middle, flanked by Jared Allen & Brian Robison.

It's worth nothing that in camp thus far Letroy Guion has been getting noticed and making plays. It remains to be seen if he can command double teams on a weekly basis during the regular season, freeing up Kevin Williams to wreak havoc in the backfield.

Speaking of Kevin Williams, #93 had, by all accounts, a down year in 2011. To be fair, it was his first year without Pat Williams next to him and he was slowed by nagging injuries. Even with those circumstances, it's become apparent to me that Kevin Williams can't dominate all by himself like he could when he first entered the league.

For the defensive tackles to have a good year they must work together and succeed as a squad, cuz that's the ONLY WAY IT'S GONNA HAPPEN, DOGG!

Leslie Frazier has stated that the defensive line will see more rotation this year in an attempt to “keep guys fresh.” This is undoubtedly because he realized this is the only hope his d-line has of making any “splash” plays.

For the record, Jared Allen has played over 90% of possible snaps every year he has been in Minnesota, including 94.1% last season (he was on the field for most kickoffs & punts).

I like the guy and he is an asset every time he's on the field, but at 30 years old (and being our best defensive player), it's time to cut out the special teams duties.

Brian Robison has an endless motor, but seems to always be a step away from a sack, just as the quarterback is releasing the ball. To paraphrase Denny Green, he is who we think he is. He will always be good, but never get to that great/elite level. Expect 6-9 sacks from Robison this year.

Expect Fred Evans (90) & Christian Ballard (99) to round out the DT corps.

There are 6 backup DE's vying for a roster spot in camp (Jeff Charleston, Trevor Guyton, Ernest Owusu, Anthony Jacobs, Jeff Reed, & D'aundre Reed). Look for us to keep three of them.

Early camp front runners are Trevor Guyton & Ernest Owusu, who have been making plays on the second team.

The defensive line took a giant step back last year, got gouged in the run game, and failed to get consistent pressure outside of Jared Allen. The overall success of the entire defense is dictated by how much pressure the front 4 can get on the opposing quarterback by themselves. Good pressure from the front 4 allows the linebackers to drop into coverage, allows the corners to play man-to-man, & the safeties to cover deep.

Will this all happen? Your guess is as good as mine. It all depends on injuries and how much this bunch of NOBODIES WANTS IT! I SWEARS!

Linebackers:  This group has a lot of over-achieving to do this year if they want to improve on their miserable performance last season.  In all honesty, I think this unit is doomed and, unless Audie Cole turns out to be the steal of the draft, they probably are.

Barring injury, Chad Greenway will probably have another 150 tackle year.  How much of that is his ability or others' lack of ability is up for debate.

The Vikings resident baby bro, Erin Henderson is a decent cover linebacker who struggles to get off his block on the blitz and was absolutely terrible controlling his gap against the run game. Get better dude!!

Hey, Jasper Brinkley, are you gonna be able to stay on the field this year?  No?  Good!  Cause you're in over your head anyway.  If he stays healthy he will be dominated.

Worth noting, Marvin Mitchell (55) has been taking practice reps from Erin Henderson.  Mitchell plays with an edge and unless Brinkley & Henderson play better they could lose their starting jobs this year.

The second team of linebackers looked good in the first preseason game, granted they were playing against the second- and third-team offense.

Regardless, credit where credit is due, Audie Cole was all over the place making plays and harassing the quarterback.

Something called Solomon Elimimian even got a nice, heads-up interception off a tipped ball.

Yes, it may be a long year for the Vikings' linebackers.  Good thing our secondary can cover so much ground...

Secondary:  Last year the Vikings secondary was the worst in the NFL.  In particular, the safeties were completely lost & overmatched by anyone they tried to cover.

Hussain Abdullah is gone, I swears he is.

Mistral Raymond (41), however, is still around and since he knows how to breathe and can put on a helmet, he is slated to be start the season opposite rookie Harrison Smith (22).

I happen to believe Mistral Raymond is the worst football player in the NFL and always will be.

Rookie cornerback Josh Robinson is a player that excites me.

He is going to get a lot of play this year in nickel packages and if he impresses, could find himself in the starting lineup very quickly.

He was the fastest man in the draft (4.29 40 yd dash) and speed is incredibly important as a corner. The Vikings are hoping he has the awareness to use his speed effectively in man-to-man coverage. His size isn't terrible as he is a very strong 5'10”, weighing in at 199 lbs. My hopes are very high for him and for the Vikings' secondary to succeed he needs to have a dynamic rookie campaign.

I really wish Antoine Winfield would accept a move to safety, but he won't.  No point crying about it.  Winfield will miss time again this year with injuries.  His body is slowing down on him, but his attitude and style isn't slowing down with his body.

Chris Carr started the first pre-season game and probably will be the starter week one.

The only real unknowns are Harrison Smith & Chris Cook.

As the season progresses, though, I think Chris Cook will overtake his starting job.  As long as Mr. Cook confines his choking to the gridiron, it will be a better year for him.

If the Vikings secondary has any hope of making a marked, worthwhile improvement that helps the team win, those two will need to play like All-Pros.  Is that likely?  No.  Is it possible?  Well, as Kevin Garnett once said, "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLLLLE... doin' this for 'Sota!"

There you have it, everybody.  Mike Otto's take on the 2012 edition of The Purple People Eaters.

For more of Mike's commentary on the Vikings, be sure to follow him on Twitter (@SwervinTaters)

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