Photo By Brian Curski
Written By Sam Ekstrom
After former head coach Leslie Frazier was axed last winter, the Vikings elected to retain a number of coaches from his staff – seven, in fact. Three were lower-level assistants: Ryan Ficken (special teams), Jeff Howard (defense) and Klint Kubiak (wide receivers). One was Kevin Stefanski, a former quarterbacks assistant trying his hand at tight end coaching this year, so the equivalent of a new hire. The other three were far more prominent as either coordinators or chief position coaches: Mike Priefer (special teams coordinator), George Stewart (wide receivers coach) and Jeff Davidson (offensive line coach).
While most struggles with a team’s on-field performance eventually fall back on the head coach, Mike Zimmer, mainly because he’s the most prominent voice on the coaching staff, it’s worth considering that many of the Vikings’ shortcomings have come in the three areas occupied by holdover coaches: special teams, receiving and O-line. It’s rarely fair to pin all failures on coaching when players ultimately are the ones who play the game, but when a team is so deeply invested at a certain position, it’s fair to wonder if it might be more productive to shake things up in the coaching ranks before fracturing the personnel groups. In the Vikings case, that would mean cutting ties with Davidson and seeing if someone else can galvanize the offensive line.
In the case of special teams and wide receivers, there is plenty of room for personnel to change without the coaches falling on the sword.
Special teams are often inundated with young, fast players who may not be skillful enough to play full-time on offense or defense, and for that reason there is lots of turn-over from year to year. For instance, rookies Antone Exum and Jabari Price have both played heavy special teams reps this year and have undergone their fair share of growing pains, even getting benched for the Washington game due to penalties. The kick return and punt return games have also struggled, failing to break any returns for touchdowns. Those units sit in the middle of the pack in return yard averages, but again, much of the success for these groups comes from the blockers, who are fairly inexperienced this season with the release of special teams veteran Larry Dean and the promotion of Robert Blanton to free safety.
“You’re always going to have young guys playing for you,” said Priefer on Oct. 30, “That will never be an excuse for me. I just think you’re going to take what the team’s given you, what the roster is, and you’re going to make the guys that are playing for you – whether they’re young or old – better.”
That being said, it’s very easy in the special teams game to replace those who are ineffective since most are making small salaries and have few responsibilities outside of their special teams duties. Second-year punter Jeff Locke can even be included in this group. Locke is in the bottom third of the league in punt distance and kicks inside the 20-yard line. He also is owed less than $100,000 of guaranteed money for his final two years if the Vikings elect to bring in a different punter.
In George Stewart’s case, the Vikings’ wide receivers have had a rough year thanks in part to having a rookie quarterback and an offensive line that doesn’t protect him well. But there is certainly room for improvement amongst the wideouts with only one large contract on the books. Veteran Greg Jennings signed last year for $18 million guaranteed and up to $47.5 million. Minnesota’s second-highest paid receiver is Cordarrelle Patterson, making just under $2 million per year. The other three – Jarius Wright, Charles Johnson and Adam Thielen – are all making less than $1 million per year. That gives the Vikings some wiggle room to spend on pass catchers and find somebody that can create better separation. While Patterson still has loads of potential and Johnson has been an intriguing find from Cleveland, Wright and Thielen do not represent long-term investments and could be replaced by a better option without any real qualms. Wide receivers Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Jeremy Maclin and Randall Cobb could all be on the free-agent market.
While special teams and wide receiver have flexibility moving forward, the struggling offensive line does not. Take a look at Minnesota’ five primary offensive linemen and the financial commitment the Vikings have to them. Matt Kalil, probably the most maligned of the bunch (especially after a certain hat-tossing incident), is in his third year of a four-year rookie contract. Next year he is owed over $6 million when you include his prorated signing bonus. That would be an expensive benching if the Vikings wanted to make a change at left tackle. Moving to left guard, Charlie Johnson is the most expendable. He is 30 years old and has already received most of his guaranteed money. After that, however, the Vikings have a lot of years and dollars committed to their center, right guard and right tackle. Center John Sullivan and right tackle Phil Loadholt are amidst lengthy contract extensions that lock them up through 2016, and right guard Brandon Fusco recently signed a new 5-year deal that will potentially keep him in Minnesota through 2019. The Vikings have approximately $20 million invested in the current offensive line simply in guaranteed money – that doesn’t include lucrative base salaries for each year the players are retained.
Realistically, the only change this team will make on the offensive line is to replace Johnson; potentially with rookie David Yankey, though he’s yet to play a down this season. Perhaps replacing Johnson would be enough to strengthen the play of Kalil, who has allowed a team-high in pressures and sacks. But it may also behoove the Vikings to consider bringing in a new voice to influence Kalil mentally. The third-year player out of USC has admitted to having confidence issues during his recent bout of poor play.
"It's about being a professional and taking coaching and not taking things personally when the coach is hard on you," said Kalil on Monday, referring to a way he could improve.
Zimmer responded to Kalil in Monday’s press conference. “I heard that he had mentioned about the confidence thing; that’s got a lot to do with him,” he said. “We can try and build his confidence, but you have to go out and play good. That’s part of it, that’s how you get confident – you play good.”
Zimmer is right: Kalil has to play better. But Zimmer may have to look back to his own statements from training camp and realize that some players need a different touch than others. Zimmer noticed this with Xavier Rhodes in late July and spoke about changing his coaching techniques as a result.
“Part of coaching is how you can take this player and make him better,” said Zimmer. “Some players, when you get after them, they don’t listen to the tone, they listen to what you’re telling them. Many players, when I instruct them, I have to put my arm around them real nice.”
Maybe that’s what Kalil needs – a different voice to guide him along. While Kalil appears to be fragile now, it hasn’t always been that way. As a rookie, Kalil blocked for a 2,097-yard rusher in Adrian Peterson and helped a Christian Ponder-led team reach the playoffs. He’s proven he can block in this league; he just needs a confidence booster. If he’s unable to motivate himself, then shame on him, but the coaching staff should be doing everything in their power to discover what makes Matt Kalil tick. After all, he represents the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Giving up on Kalil right now, with one year left on his rookie contract, is a bad idea. It reflects poorly on general manager Rick Spielman, Zimmer and the offensive line as a whole. It also would throw off the familiarity that this line has had for three years.
“There’s no question that continuity is critical in all positions,” said offensive coordinator Norv Turner, “but it’s crucial in the offensive line.”
If next year goes by and Kalil is still a statue in pass protection, then the Vikings should certainly cut their losses. But for now, bringing in another offensive line coach, someone who Zimmer or Turner knows and trusts, might be the option that has the least collateral damage. Davidson has certainly had success as a coach before, but thanks to a front office that devoted lots of money to an offensive line that isn’t clicking, he may take the fall to save the O-line’s collective face.
Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket and a play-by-play broadcaster in Burnsville, Minn. Hear him on 105 The Ticket weekdays from 2-3 p.m. on “The Michael Knight Show” or Sunday mornings from 8-10 a.m. on “The Wake Up Call.” Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights.