Written By Sam Ekstrom
Prior to the season, die-hard Vikings fans would crawl into bed – probably in their purple pajamas and Helga Horn-style nightcap – and dream of an ideal Vikings season. In their fantasy, Matt Cassel would be handing the ball off to Adrian Peterson, who would gash defenses for countless 100-yard efforts and allow Cassel to manage ballgames with simple throws to wide receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Greg Jennings. Kyle Rudolph would turn into Gronk 2.0 and dominate between the hashmarks, while a durable offensive line would keep Cassel on his feet.
It’s been well-chronicled how starkly different the reality is from that mid-summer dream. Certainly, at times, it’s been nightmarish. A bevy of injuries and off-field incidents has decimated the core of playmakers the Vikings had assembled three months ago; a group that was 1-0 and ready to roll against New England before Adrian Peterson’s indictment started an avalanche of misfortune.
But Minnesota’s 30-24 overtime win against the Jets displayed the Vikings’ resolve in filling their personnel holes with more than just proverbial dirt – instead, with blossoming young stars.
‘Next LB Up’
Linebacker Gerald Hodges, in his second-year from Penn State, filled in for the injured rookie Anthony Barr Sunday, who missed his first start of the season. On the first play of the game, Hodges read the eyes of Jets quarterback Geno Smith, anticipated his throw – a slant intended for Percy Harvin – and jumped the route, making a one-handed interception that he took to the house for his first touchdown since high school.
“Just being in the right place at the right time,” said Hodges. “All week we work so hard to fix the formations, looking at the formations and things like that … we see it so many times that come gametime you already know what's coming. You've already seen the formation.”
The Vikings have preached a gospel of ‘Next man up’ for the majority of the season as their depth has been tested: Bridgewater for Cassel, Ducasse/Berger for Fusco, McKinnon for Peterson, etc, etc, etc. It’s typically hard to discern whether that three-word phrase is being thrown around to boost team morale or to genuinely encourage each team member to prepare themselves for battle at any moment.
Hodges, a former fourth-round pick, was ready when he got his chance. After acclimating himself to the pro game during his rookie season, Hodges took up the task of learning each position this year; not just the strong-side, middle and weak-side linebacker spots, but every defensive player’s responsibilities, including defensive backs and defensive linemen. Hodges had to know his stuff because the coaching staff treats back-ups the same way as every-down players.
“Coach Zim – you find some coaches that are taught sometimes to just talk to starters, make sure they get it,” Hodges said, “but Coach Zim does a great job no matter who is in at practice, no matter who's taking the rep. He's trying to make sure that person's perfect, so in a case Anthony goes down, there's guys ready to just come in and step up.”
“Gerald has a ton of ability,” said head coach Mike Zimmer after the game. “He’s got fast twitch, and he’s got some physicality to him. He continually works hard in practice.”
Hodges finished with a season-high eight tackles and two passes defended against the Jets. He appears to have firmly established himself as the first linebacker off the bench in the team’s defensive depth chart.
“The only thing at stake [is the] opportunity,” said Hodges. “You only get a few opportunities in this league, and when you go on the field you know you've got to take advantage of it.”
From practice squad to No. 1
Charles Johnson was given a shot because of his prior relationship with Norv Turner in Cleveland. The Vikings brought in the Division-II product from Grand Valley State University when Adrian Peterson was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list – they needed another wide receiver because of Jerome Simpson’s parole violation and subsequent release.
Don’t tell Johnson that D2 players can’t play in the National Football League. “Bull,” he would say to such a person. The 6-foot-2 wideout with dyed-blonde hair knew he was good. All he lacked was a chance, which knee injuries had prevented him from having in his previous stops. In Johnson’s first five games with the Vikings, he caught just six balls in limited snaps. But on the other side of the bye, the Vikings let the 25 year old loose. He caught six passes against the Chicago Bears for 87 yards. He scored his first touchdown against Green Bay a week later. Sunday, he snagged a 56-yard touchdown from Teddy Bridgewater and missed another by inches when the ball was jarred loose at the goal line.
Johnson isn’t in awe of his surroundings. He never admits to being surprised at his sudden emergence or his uncanny ability to burn cornerbacks. Ostensibly it comes naturally to him. Johnson was drafted by Green Bay but never appeared in a game because of injury. Same story in Cleveland. All Johnson wanted was to get his foot in the door … or just flat out kick it in.
“That's all you want is an opportunity,” said Johnson on Sunday, still wearing his headwarmer after playing outside at chilly TCF Bank Stadium. “Nobody can know what you're going to do unless you get the opportunity. You could be the first round pick, you could be the undrafted free agent. They don't know what you can do until you get the opportunity to show. You can have all kinds of hype coming out of college, but if you ain't out there, nobody's going to be able to see you, so I'm blessed, and I'm thankful they gave me the opportunity, and I'm just going to make the best of it.”
Huh. First-round pick? Hype out of college? Sounds like the man who lost his spot to Johnson: Cordarrelle Patterson. The receiver Minnesota traded up to take in the 2013 draft has been relegated to wearing a parka on the sidelines – with the exception of four snaps in the last two games. Johnson, on the other hand, played every single snap against New York.
The Vikings should ask Johnson to call up Patterson and deliver his post-game comments directly to No. 84. They summed up the situation perfectly.
“I come out and try to take advantage of what people take for granted,” said Johnson. “I take nothing for granted because I've worked for everything I've ever had in my life. We aren't promised tomorrow, and I just come out here and work as hard as I can every day.
“I'm not a guy who cares too much about the fame or anything like that,” he said earlier in the week. “I just want to go out here and play football, man. That's all I like to do is play.”
Johnson has 22 targets in the last three games as Turner’s starting split end. In those three games, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has looked his best, completing 65 percent of his passes over the same span, throwing six touchdowns and only two interceptions (one of which was on a last-second Hail Mary in the Jets game).
“I definitely feel like he has opened up a lot of space,” said Sunday’s hero Jarius Wright. “He is able to go deep, but Charles can also run the intermediate routes, too. Just having another weapon out there on the field opens up the field for us all.”
Johnson is doing what Patterson could not: Forming a connection with his rookie quarterback. The young man is hungry and humble, and now that he has his opportunity, he’s unlikely to let someone else seize it.
Hodges and Johnson were only two pieces of Sunday’s winning puzzle. Vladimir Ducasse entered the game midway to spell the injured Charlie (not “Charles”) Johnson, joining Joe Berger (for Brandon Fusco) and Mike Harris (for Phil Loadholt) in replacing three-fifths of the starting O-line. Andrew Sendejo entered the game for the nicked up Harrison Smith and immediately forced a fumble in the first half. Seventh-round pick Shamar Stephen continued playing quality snaps in place of the injured Sharrif Floyd.
All of the above are prime examples of how this seemingly lost season hasn’t been a total waste. Numerous players have stepped up out of necessity, and some could become permanent fixtures of future Vikings teams.
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.