The defense of the Minnesota Vikings has been a work in progress for a few years. They took a massive step forward under defensive coordinator Brian Flores in 2023 being the 13th-ranked scoring defense and the 17th-ranked total defense.
One of the major reasons why the defense was able to take a major step was because of the safety group. They have the National Football League’s best safety room and the safety rankings from Pro Football Focus emphasize that.
The Vikings were the only team with three players in PFF’s safety rankings from Zoltan Buday. Harrison Smith ranked 16th, Josh Metellus 19th and Camryn Bynum at 25th.
At 35 years old, Smith, who is arguably the best safety of the past 10 seasons, might not be the player he once was, but he still plays at a high level.
Across the first eight weeks of the 2023 season, he ranked 17th both in PFF overall grade and coverage grade. He allowed just 8.3 yards per reception in 2023, the fifth-lowest mark among safeties.
Metellus flashed ability on his way to an 85.1 PFF overall grade in 2022 in a limited role, but 2023 represented a new challenge. It was the first time that Metellus logged more than 300 snaps, and he immediately topped 1,000. He did not disappoint in an increased role, as he was among the NFL’s more versatile safeties and led the position with 116 pass-rush snaps. He was one of just five safeties to earn coverage, pass-rush and run-defense grades all above 64.0.
Although he went through a sophomore slump in his first full season as a starter in 2022, Bynum bounced back and finished 2023 as the 22nd-ranked safety in PFF grade.
Bynum’s 85.7 overall grade after the first 14 weeks ranked fourth at the position. He also tied for the most forced incompletions over the season (nine) and could have had an even better season if he capitalized on a league-leading three dropped interceptions.
These three were key to the Vikings success as all three played more than 1,100 snaps in 2023. They maximized the position and used them in every kind of way. That is likely to continue moving into the 2024 season.
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