Vikings

The Unsung Heroes of the Minnesota Vikings

Photo Credit: Kyle Hansen

The Minnesota Vikings may as well be called The Minnesota Underestimateds.

  • Mike Zimmer: overlooked as a head coach until he was nearly 60 years old.
  • Case Keenum: undrafted after setting numerous records as the University of Houston’s quarterback.
  • Adam Thielen: played Division II college football and worked his way up from a rookie camp tryout to the Vikings practice squad to a special teams role player before earning an extension as an emerging wide receiver.

Vikings fans have been regaled with these underdog stories throughout the year as Zimmer has turned into one of the NFL’s best coaches, Keenum has transformed into a possible Super Bowl champion quarterback and Thielen has morphed into a top-tier NFL wideout.

Surrounding these upstarts are myriad high draft picks and established veterans. The defensive core contains eight first- or second-round picks. The offensive tackles Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers both signed lucrative five-year deals in the offseason, while center Pat Elfein was taken in the third round in April’s draft.

But hidden within the Vikings offensive, defensive and special teams units are three part-time players that have excelled in truncated roles, rising to match the level of the higher-compensated stars surrounding them. They are often invisible, as well as invaluable. They are making less than $2 million combined this season.

They are three of the Vikings’ many unsung heroes.

The Roadrunner

David Morgan II received the locker-room game ball after the Vikings defeated the Green Bay Packers in Week 16. One might think it was the result of a superb catch or a pancake block, but no.

Morgan assumed the long snapping duties in the second half when Kevin McDermott exited the game with a dislocated shoulder.

It’s that type of do-anything attitude that has characterized Morgan’s two years in Minnesota.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=300NM5jeZfE

He was the first-ever draftee to play for the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners, and he made the Vikings roster as a third tight end in 2016 behind Kyle Rudolph and Rhett Ellison. When Ellison departed for the New York Giants in the offseason, Morgan defaulted to the team’s second tight end position.

His snaps escalated from 63 one year ago to 393 this season — nearly 36 percent of the team’s offensive reps.

Morgan did his best work as a run-blocker, considered the fourth-best in the NFL by Pro Football Focus. He was on the field for 264 run-blocking snaps as opposed to 87 pass-blocking snaps.

“He’s a guy that’s come a long way in his couple years here,” said tight end and teammate Kyle Rudolph. “He also has the benefit, like myself, of working with [tight ends coach] Clancy Barone, who’s got an offensive line background, and we try to learn as much from him as we can, because he really does bring that dynamic of an offensive line coach into our run technique.”

Of Latavius Murray’s eight touchdowns this year, Morgan was on the field for seven of them, and he delivered the key block that helped Murray get across the goal line for touchdowns against the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions.

As a receiver, Morgan has all 10 of his receptions since Week 8. Prior to that, he’d been active for 19 games with only one catch.

Five of his 10 catches went for first downs or touchdowns. Against the Bears in Week 17, Morgan had receptions of 16, 17 and 27 yards, but the 27-yarder was wiped out due to a holding call.

He’s also been on the right end of a couple of Keenum’s most creative plays, catching a five-yard pass against the Los Angeles Rams after Keenum held the ball for nine seconds, and weaving for a first down against the Green Bay Packers after Keenum scrambled precariously close to the line of scrimmage.

Thanks to his work in the run game and his increasing role as a pass catcher, Morgan finished as Pro Football Focus’s seventh overall tight end.

“Whatever he’s been called to do, whether it’s catching the ball, blocking, deep snapping,” said Keenum, “he’s done a great job and done a great job in some big situations for us – caught some big plays, caught some really great touchdowns, third downs and does a great job.”

The Rookie

Folks assumed before the season that Emmanuel Lamur and Edmond Robison would compete to fill the opening at weakside linebacker left by Chad Greenway’s retirement.

But Zimmer had another idea.

During training camp, he experimented with the team’s fourth-round pick Ben Gedeon and liked what he saw. The former Michigan Wolverine made two preseason starts and earned the right to stand alongside Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr in the Vikings’ base defense.

Gedeon played 24.5 percent of snaps this year, most of them on first down. The Vikings’ first down splits improved from 2016, especially against the pass. They gave up four fewer first downs (78 vs 74), opposing quarterbacks’ completion percentage was over 9 percent lower (73.7 vs 64.6), and the Vikings sacked opposing quarterbacks 50 percent more (12 vs 8).

Against the run on first down, the Vikings allowed just 3.5 yards per carry and generated 17 negative plays.

Though Gedeon was rarely on the field for third down, his work early in series set the stage for the league’s top third-down defense. He didn’t play enough to qualify for Pro Football Focus’s official rankings, but Gedeon was the highest-rated player of non-qualifiers.

“We’ve done a good job all year stopping the run, and that’s been big in our success,” Gedeon told Zone Coverage. “Stop the run in the early downs, and obviously our third down defense is the best since 1991. It’s all tied together.”

The Vikings don’t ask him to do too much. Gedeon never played more than 25 snaps in a game, and in four games he played less than 10. He did, however, finish with a team-high 368 special teams snaps and a team-leading 17 special teams tackles.

In general, Gedeon’s life is made significantly easier when he is surrounded by chiseled veterans at every turn.

“I’m lucky because there are a lot of guys that have played a lot of football on this defense, especially in the linebacker room,” said Gedeon, “so I had a lot of help with learning the scheme and learning how to play within the defense. It’s been a good experience.”

The Local

Believe it or not, Thielen isn’t the only Minnesota-born, Division II player on the roster.

C.J. Ham, hailing from Duluth, rode the bubble during training camp and eventually made the roster as the team’s fullback — a position that is being fazed out of many offenses and some thought the Vikings might de-emphasize.

But Ham survived, and finished as the eighth-ranked fullback by Pro Football Focus. He was one of 18 ball-carriers that were on the field for 50 or more passing plays who did not allow a hurry, pressure or sack.

“He gets on the right guy. He blocks them. He’s a good athlete,” said Zimmer.

Ham touched the ball 14 times and converted eight first downs — five on the ground and three through the air. Four of those conversions came on third or fourth down. He even scored his first career touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“He can do a lot of different things,” said Zimmer. “He’s improved his blocking ability quite a bit. We’ve used him blocking a lot of different ways.”

The Vikings have opted to utilize Ham on the line of scrimmage at times to keep defenses honest instead of simply putting him in the backfield during dead-giveaway running situations.

“The more that you can do with a guy like him and a fullback in general, move him out, get him in the pass game, catch balls, it tends to loosen a defense up a little more if you have an athletic guy in there,” said Zimmer.

“He can catch the ball,” said offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. “That’s number one. That’s a huge comfort for a play-caller.”

Ham recorded over 3,500 all-purpose yards at Augustana University (S.D.), so he knows what to do with the football when it comes his way.

He also turned into a special teams ace with 15 tackles this season, second only to Gedeon — impressive considering Ham may not possess the natural tackling instinct of a defensive player.

Ham left Sunday’s game against the Bears with a stinger in his neck but assured a reporter that he would be OK for the playoffs.

‘Quality depth’

Whether it’s long snapping in Morgan’s case or stopping kick returners in their tracks like Gedeon and Ham, these unsung role players have splashed on special teams to supplement their work on offense or defense.

All three are situational players, yes, but that happens to be one of Zimmer’s favorite words. The Vikings hammered home the importance of “situational football” in training camp and, and as result, have excelled in the red zone and on third downs this season.

The success of these three players is a testament to the culture. Each player has value if used properly, and the Vikings have done a superb job developing Players 1 through 53 on the active roster.

“Depth is extremely important,” said Zimmer. “Quality depth.”


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