It started at the end of the last season when the Minnesota Vikings named Josh Metellus team captain in Brian O’Neill‘s absence. It continued in June when beat reporters began to notice that he was playing a varied role with Minnesota’s first-team defense during OTAs. And it continued into Training Camp, where Metellus continued to play a significant role with the first team, culminating with an extension on the first day of the regular season.
Metellus’ ascension has coincided with the defense’s rise to a top-10 unit by DVOA and EPA/play. In many ways, Metellus is the poster boy for Minnesota’s defensive facelift under Brian Flores. Metellus is playing a unique role in a defense that really doesn’t exist elsewhere across the NFL. Metellus’ role is the lynchpin, and he plays at all three levels depending on the specific play that Flores calls. Whether it’s blitzing, run defense, man coverage on tight ends, or a deep or underneath zone, what Metellus does on a specific play shows the Vikings’ intent better than any other player on the defense.
Metellus has played about 93% of the snaps this year, which is fourth on the team. He’s third among Vikings safeties in snaps; Harrison Smith and Camryn Bynum have both played over 99% of the defensive snaps. Entering the season, it certainly was possible to predict packages with three safeties based on Flores’ history. That’s how he used Eric Rowe in Miami, where they played with three safeties on over 25% of the snaps in 2021, and Duron Harmon in New England, where they played with three safeties on over 50% of snaps in 2018. Still, using three safeties on over 90% of the snaps is far beyond what anyone could have predicted.
The Vikings have even played with three safeties and one cornerback on a few snaps against the Denver Broncos, which is very rare.
Origins
In retrospect, Minnesota’s decision to slot Metellus into a versatile role should be no surprise based on the player he was coming out of the University of Michigan. Wolverines DC Don Brown ran an aggressive, blitz-happy defense (sound familiar?). He asked Metellus to play:
- Single-high deep safety
- Underneath hook zones
- Man coverage on TEs
- Off of the edge as a blitzer
- And run defense in the box
You can see examples of each of those roles in the video below, where he performed well against an Alabama team with four first-round picks at the skill positions:
Flores’ defense operates differently than Brown’s, but Metellus’ previous experience with similar responsibilities undoubtedly helped him settle into this new role in Minnesota. Despite playing well in that role, Metellus fell to the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2020 draft, likely due to solid but not spectacular testing numbers:
Like many late-round picks, Metellus had to work to carve a role out for himself on the team, and he did so with stellar special teams performances. He played over 60% of the special teams snaps in his first two seasons despite barely on defense, playing 77% of the snaps in 2022 while leading the team in special teams tackles.
He made a number of impressive plays, like this tackle on a kickoff:
And blocking this punt:
Metellus earned the respect of teammates and coaches on special teams. He also earned some playing time on defense due to injury, playing 22% of the snaps, culminating in his teammates naming him a captain.
To understand why Metellus has been a revelation for the Vikings’ defense this year, let’s look at the four areas I mentioned above — blitzing, run defense, man coverage, and zone coverage — to see how he has become a star in Flores’ defense.
Blitzing
It just makes sense to start with the thing Flores’ defense is best known for. Metellus has been an excellent blitzer for the Vikings this year. He’s rushed the passer 79 times, more than any other safety in the NFL. Only teammate Harrison Smith is even close.
Metellus has only 1.5 sacks on the year, but he’s made a big impact in terms of getting pressure on the QB. He played his best game against the New Orleans Saints, where Metellus got four total pressures against Derek Carr and Jameis Winston. His quickness and power caused problems for Jamaal Williams and Alvin Kamara in pass protection, like on the play below, where he forced an errant throw:
Metellus has also shown the willingness and smarts to do the dirty work as a rushing safety, fitting with his special teams background. On the play below against the Broncos, he did a brilliant job of getting a hand on the LT while he blitzed to help spring Danielle Hunter for a sack:
Run defense
Because he blitzes so much, Metellus lines up in the box on most of his snaps. It’s great to get the quickness of a safety against a running back on the blitz, but it also means that he has to play the run. Metellus’ work against the run has also been a strength and has allowed the Vikings to play him in the box.
He does a good job of protecting the edge, like on the play below where he gets in on a cutback tackle:
One of the benefits of having a more athletic safety on the edge is it gives you the ability to play option defense better. On the play below, Metellus peels off of the QB run to take down the RB who got the pitch. Look at how fluidly he cuts compared to D.J. Wonnum:
That athleticism also shows up as a linebacker in a stack. On another play against the Bears, he sticks with Velus Jones Jr. to the edge to make a tackle for no gain. Patrick Jones also deserves credit for taking on a puller and keeping Metellus clean:
Metellus is not only able to get to the edge, but he shows the capacity to work through traffic in space. A defensive line that is excellent in run defense has likely helped him, but the teamwork to help keep Metellus free has been one of the Vikings’ defense’s greatest assets this year:
Metellus isn’t a player who needs to keep clean every single snap, though. He’s shown the willingness to stick his nose in against opposing offensive linemen, like in the play below:
The Bears may not be a well-coached team, but the San Francisco 49ers are. The Vikings were willing to ask Metellus to be a significant part of the run defense against a great rushing team, and he rewarded them. The 65 yards the Niners had on 22 carries in Week 7 is the only time an opponent has held them under 100 rushing yards so far this season.
Man coverage
The Vikings have used very little man coverage this season, just 54 snaps. Therefore, there isn’t a ton of tape to go off of for Metellus here, but he has generally held his own against TEs. On the play below, he follows Green Bay Packers TE Luke Musgrave across the formation, covers the in-breaking route, and gets his hand in there for a textbook PBU:
Zone coverage
Zone coverage has been much more common for Minnesota’s defense, and Metellus is asked to do a ton. Perhaps his most difficult assignments are when the Vikings ask him to play a deep zone from a blitz mug at the line of scrimmage. That requires him to run 10-20 yards backward at the snap and then read the play by the opponent to break on the ball.
He does that to perfection in the example below, where he got an interception against the Packers:
Metellus’ range is impressive, but he’s also good on underneath plays because of his ability to rally to and tackle the ball carrier. You can see why he was a special teams ace with his ability to make the tackle Alvin Kamara, one of the league’s most difficult players to bring down.
On the play below, he gets a great read on the swing pass and finishes the tackle:
Hustle
Effort is the final component that makes a great contributor, and Metellus plays with a high motor at all times. That’s evident based on his special teams history, but I also wanted to highlight a couple of his big plays from this season. The first came against the Atlanta Falcons, where he took on a block from a TE, stuck with the play, and eventually fell on top of a pile of players to rip away a loose ball and recover a fumble:
In addition to recovering a fumble, Metellus has forced three of them, which ties for seventh among all defenders and third among all non-edge rushers, behind Trent McDuffie and Bobby Okereke. In the Bears game, he forced two fumbles to help spring the Vikings’ comeback attempt, including one by Justin Fields.
Metellus is playing a zone but reacts to the third-down scramble by Fields and evades a blocker. With great form, he gets a hit directly on the ball, and it flies out of Fields’ hands for Barr to recover.
The play above exemplifies Metellus’ high level of effort on the field at all times.
conclusion
In 2023, Vikings’ safety Josh Metellus has transformed from special teams ace to defensive star. He’s taken on an incredibly versatile role in Brian Flores’ unique defense, and has been able to effect the game on all phases of defense. He has an interception, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 1.5 sacks, and five tackles for loss to go along with his 81 total tackles, which ranks third on the team.
He’s a true three-level player. Metellus can rush the passer, take on blocks and chase down ball carriers in the run game, play deep zone coverage, and also cover TEs in man. His football intelligence and effort have made his high level of performance possible.
Metellus’ unique role may not do him any favors when awards season comes around, because voters may have a hard time judging him against his peers due to the way he is asked to play. But this much is clear: Josh Metellus is the best at what he does in the NFL because what he does is one of one.
