Some might lump this into the grasping-at-straws category, but despite a disheartening 1-3 start for the Minnesota Vikings, there are some signs of life on defense that bode well for seasons beyond 2023. If you’re looking how to gauge the progress of the Vikings defensive rebuild — and yes, it is definitely a rebuild — you’ll have to look beyond the big names as well as some disappointing high draft picks.
Naturally, some veterans were retained to help bridge the gap between generations, but they are not the future. The elder statesmen of the Vikings’ defense (Danielle Hunter, Jordan Hicks, and Harrison Smith) are all on one-year deals with no certainty of return. They brought Marcus Davenport in on a similar one-year deal to improve his stock, and Dean Lowry may not last his full contract if he continues on his current trajectory. Meanwhile, two of the most prominent 2022 draft picks, Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr., are stuck in reverse as they plummet down the depth chart at their respective positions.
But after a dominant defensive performance in which the Vikings allowed a meager 3.4 yards per play against the Carolina Panthers, it’s a good time to highlight three young defenders Minnesota has under contract for multiple years that appear to be emerging staples of the defensive revamp.
S CAMRYN BYNUM
PFF RANK: 8th out of 95
UNDER CONTRACT THRU: 2024
The Vikings-Panthers game was billed as the Adam Thielen Revenge Match. Carolina’s other prominent ex-Viking, safety Xavier Woods, was injured, which tempered the alternative revenge angle. However, Woods’ successor in Minnesota is thriving. The Vikings didn’t re-sign Woods partially because Camryn Bynum made him expendable with a tantalizing rookie campaign in 2021. Since then, Bynum has staved off Cine, a first-round draft pick, for multiple seasons to quietly become one of the league’s most adept safeties.
Bynum is third among safeties in tackles and tied for fourth in Pro Football Focus’s “stops” statistic. While many of Brian Flores’ other safeties have cross-trained as box safeties or big nickels, Bynum has become a master of his high safety role — comfortable floating behind the scenes until he’s forced to crash down toward the ball-carrier or retreat to cover a deep threat.
If Mike Zimmer was the Cornerback Whisperer, Flores is the Safety Whisperer. Under Flores, Bynum has taken his play to a new level, Harrison Smith just had a three-sack game, and Josh Metellus was the defense’s biggest riser throughout the offseason and earned himself a $13 million contract extension. Yet Bynum may have the most upside of the group.
Bynum hasn’t allowed a touchdown in coverage this season while playing with more physicality than we’ve come to expect over his three-year career. He’ll be in the mix for a contract extension this offseason at age 25, but he’s at minimum in line to be a 2024 starter.
So is, seemingly, our next defensive standout.
S JOSH METELLUS
PFF RANK: 14 out of 95
UNDER CONTRACT THRU: 2025
Of the 95 qualified safeties on PFF, only three have taken fewer snaps than Metellus’ 10 in a traditional free safety position. He’s the quintessential modern NFL player — a position-less chameleon. He’s a Swiss Army knife, a jack of all trades. Whatever the cliché, Metellus is that: a safety, corner, and linebacker all rolled into one. He’s a former sixth-round pick who would’ve ordinarily been fighting for a roster spot as a fourth-year role player. But Flores envisioned a role for him in the offseason that has perfectly suited his talents.
Metellus has been above-average at all the position-less stuff the Vikings have asked of him. He’s second among safeties with five pressures, 17th in tackles, and 23rd in coverage grade, per PFF. He also seems to be one of the emotional heartbeats of a defense that’s needed a pulse for several years.
Metellus’ promotion came not after weeks of practices and classroom sessions but during the winter and spring months when Flores was mapping out his defensive plan. It was more or less a hunch that Metellus could pan out into a versatile wild card on a retooled defense, and it paid off. The Vikings liked enough what they saw from Metellus after training camp that they rewarded him with a contract extension worth up to $13 million. No longer is Metellus a one-and-done in Flores’ defense; rather, he could be the straw that stirs the drink for the next several seasons.
LB IVAN PACE JR.
PFF RANK: 8th out of 81
UNDER CONTRACT THRU: 2025 (RFA in 2026)
If you squint your eyes enough, you can see just a little bit of Eric Kendricks‘ playing style when you watch Ivan Pace Jr. on the field.
It’s a coincidence, too, because Kendricks fell in Minnesota’s lap in the second round of the 2015 draft because he, too, was misjudged for being a bit undersized. At 5’10”, Pace plummeted into the ranks of the undrafted, where the Vikings added to their tremendous record of landing exquisite UDFAs.
Pace has been credited with two official starts so far, even though he’s been the primary LB2 in all four games. If he ends up with 10 or more starts, he’ll be just the fifth UDFA rookie linebacker since the turn of the century to get that big of a role. Injury might be the only thing that could hold him back, and he’s so far proven to be more durable than the guy he usurped, Brian Asamoah, who got banged up early in the preseason and never fully recovered his spot.
As much as coaches claim roster construction to be as simple as playing the best players each Sunday, there’s a political element to it. Most UDFAs don’t came in and take down a popular third-round pick in one training camp, but that’s exactly what Pace accomplished this August. Just as Flores had a strong hunch about Metellus, the same could be said about Pace. The former Cincinnati standout slotted in immediately with the Vikings second-stringers in OTAs, which instantly put him on the map. Months later, he was knocking down the bruising Derrick Henry in joint practices with the Tennessee Titans — and knocking on the door of being a Week 1 starter.
Pace is signed for basically minimum money over the next three years, followed by an RFA year. While the Vikings have numerous other high-budget needs coming down the pipe, Pace should be a plug-and-play linebacker for at least the next three seasons while the defense gets reshaped.
There’s a lot of work yet to be done for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Chiefly, remaking the pass rush and solidifying the cornerback group. While those positions may require robust investments, having Bynum, Metellus, and Pace locked up affordably for multiple years offers a high return on investment.
