Since Brian Flores’s arrival, Josh Metellus has become integral to an excellent defense. He is the Swiss Army Knife, the queen on the chessboard, an amalgam of linebacker and defensive back with the most unique role in the league.
He began his NFL journey in 2020 with the Minnesota Vikings as a sixth-round pick out of Michigan. In college, he possessed the versatile skill set and personable demeanor for which we know him today. Even so, he did not see many defensive snaps in his first two seasons when Mike Zimmer was in control of the defense.
The staff liked Metellus, but he wasn’t playing over Anthony Harris after the season Harris had in 2019. The following season, he was below Cam Bynum and Xavier Woods on the depth chart at safety. Metellus secured his spot on the roster by being an undeniably good football player. He was a bit of a tweener for whom it was difficult to find a role, but he offered value as a special teamer and could fill in for injury at either safety spot.
Under Ed Donatell in 2022, we saw how versatile Metellus could be as a defender. Despite playing just 22% of defensive snaps, his alignment distribution was interesting. At 205 lbs., he played 39.5% of his snaps in the slot or the box in his three spot starts. The personnel in the safety room that season was nearly the same as it is now, and Metellus wasn’t seeing the field often.
Then Flores arrived. His assessment of Metellus’ value has informed his strategy. He got him on the field wherever he could without disrupting the safety rotation. To maximize Metellus’ skill set and get his best players on the field as often as possible, Flores has favored “Big Nickel” with three safeties to standard Nickel with three cornerbacks.
Metellus’ snap count skyrocketed to over 94% (1,065) of defensive snaps, while Harrison Smith and Bynum were at 98.4% and 99.2%, respectively. In 2023, Metellus played 92% of his snaps either in the slot or the box, and only 5% aligned at safety.
This year, he’s played 87.5% of his snaps in the slot or the box. Metellus has the most snaps lined up on the line of scrimmage of any defensive back in the league. He’s the only player in the league to play at least 10% of his snaps on the line of scrimmage, at slot corner, safety, and linebacker.
We’ve seen him drop into deep half zones from the line of scrimmage, play as the “Tampa” defender in Tampa 2, blitz off the edge or up the middle, and occupy intermediate zones. His varied skill set allows the Vikings to paper over defensive injuries at multiple positions, as they have with Ivan Pace Jr.’s injury. On Monday night against the Chicago Bears, we saw Metellus play mostly linebacker (65% of snaps) in Pace’s absence, and it may have been his best performance.
He racked up 10 tackles, four defensive stops, tallied a pressure on one of his four pass rushes, and allowed just five yards on 24 coverage snaps. Few players of his stature can be all over the field like Metellus.
We’ve seen two interceptions and a few big-time pass deflections from Metellus this season. However, his competency against the run gets him on the field consistently. A player like Metellus can excel at the second level because of the positions Flores puts him in. Flores deploys five- or six-man fronts on running downs, often coupled with run blitzes, with a high frequency. That keeps the linebackers relatively clean from climbing linemen and allows them to see ball, hit ball.
Metellus tracks the runner and sifts through traffic with the best of them before triggering with urgency. Flores has a ton of ammunition, and Metellus has been an incendiary round this season.
Despite his size, Metellus doesn’t hunt untouched opportunities at the expense of his gap responsibility. He’s not shy about engaging linemen one-on-one if it means he’s freeing up a teammate or forcing the ball carrier back inside.
The upcoming matchup against the Seattle Seahawks is even more conducive to Metellus’ role filling in at linebacker. While Metellus is a strong run defender, his presence in the box can leave the Vikings at a size disadvantage in the run game. However, the Seahawks are fifth in the league in pass rate and just 25th in play-action rate. In ideal conditions and with starting quarterback Geno Smith set to suit up through his injury, Seattle would try to throw the ball around to stay in the game.
However, the conditions do not project to be ideal. There is a 60% or higher chance of rain in Seattle over the next week, so the game may become a slog. Considering the Seahawks’ talented backfield duo, their run game has been underwhelming. They are 21st in yards per rush, 25th in EPA per rush, and 25th in rushing success rate.
The Vikings rushing defense remains one of the best in the league, so the weather may play right into their hands.
As the Vikings trudge through the last few games of the season and into the playoffs, the run defense will set a high floor for the team’s performance. Josh Metellus is a massive part of that. He is the Draymond Green of the NFL, guarding positions one through five, playing bigger than his frame, with the football IQ to rarely be caught out of position.
He has thoroughly outplayed his contract and allows Brian Flores to listen to the devil on his shoulder as he concocts his unorthodox scheme.
