Every week send any Vikings-related questions to @Andrew_Krammer and I'll answer them here on Fridays.
A: Linebacker Anthony Barr is on pace for 88 pass-rushing snaps this season, which would be his lowest in a season, according to Pro Football Focus, but about on par with his 92 in 2015. That's perhaps been affected by the Vikings simplifying some of the approach on defense to improve vs. the run. So far it's worked, ranking third in yards per run (3.1) and yards per game (71.2). As far as productivity, Barr hasn't been getting home as often. His last sack was last Thanksgiving against Detroit. However, he's still impacting the quarterback. Barr was second among all 4-3 outside linebackers in hits (4) and hurries (12) last season despite having just two sacks, per PFF. He's currently 12th in pass-rush productivity through four games this season.
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A: Mike Zimmer's decisions this week and Monday night will be interesting defensively given the inexperience of rookie starter Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback and the need to shut down a potent backfield duo in Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. I'm sure you'll see the Vikings' cloak-and-dagger approach, seven at the line, to fluster Trubisky in critical situations, but they've become a sound run defense by simplifying things. Howard ran for 288 rushing yards in the two-game split vs. the Vikings last season.
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A: Ham's role did change immediately after injuries to Dalvin Cook and Jerick McKinnon. The Vikings leaned on Ham, the only other back, as a third-down protector to spell Latavius Murray. Moving forward, I think that might be the only role you see Ham in outside of the primary fullback. His best chances to play have come in winning games (9 snaps vs. New Orleans, career-high 22 snaps vs. Tampa Bay). He's averaged 6.5 snaps in the other two games, both losses.
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A: The Vikings have a roster exemption on receiver Michael Floyd this week after he returned from a four-game suspension, so no move is needed until after Monday night's game in Chicago. Who's on the way out? It's likely one of the receivers at the bottom of the depth chart in rookies Rodney Adams or Stacy Coley.
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A: Because there's always something at Soldier Field for the Vikings, whether it's the clocks going out in the end of 2014's game when Teddy Bridgewater threw a hurried interception or Mike Zimmer injuring his retina in last year's loss. They're 3-14 in Chicago since Y2K (1-8 in last nine). Let Kyle Rudolph finish it: "Even the game that we won there, you go back and look at until essentially the last drive of the game, we really didn't play well."
