LONDON – When Brian Flores is scouting defensive players before the draft each year, one of the most important things he wants to find out about them is their learning style.
In predraft Zoom calls, prospect visits and interviews at the NFL combine, the Vikings defensive coordinator comes equipped with a set of questions to determine how players best absorb information and how much they can retain. When the Dolphins met with Andrew Van Ginkel before the 2019 draft, Flores, then the head coach, learned the linebacker was a conceptual thinker, capable of seeing the big themes behind the facts he learned in a classroom and adding his own ideas about how a defensive strategy could develop.
“A lot of information is not too much for Gink,” Flores said in an interview last month. “Whereas for some guys, it feels like you can overload them, it just feels like he’s never overloaded.”
It meant Flores’ style of defense, which requires players to think of their roles beyond static position descriptions, fit the fifth-round pick perfectly. Van Ginkel showed his playmaking ability in three years playing for Flores in Miami, making 20 tackles for loss, forcing four fumbles and recovering two, including one he brought back for a 78-yard touchdown in 2020 against the Rams. Van Ginkel scored twice more in his final two seasons with the Dolphins after Flores was fired, bringing back a blocked punt for a score in 2022 and poaching a Sam Howell screen pass on his way to a 33-yard interception return score against the Commanders in 2023.
Flores knew there could be more for Van Ginkel in Minnesota, and coach Kevin O’Connell had been impressed by the linebacker since the Dolphins’ 2020 win over the Rams while he was the offensive coordinator there. The Vikings agreed to a two-year deal with him on the first day of free agency in March, moving quickly to add a slippery pass rusher with a unique instinct.
Van Ginkel showed that instinct right away in Week 1, anticipating a Giants screen pass and intercepting Daniel Jones on the way to a 10-yard touchdown return. On Sunday against the Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, he did it to one of the best.
He became just the fifth player in Aaron Rodgers’ career to return an interception for a touchdown against the quarterback, stepping into Rodgers’ throwing lane to pick off a first-quarter pass before picking up a block from Harrison Smith and steamrolling down the sideline for a 63-yard touchdown. It was Van Ginkel’s fifth career touchdown and his second of the season, making him the first defensive player with multiple scores in the same year since the Patriots’ Kyle Dugger did it in 2022.
“It’s a great feeling, obviously, when you can make a play like that,” Van Ginkel said. “It can change the game. It’s exciting; I’m just glad I caught the ball, and the rest is history.”